ANDRA Newsletter #4
ANDRA Newsletter #4
Newsletter produced by ANDRA, the French National Radioactive Waste Management Agency.
Newsletter produced by ANDRA, the French National Radioactive Waste Management Agency.
Newsletter produced by ANDRA, the French National Radioactive Waste Management Agency.
This report discusses the status of the commercial spent nuclear fuel (SNF) inventory in the United States, at both decommissioned and operating commercial nuclear power reactor sites; summarizes the contractual arrangement the government and utilities have under the Standard Contract for Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and/or High-Level Radioactive Waste (10 CFR Part 961) (Standard Contract), related litigation, and the financial liabilities resulting from the Department’s delay in performance under these contracts; provides a history of interim storage policy as it relates to commercial SN
Target accuracy on LWR neutronics parameters is 2 to 5 times lower than the a priori uncertainty (1σ)
due to nuclear data. This paper summarizes the experimental facilities and the integral measurements that are required
for code qualification. The rigorous use of integral information through trend analysis method is described. Trends
on JEF2 data from Keff measurements and P.I.Es are presented. These trends were accounted for in the new JEFF3
evaluations. The role of fundamental experiments, such as worth measurement of separated isotopes, is emphasized.
The purpose of this analysis is to provide input on the criticality potential of various degraded configurations to an analysis on the probability of a criticality event in a Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) Advanced Uncanistered Fuel (AUCF) Waste Package (WP).
The amount of spent fuel stored on-site at commercial nuclear reactors will continue to accumulate—increasing by about 2,000 metric tons per year and likely more than doubling to about 140,000 metric tons—before it can be moved off-site, because storage or disposal facilities may take decades to develop. In examining centralized storage or permanent disposal options, GAO found that new facilities may take from 15 to 40 years before they are ready to begin accepting spent fuel. Once an off-site facility is available, it will take several more decades to ship spent fuel to that facility.
This analysis is prepared by the Mined Geologic Disposal System (MGDS) Waste Package Development Department (WPDD) to determine the viability of the Defense High-Level Waste (DHLW) Glass waste package concept with respect to criticality regulatory requirements in compliance with the goals of the Waste Package Implementation Plan (Ref. 5.1) for conceptual design. These design calculations are performed in sufficient detail to provide a comprehensive comparison base with other design alternatives.
This report is in response to the directive of the House Appropriations Subcommittee for Energy and Water
Development that the Department of Energy (DOE) update a 1984 report of alternative means of financing and
managing (AMFM) the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) in the DOE. The
President’s FY 2002 budget also stated: “DOE will submit to Congress an updated report regarding alternative
approaches to finance and manage the program by June 30, 2001[.] DOE will identify in this report models of
The purpose of this calculation is to perform an example criticality evaluation for degraded internal configurations of a boiling water reactor (BWR) waste package (WP) containing 44 spent nuclear fuel (SNF) assemblies.
The Monitored Geologic Repository (MGR) Waste Package Operations (WPO) of the Civilian Radioactive Waste Management System Management & Operating Contractor (CRWMS M&O) performed calculations to provide input for disposal of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) from the Shippingport Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) (Ref. 1). The Shippingport PWR SNF has been considered for disposal at the proposed Yucca Mountain site.
This publication records the proceedings of a technical meeting organized by the IAEA and
held in London 29 August–2 September 2005 with sixty participants from 18 countries. As
indicated in the title, the objective of this meeting was to provide a forum for exchange of
technical information on spent fuel burnup credit applications and thereby compile state-ofthe-
art information on technical advances related to spent fuel transportation, storage,
reprocessing and disposition.
The purpose of this engineering calculation is to document the benchmark range, over a variety of parameters, for the validation of the criticality calculations supporting the Monitored Geologic Repository (MGR). This engineering calculation accomplishes this by characterizing the Laboratory Critical Experiments (LCE) and the Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) Commercial Reactor Criticals (CRC), and summarizing the significant parameters. This engineering calculation supports the Disposal Criticality Analysis Methodology program.
This Record of Decision has been prepared pursuant to the Regulations of
the council on Environmental Quality, 40 CFR Part 1805, on the selection of a
strategy for the disposal of commercially-generated radioactive wastes and the
supporting program of research and development.
The United States Department of Energy has decided to (1) adopt a strategy to
develop mined geologic repositories for disposal of commercially-generated
high-level and transuranic radioactive wastes (while continuing to examine
This book recounts the issues raised and the viewpoints aired at a recent symposium on
repository licensing. It summarizes the problems surrounding the setting of an
Environmental Protection Agency standard for the release of radionuclides and the
regulatory problems inherent in meeting such a standard. Symposium participants came
from a variety of federal agencies and advisory groups, state governments, public interest
groups, engineering firms, national laboratories, and foreign and international
organizations.
All activities which involve the use of radioactive material inevitably result in nuclear waste as a by-product of their operation. Most of the waste produced by such activities as medical diagnosis and therapy, field and laboratory research, and industrial processes is low-level radioactive waste—primarily small amounts of radioactivity in a large volume of matter.
The Disposal Subcommittee of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future has
commenced to address a set of issues, all of which bear directly on the central question: “How can the
United States go about establishing one or more disposal sites for high-level nuclear wastes in a manner
and within a timeframe that is technically, socially, economically, and politically acceptable?”
To answer this question and to develop specific recommendations and options for consideration by the
The main objective of this report is to identify conditions which affect public concern (either
increase or decrease) and political acceptance for developing and implementing programmes
for geologic disposal of long-lived radioactive waste. It also looks how citizens and relevant
actors can be associated in the decision making process in such a way that their input is
enriching the outcome towards a more socially robust and sustainable solution. Finally, it
aims at learning from the interaction how to optimise risk management addressing needs and
This document is the main report from the safety assessment project SR-Can. The SR-Can project is a preparatory stage for the SR-Site assessment, the report that will be used in support of SKB’s application for a final repository. The purposes of the safety assessment SR-Can are the following:
1. To make a first assessment of the safety of potential KBS-3 repositories at Forsmark and Laxemar to dispose of canisters as specified in the application for the encapsulation plant.
The Interim Staff Guidance on burnup credit (ISG-8) for spent fuel in storage and transportation casks, issued by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Spent Fuel Project Office, recommends a burnup measurement for each assembly to confirm the reactor record and compliance with the assembly burnup value used for loading acceptance. This recommendation is intended to prevent unauthorized loading (misloading) of assemblies due to inaccuracies in reactor burnup records and/or improper assembly identification, thereby ensuring that the appropriate subcritical margin is maintained.
The table is based on historical costs through 2006, which are shaded, and projected costs in the 2008 TSLCC. To convert to 2010$, multiply by 1.0586. The 2008 TSLCC assumes a single repository system capable of accepting and disposing of SNF and HLW equivalent to 122,100 Metric Tons of Heavy Metal (MTHM). This estimate includes all defense wastes currently destined for disposal at Yucca Mountain and projected discharges of SNF from commercial utilities, including the 47 nuclear power reactors that had received license extensions from the NRC as of January 2007.
This paper, prepared to aid the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future in its
deliberations, includes a discussion of the issues that would be faced in the siting, permitting and
licensing of storage and disposal facilities for the “back end” of the commercial nuclear fuel
cycle and for the Department of Energy’s (DOE) high–level radioactive waste. It discusses the
authority that could be employed by non–federal levels of government in supporting or opposing
The Disposal Criticality Analysis Methodology Topical Report prescribes an approach to the methodology for performing postclosure criticality analyses within the monitored geologic repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. An essential component of the methodology is the Configuration Generator Model for In-Package Criticality that provides a tool to evaluate the probabilities of degraded configurations achieving a critical state.
The siting of the facilities for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel and other long-lived<br/>nuclear waste is one of the central remaining tasks within the Swedish waste programme.<br/>Work relating to the siting of the repository is being conducted in stages and will<br/>continue for most of the 1990:ies. This report describes the background to, the goals<br/>for and structure of SKB 's activities relating to the siting of a deep geological<br/>repository.