Skip to main content

Co-Mingled and Defense-Only Repositories

At the request of the staff to the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future (“BRC”), we have reviewed the following questions:
1. Is there legal authority for DOE or any other entity to undertake to site a repository for “co-mingled” nuclear materials (i.e., civilian and defense spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level radioactive waste (HLW)) at any site other than Yucca Mountain?

Monitored Retrievable Storage Facility Design Criteria Policy Document - 2nd Draft

The Design Criteria Policy Document will provide guidance on the types of Design Events, Design Basis Accidents, and Design Criteria for Important To Radiological Safety Systems, Structures, and Components (SSCs) to be assumed during the design of the MRS facility. Definitions of key terms associated with Design Events are also included with this document. Appropriate combinations of Design Events and criteria is identified.

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

Enrico Fermi Fast Reactor Spent Nuclear Fuel Criticality Calculations: Degraded Mode

The objective of this calculation is to characterize the nuclear criticality safety concerns
associated with the codisposal of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Enrico Fermi (EF) Spent
Nuclear Fuel (SNF) in a 5-Defense High-Level Waste (5-DHLW) Waste Package (WP) and
placed in a Monitored Geologic Repository (MGR). The scope of this calculation is limited to
the determination of the effective neutron multiplication factor (keff) for the degraded mode
internal configurations of the codisposal WP. The results of this calculation and those of Ref. 8

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.

Second Waste Package Probabilistic Criticality Analysis: Generation and Evaluation of Internal Criticality Configurations

This analysis is prepared by the Mined Geologic Disposal System (MGDS) Waste Package Development (WPD) department to provide an evaluation of the criticality potential within a waste package having some or all of its contents degraded by corrosion and removal of neutron absorbers. This analysis is also intended to provide an estimate of the consequences of any internal criticality, particularly in terms of any increase in radionuclide inventory. These consequence estimates will be used as part of the WPD input to the Total System Performance Assessment.

Range of Parameters For PWR SNF in a 21 PWR WP

This calculation file uses the MCNP neutron transport code to determine the range of parameters for Pressurized Water Reactor Spent Nuclear Fuel contained with a 21 PWR waste package (WP). Four base geometry patterns were considered in this work and included the following: intact fuel assemblies with intact WP internal components, intact fuel assemblies with degraded WP internal components, degraded fuel assemblies with intact WP internal components, and degraded fuel assemblies with degraded WP internal components.

44-BWR WASTE PACKAGE LOADING CURVE EVALUATION

The objective of this calculation is to evaluate the required minimum burnup as a function of initial boiling water reactor (BWR) assembly enrichment that would permit loading of spent nuclear fuel into the 44 BWR waste package configuration as provided in Attachment IV. This calculation is an application of the methodology presented in ''Disposal Criticality Analysis Methodology Topical Report'' (YMP 2003). The scope of this calculation covers a range of enrichments from 0 through 5.0 weight percent (wt%) U-235, and a burnup range of 0 through 40 GWd/MTU.

Sensitivity Study of Reactivity Consequences to Waste Package Egress Area

The criticality consequence analysis for pressurized water reactor (PWR) waste packages (WP)
(Civilian Radioactive Waste Management System [CRWMS] Management and Operating
Contractor [M&O] 1997) focused on results obtained by maximizing postulated rates of
reactivity insertion to assure no synergistic reactions could occur among waste packages from
hypothetical criticality events. Other variables potentially influencing the criticality
consequences were held constant during the above referenced analysis. One of those variables

Disclaimer: Note that this page contains links to external sites. When leaving the CURIE site, please note that the U.S. Department of Energy and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory do not control or endorse the content or ads on these sites.