Presented at the International Conference on Geologic Repositories, Denver, CO, November 1, 1999
As nuclear power assumes an increasingly important role in meeting the nation's requirements for electrical energy, the quantity of radioactive wastes will also increase. The wastes of primary concern -<br/>designated "high-level" and "alpha" wastes - contain radioactive nuclides that decay so slowly as to require that they be isolated from the biosphere for thousands of years.
The Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1987 established the federal<br/>Office of the Nuclear Waste Negotiator for a 5-year period. The Nuclear<br/>Waste Negotiator, appointed by the President and confirmed by the<br/>Senate, was empowered to attempt to find a state or Indian tribe willing<br/>to host a repository or a monitored retrievable storage (MB) facility for the<br/>permanent or temporary storage of nuclear waste, respectively.
Geologic repositories for radioactive waste are evolving<br/>from conceptualization to the development of specific<br/>designs. Estimates of long-term hazards must be based<br/>upon quantitative predictions of environmental releases<br/>over time periods of hundreds of thousands of years and<br/>longer.
19th Annual Symposium-Geological Disposal of Nuclear Waste
The importance of social and institutional issues in the siting of nuclear waste facilities has been recognized in recent years. Limited evidence from a survey of rural Wisconsin residents in 1980 indicates that incentives may help achieve the twin goals of increasing local support and decreasing local opposition to hosting nuclear waste facilities.
JAEA Brochure
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its regulations governing the disposal of high-level radioactive wastes in a proposed geologic repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The final rule implements the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) revised standards for doses that could occur after 10,000 years, but within the period of geologic stability.
Isolation in a geologic setting has been the generally favored solution to the high-level radioactive waste (HLW) problem since a scientific basis for nuclear waste management began to be formulated over half a century ago. Although general features of suitable settings have been enumerated, quantitative measures of the safety of geologic isolation of HLW are challenging to devise and to implement.
A program leading to the establishment in FY I983 of a pilot plant for storing radioactive wastes in bedded salt is described. The program consists of laboratory and field investigations of factors affecting the suitability of a specific site in southeastern New Mexico; of more generally applicable problems associated with geohydrology and rock mechanics; and of considerations bearing on the operational safety of a pilot plant repository. Tasks concerned with the engineering development and design of the facility are also included.
The disposal of radioactive waste in the proper geologic environment offers a high potential for isolating the waste from man's environment for the period of time required for the waste to decay to innocuous levels. As part of the National Waste Terminal Storage Program, the Savannah River Laboratory has responsibility for studies related to the storage of waste in the geologic environment in the Southeast.
This report describes the history, recent developments and the current situation of the management of highly radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel in the Czech Republic, with a particular focus on the development of geological disposal for this kind of waste. Special attention is given to the interplay of social and technical aspects of the process. The first chapter gives an overview of the state of affairs and sketches out the trajectories leading to it.
Proposals to site, construct and operate a radioactive waste disposal facility in Sweden will be supported by performance assessments (PAs). Such PAs will require a range of expert judgements to be made. As part of SKI’s preparation for reviewing SKB’s Pas and for conducting independent PAs, SKI has identified a need for further research on the treatment of expert judgement in PA.
In order to gain a satisfactory understanding of public attitudes toward issues in nuclear waste management, it is important to recognize the context in which the public views those issues. Nuclear waste, in the minds of the public, is just one aspect of the nuclear power issue. Nuclear power, in turn, is just one means of avoiding energy shortage.
On March 11, 2011, the Township of Creighton expressed interest in learning more about the Nuclear Waste Management Organization site selection process to find an informed and willing community to host a deep geological repository for Canada’s used nuclear fuel (NWMO, 2010). This report summarizes the findings of an initial screening, conducted by Golder Associates Ltd., to evaluate the potential suitability of the Creighton area against five screening criteria using readily available information.
The U.S. Congress authorized the development of a monitored retrievable storage facility (MRS) as part of the high-level radioactive waste management system. The MRS will be used to receive, store, and stage shipments of intact spent fuel to the permanent repository. Early development of the MRS is crucial to honoring the long-standing Federal commitment to timely and adequate waste acceptance. The Department of Energy's (DO E) objective is initial waste acceptance at the MRS beginning in 1998.
Current U.S. nuclear waste law and policy is bankrupt. The 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA) set a 1998 deadline for opening a deep geologic repository to receive spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level waste (HLW) from reprocessing. In 1987, Congress amended the Act to designate Yucca Mountain in Nevada as the only potential site, and severely restricted the development of any federal facility for consolidated storage of nuclear waste. Nevada’s unrelenting opposition to the Yucca repository eventually succeeded with the election of Barack Obama as President.
For more than half a century, since nuclear science helped us win World War II and ring in the Atomic Age, scientists have known that the Nation would need a secure, permanent facility in which to dispose of radioactive wastes. Twenty years ago, when Congress adopted the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (NWPA or "the Act"), it recognized the overwhelming consensus in the scientific community that the best option for such a facility would be a deep underground repository.
By the end of this century, the United States plans to begin operating the first geologic repository for the permanent disposal of commercial spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive Waste. Public Law 97-425, the Nuclear waste Policy Act of 1982 (the Act), specifies the process for selecting a repository site, and constructing, operating, closing, and decommissioning the repository.
Frances Planning Act for Radioactive Materials and Waste
