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Evaluation of Internal Criticality of the Plutonium Disposition MOX SNF Waste Form

The purpose of this calculation is to perform a parametric study to determine the effects of fission product leaching, assembly collapse, and iron oxide loss on the reactivity of a waste package (WP) containing mixed oxide (MOX) spent nuclear fuel (SNF). Previous calculations (CRWMS M&O 1998a) have shown that the criticality control features of the WP are adequate to prevent criticality of a flooded WP for all the enrichment/burnup pairs expected for the MOX SNF.

Design Evolution Study: Thermal Operating Methodology

This study provides results supporting the conclusion that the repository can be operated over a varying range of thermal modes and therefore temperatures. In particular, this work focused on limiting the peak, postclosure waste package surface temperature to less than 85 degrees Celsius, a possible limit due to corrosion considerations. These operating modes were compared by varying the waste package in drift spacing (0.1-2.83 meters), drift pitch (drift spacing centerline to centerline of 40-120 meters), ventilation duration (75-300 years), and ventilation efficiency (50-80%).

Drift-Scale THC Seepage Model

The purpose of this report is to document the thermal-hydrologic-chemical (THC) seepage model and model simulations. The simulations predict the composition of fracture water that could potentially seep into repository emplacement drifts and the composition of the associated gas phase. The THC seepage model is not used to feed the total system performance assessment (TSPA) for the license application (LA).

MCNP Evaluation of Laboratory Critical Experiments: Homogeneous Mixture Criticals

The purpose of this analysis is to document Waste Package Development Department (WPPD) MCNP evaluations of benchmark solution Laboratory Critical Experiments (LCE's). The objective of this analysis is to quantify the ability of the MCNP 4A (Reference 5.4) code system to accurately calculate the effective neutron multiplication factor (keff) for various measured critical (i.e., keff=1.0) configurations.

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.

Criticality Evaluation of Plutonium Disposition Ceramic Waste Form: Degraded Mode

Thep purpose of this calculation is to perform degraded mode criticality evaluations of plutonium disposed in a ceramic waste form and emplaced in a Monitored geologic Repository (MGR). A 5 Defense High-Level Waste (DHLW) Canister Waste Package (WP) design, incorporating the can-in-canister concept for plutonium immobilization is considered in this calculation. Each HLW glass pour canister contains 7 tubes. Each tube contains 4 cans, with 20 ceramic disks (immobilized plutonium) in each.

CRC Reactivity Calculations for Quad Cities Unit 2

In the development of a methodology to account for exposure effects on the reactivity of spent Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) fuel in the proposed Monitored Geologic Repository (MGR) at Yucca Mountain, the accuracy of the methods used to predict the inventories of fissile and fissionable nuclides as well as neutron poisons present in the spent fuel must be established. One aspect ofthis confirmatory effort is accomplished by performing benchmark problems for known in-reactor critical configurations - Commercial Reactor Criticals (CRCs).

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

The purpose of this calculation is to perform intact mode and partially degraded mode criticality evaluations of the Department of Energy's (DOE) Enrico Fermi (EF) Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) co-disposed in a 5 Defense High-Level Waste (5-DHLW) Waste Package (WP) and emplaced in a Monitored Geologic Repository (MGR). The criticality evaluations estimate the values of the effective neutron multiplication factor, keff, as a measure of nuclear criticality potential, for the 5- DHLW/DOE SNF WP with intact or partially degraded internal configurations.

Evaluation of Codisposal Viability for MOX (FFTF) DOE-Owned Fuel

There are more than 250 forms of U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)-owned spent nuclear fuel (SNF). Due to the variety of the spent nuclear fuel, the National Spent Nuclear Fuel Program (NSNFP) has designated nine representative fuel groups for disposal criticality analyses based on fuel matrix, primary fissile isotope, and enrichment. Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) fuel has been designated as the representative fuel for the mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel group which is a mixture of uranium and plutonium oxides.

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