Report on Intact and Degraded Criticality for Selected Plutonium Waste Forms in a Geologic Repository

As part of the plutonium waste form development and down-select process, repository analyses have been conducted to evaluate the long-term performance of these forms for repository acceptance. Intact and degraded mode criticality analysis of the mixed oxide (MOX) spent fuel is presented in Volume I, while Volume II presents the evaluations of the waste form containing plutonium immobilized in a ceramic matrix.

Petition and Letters from Secretatry of Energy regarding US DOE Proposal to Congress

Consistent with the mandate issued by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners v. United States Department of Energy, (Nos. 11-1066 and 11-1068; D.C. Cir. 2013), and notwithstanding the absence of the determination required to be made pursuant to the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (NWPA), as amended, 42 U.S.C. 10222(a)(4), I hereby propose, subject to any

LCEs for Naval Reactor Benchmark Calculations

The purpose of this engineering calculation is to document the MCNP4B2LVevaluations of Laboratory Critical Experiments (LCEs) performed as part of the Disposal Criticality Analysis Methodology program. LCE evaluations documented in this report were performed for 22 different cases with varied design parameters. Some of these LCEs (10) are documented in existing references (Ref. 7.1 and 7.2), but were re-run for this calculation file using more neutron histories.

Report to Congress on Reassessment of the Civilian Radioactive Waste Management Program

The success of the Civilian Radioactive Waste Management Program of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is critical to U.S. ability to manage and dispose of nuclear waste safely--and to the reestablishment of confidence in the nuclear energy option in the United States. The program must conform with all applicable standards and, in fact, set the example for a national policy on the safe disposal of radioactive waste. The Secretary of Energy has recently completed an extensive review of the

Nuclear Waste Policy Act (Section 112) - Environmental Assessment, Yucca Mountain Site, Nevada Research and Development Area, Nevada, Volume 1

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.

Practices and Developments in Spent Fuel Burnup Credit Applications-Proceedings of a Technical Committee Meeting Held in Madrid, April 22-26, 2002

Characteristics of Potential Repository Wastes

The Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) is responsible for all spent fuels and high-level wastes (HLW) that will eventually be disposed of in a geologic repository. The purpose of this document, and the information contained in the associated computerized data bases and supporting technical reports, is to provide the technical characteristics of the radioactive waste materials that will (or may) be accepted by DOE for interim storage in an MRS or emplacement in a repository as developed under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act Amendment of 1987.

Transportation and Storage Subcommittee Report to the Full Commission DRAFT

The main question before the Transportation and Storage Subcommittee was whether the United States should change its approach to storing and transporting spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level radioactive waste (HLW) while one or more permanent disposal facilities are established. To answer this question and to develop specific recommendations and options for consideration by the full Commission, the Subcommittee held multiple meetings and deliberative sessions, visited several

Summary Report of Commercial Reactor Criticality Data for Quad Cities Unit 2

Probabilistic External Criticality Evaluation (SCPB: N/A)

This analysis is prepared by the Mined Geologic Disposal System (MGDS) Waste Package Development (WPD) department to provide a probabilistic evaluation of the potential for criticality of fissile material which has been transported from a geologic repository containing breached waste packages of commercial spent nuclear fuel (SNF). This analysis is part of a continuing investigation of the probability of criticality resulting from the emplacement of spent nuclear fuel in a geologic repository.

Total System Model Version 6.0 Transportation Design and Bases

The Civilian Radioactive Waste Management System (CRWMS) Total System Model (TSM) is a planning tool that estimates the logistic and cost impacts of various operational assumptions in accepting radioactive wastes. Waste forms currently tracked are commercial spent nuclear fuel (CSNF), Department of Energy (DOE) Spent Nuclear Fuel (DOE SNF), and High-Level (radioactive) Waste (HLW). The TSM and associated programs analyze and simulate the actions for waste acceptance from discharge until emplacement.

Letter to President Obama - Blue Ribbon Commission

Dear Mr. President: At your direction, the Secretary of Energy established the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future to review policies for managing the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle and recommend a new strategy. We are pleased to be serving as Co‐ Chairmen of the Commission, and we are writing to you to highlight an important action we strongly believe should be reflected in your Fiscal Year 2013 baseline budget projections. In our draft report to the Secretary, issued in July of this year, the Commission

Isotopic Analysis of High-Burnup PWR Spent Fuel Samples from the Takahama-3 Reactor

This report presents the results of computer code benchmark simulations against spent fuel radiochemical assay measurements from the Kansai Electric Ltd. Takahama-3 reactor published by the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute. Takahama-3 is a pressurized-water reactor that operates with a 17 × 17 fuel-assembly design. Spent fuel samples were obtained from assemblies operated for 2 and 3 cycles and achieved a maximum burnup of 47 GWd/MTU. Radiochemical analyses were performed on two rods having an initial enrichment of

Abstraction of Drift Seepage

This model report documents the abstraction of drift seepage, conducted to provide seepage relevant parameters and their probability distributions for use in Total System Performance Assessment for License Application (TSPA-LA). Drift seepage refers to the flow of liquid water into waste emplacement drifts.

Direct Disposal of Dual-Purpose Canisters - Options for Assuring Criticality Control

Nuclear Criticality Calculations for Canister-Based Facilities - DOE SNF

The purpose of this calculation is to perform waste-form specific nuclear criticality safety calculations to aid in establishing criticality safety design criteria, and to identify design and process parameters that are potentially important to the criticality safety of Department of Energy (DOE) standardized Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) canisters.

Calculation of Upper Subcritical Limits for Nuclear Criticality in a Repository

The purpose of this document is to present the methodology to be used for development of the Subcritical Limit (SL) for post closure conditions for the Yucca Mountain repository. The SL is a value based on a set of benchmark criticality multiplier, keff> results that are outputs of the MCNP calculation method. This SL accounts for calculational biases and associated uncertainties resulting from the use of MCNP as the method of assessing kerr·

A Monitored Retrievable Storage Facility: Technical Background Information

Total System Model Version 6.0 GROA Department Design and Bases

The Total System Model (TSM) is a planning tool that estimates the logistic and cost impacts of various operational assumptions in accepting radioactive wastes. Waste forms currently tracked are Commercial Spent Nuclear Fuel (CSNF), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) spent nuclear fuel (DOE SNF), and defense high-level (radioactive) waste (HLW). The TSM uses a TSM Preprocessor (TSMPP) to generate the cask loads and target dates for shipments from waste sites. The TSM then tracks these wastes from pickup at the waste sites until repository

Geochemistry Model Validation Report: Material Degradation and Release Model

The purpose of the material degradation and release (MDR) model is to predict the fate of the waste package materials, specifically the retention or mobilization of the radionuclides and the neutron-absorbing material as a function of time after the breach of a waste package during the 10,000 years after repository closure. The output of this model is used directly to assess the potential for a criticality event inside the waste package due to the retention of the radionuclides combined with a loss of the neutron-absorbing material.

Total System Model Version 6.0 Validation Report

This validation report supports the issuance of the Total System Model (TSM) Version 6.0 (Bechtel SAIC, LLC (BSC) 2007a) that is described in the TSM User Manual (UM) (BSC 2007b) and the TSM Pre-Processor (TSMPP) UM (BSC 2007c), and other supporting documentation in References BSC 2007d, BSC 2007e, 2007f, and 2007g. This report assumes the reader has detailed, working knowledge of the TSM functions and Civilian Radioactive Waste Management System (CRWMS) operations.

Dissolved Concentration Limits of Elements with Radioactive Isotopes

The purpose of this study is to evaluate dissolved concentration limits (also referred to as solubility limits) of elements with radioactive isotopes under probable repository conditions, based on geochemical modeling calculations using geochemical modeling tools, thermodynamic databases, field measurements, and laboratory experiments.

Japan’s Spent Fuel and Plutonium Management Challenges

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.

Summary Report of Commercial Reactor Criticality Data for LaSalle Unit 1

The "Summary Report of Commercial Reactor Criticality Data for LaSalle Unit 1" contains the detailed information necessary to perform commercial reactor criticality (CRC) analyses for the LaSalle Unit 1 (LS 1) reactor.

Validation Report for Total System Model Preprocessor Version 6

The Total System Model Preprocessor (TSMPP) is a part of the Total System Model (TSM), which is a PC-based simulator that is a decision aid to achieve overall Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) disposal objectives. The TSM is identified as Level 3, i.e., not Important To Safety (ITS) and not Important To Waste Isolation (ITWI), software in the Bechtel SAIC Company, LLC (BSC) Controlled Software Report. The TSMPP combines information about existing conditions, such as waste inventory estimates