The Analysis of the Total System Life Cycle Cost (TSLCC) of the Civilian Radioactive Waste Management Program represents the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management's most recent estimate of the costs to dispose of the Nations's spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level radioactive waste (HLW). This TSLCC analysis projects all Program costs through 2119 for a surrogate, single potential repository. The design and emplacement concepts in this TSLCC analysis are the same as those presented in the Monitored Geologic Repository Project Description Document.

The validity of the computation of pressurized-water-reactor (PWR) spent fuel isotopic
composition by the SCALE system depletion analysis was assessed using data presented in the report.
Radiochemical measurements and SCALE/SAS2H computations of depleted fuel isotopics were
compared with 19 benchmark-problem samples from Calvert Cliffs Unit 1, H. B. Robinson Unit 2,
and Obrigheim PWRs. Even though not exhaustive in scope, the validation included comparison of
predicted and measured concentrations for 14 actinides and 37 fission and activation products.

This report provides details of dry storage cask systems and contents in U.S. for commercial light water
reactor fuel. Section 2 contains details on the canisters used to store approximately 86% of assemblies in
dry storage in the U.S. Transport cask details for bare fuels, dual purpose casks and canister transport
casks are included in Section 3. Section 4 details the inventory of those shutdown sites without any
operating reactors. Information includes the cask type deployed, transport license and status as well as

This design calculation is a revision of the previous criticality evaluation of the operations and
processes that are performed in the Aging Facility. It will also demonstrate and assure that the
storage and aging operations to be performed in the Aging Facility meet the criticality safety
design criteria in the Project Design Criteria Document (BSC 2005i, Section 4.9.2.2), and the
nuclear criticality safety requirements described in the SNF Aging System Description Document

US policy for management of used nuclear fuel (UNF) and high level radioactive wastes (HLRW) is at a crossroads, and the success of new policy directions will depend in part on broad public acceptance and support. In this paper I provide an overview of the evidence concerning the beliefs and concerns of members of the American public regarding UNF and HLNW. I also characterize the evidence on American’s policy preferences for management of these materials.

This report summarizes the results of an initial investigation into the uncertainties associated with the burnup records maintained by nuclear power plants. The results indicate that there is an overall uncertainty of about 2 percent in the burnup records, which must be accounted for in spent fuel applications.

The purpose of this design analysis is to determine the accuracy of the SAS2H module of SCALE 4.3 in predicting isotopic concentrations of spent fuel assemblies. The objective is to develop a methodology for modeling assemblies similar to those evaluated within this analysis and to establish the consistency of SAS2H predictions. The results of this analysis may then be applied to future depletion calculations using SAS2H in which no measurements are available.

To organize its investigation of whether changes are needed in the nation’s current approach to storing and eventually transporting spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level waste (HLW), the Subcommittee began by asking a series of related questions:
• What role should storage play in an integrated U.S. waste management system and strategy in the future?

This report puts forth a number of options and recommendations for how to engage
stakeholders and other members of the public in the storage and management of spent
nuclear fuel and high level waste in the United States. The options are generated from a
scientific review of existing publications proposing criteria for assessing past efforts to
engage publics and stakeholders in decision-making about risky technologies. A set of
nine principles are derived for evaluating cases of public and stakeholder engagement with

Analytical methods, described in this report, are used to
systematically determine experimental fuel sub-batch
reactivities as a function of burnup. Fuel sub-batch reactivities
are inferred using more than 600 in-core pressurized water
reactor (PWR) flux maps taken during 44 cycles of operation
at the Catawba and McGuire nuclear power plants. The
analytical methods systematically search for fuel sub-batch
reactivities that minimize differences between measured and
computed reaction rates, using Studsvik Scandpower’s

Pressurized water reactor (PWR) burnup credit validation is
demonstrated using the benchmarks for quantifying fuel reactivity
decrements, published as Benchmarks for Quantifying Fuel Reactivity
Depletion Uncertainty, Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)
report 1022909. This demonstration uses the depletion module
TRITON (Transport Rigor Implemented with Time-Dependent
Operation for Neutronic Depletion) available in the SCALE 6.1
(Standardized Computer Analyses for Licensing Evaluations) code

The concept of direct disposal of dual-purpose canisters (DPCs) has not been previously considered
for the Yucca Mountain geologic repository because of concerns, among other reasons,
about degradation of the reactivity-control material over the relatively long period of the repository
analyses. Aluminum-based neutron absorber materials, typically used in DPCs, are not
expected to have sufficient corrosion resistance necessary to retain their integrity over a 10,000+

This report presents a methodology for validation of the isotopic
contents of spent light water reactor fuel for actinide-only burnup
credit with additional high-quality radiochemistry assay (RCA) data
obtained from the Yankee Rowe pressurized water reactor. The
additional Yankee Rowe RCA data were not included in previous
isotopic validation studies for burnup credit due to the difficulty of
accurately modeling the complex Yankee Rowe fuel assembly design
using the SAS2H one-dimensional sequence of the earlier SCALE

In order to decrease the risk of terrorism, it has been suggested that used nuclear fuel should be
moved to dry storage early, after five years cooling in the spent fuel pool. The Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC) has reviewed this issue and issued a white paper stating that it
did not believe such a measure was justified in light of additional security measures implemented
at nuclear plants and the impacts associated with the early movement of used fuel into dry

Japan’s spent fuel management and fuel cycle programs are now at a critical stage. Its first commercial-scale reprocessing plant, at Rokkasho Village, will soon start full-scale operation.

The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as amended, established a statutory basis
for managing the nation’s civilian (or commercially produced) spent nuclear
fuel. The law established a process for siting, developing, licensing, and constructing
an underground repository for the permanent disposal of that waste.
Utilities were given the primary responsibility for storing spent fuel until it is
accepted by the Department of Energy (DOE) for disposal at a repository —
originally expected to begin operating in 1998. Since then, however, the repository

A methodology for performing and applying nuclear criticality safety calculations, for PWR spent nuclear fuel (SNF) packages with actinide-only burnup credit, is described. The changes in the U-234, U-235, U-236, U-238, Pu-238, Pu-239, Pu-240, Pu-241, Pu-242, and Am-241 concentration with burnup are used in burnup credit criticality analyses. No credit for fission product neutron absorbers is taken. The methodology consists of five major steps. (1) Validate a computer code system to calculate isotopic concentrations of SNF created during burnup in the reactor core and subsequent decay.

This paper provides insights into the neutronic similarities between a representative high-capacity rail-transport cask containing typical pressurized water reactor (PWR) spent nuclear fuel assemblies and critical reactor state-points, referred to as commercial reactor critical (CRC) state-points. Forty CRC state-points from five PWRs were analyzed, and the characteristics of CRC state-points that may be applicable for validation of burnup-credit criticality safety calculations for spent fuel transport/storage/disposal systems were identified.

This report is part of a report series designed to document benchmark-quality radiochemical isotopic
assay data against which computer code accuracy can be quantified to establish the uncertainty and bias
associated with the code predictions. The experimental data included in the report series were acquired
from domestic and international programs and include spent fuel samples that cover a large burnup range.
The measurements analyzed in the current report, for which experimental data is publicly available,

This report puts forth a number of options and recommendations for how to engage
stakeholders and other members of the public in the storage and management of spent
nuclear fuel and high level waste in the United States. The options are generated from a
scientific review of existing publications proposing criteria for assessing past efforts to
engage publics and stakeholders in decision-making about risky technologies. A set of
nine principles are derived for evaluating cases of public and stakeholder engagement with