Canada’s New Nuclear Waste Act

Author(s):  
Peter A. Brown

The Nuclear Fuel Waste (NEW) Act is a stand-alone piece of legislation with some 30 articles and without regulations. The Act deals essentially with social, financial and socioeconomic considerations of the long-term management of nuclear fuel waste. It complements the health, environment, safety and security requirements under the Nuclear Safety and Control, Act. The NFW Act provides for 1) the nuclear industry to set up a waste management organization to manage the full long-term waste management activities and to establish trust funds to finance long-term waste management responsibilities; and 2) the waste management organization to submit, for government decision, long-term waste management options within three years of coming into force.

1997 ◽  
Vol 506 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.W. Dormuth ◽  
P.A. Gillespie ◽  
S.H. Whitaker

ABSTRACTA federal Environmental Assessment Panel has completed public hearings on the proposed concept for geological disposal of Canada's nuclear fuel waste. The Panel will make recommendations to assist the governments of Canada and Ontario in reaching decisions on the acceptability of the proposed concept and on the steps that must be taken to ensure the safe long-term management of nuclear fuel waste in Canada. It is instructive to review the background to the public hearings, to consider the issues that have been important in the public review, and to reflect on the opposing points of view presented at the hearings.


Author(s):  
Jorge Lang-Lenton Leo´n ◽  
Emilio Garcia Neri

Since 1984, ENRESA is responsible of the radioactive waste management and the decommissioning of nuclear installations in Spain. The major recent challenge has been the approval of the Sixth General Radioactive Waste Plan (GRWP) as “master plan” of the activities to be performed by ENRESA. Regarding the LILW programme, the El Cabril LILW disposal facility will be described highlighting the most relevant events especially focused on optimizing the existing capacity and the start-up of a purpose–built disposal area for VLLW. Concerning the HLW programme, two aspects may be distinguished in the direct management of spent fuel: temporary storage and long-term management. In this regards, a major challenge has been the decision adopted by the Spanish Government to set up a Interministerial Committee for the establishment of the criteria that must be met by the site of the Centralized Intermediate Storage (CTS) facility as the first and necessary step for the process. Also the developments of the long-term management programme will be presented in the frame of the ENRESA’s R&D programme. Finally, in the field of decommissioning they will be presented the PIMIC project at the CIEMAT centre and the activities in course for the decommissioning of Jose´ Cabrera NPP.


1996 ◽  
Vol 465 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. W. Forsberg

ABSTRACTA new repository waste package (WP) concept for spent nuclear fuel (SNF) is being investigated. The WP uses depleted uranium (DU) to improve performance and reduce the uncertainties of geological disposal of SNF. The WP would be loaded with SNF. Void spaces would then be filled with DU (∼0.2 wt % 235U) dioxide (UO2) or DU silicate-glass beads.Fission products and actinides can not escape the SNF UO2 crystals until the UO2 dissolves or is transformed into other chemical species. After WP failure, the DU fill material slows dissolution by three mechanisms: (1) saturation of WP groundwater with DU and suppression of SNF dissolution, (2) maintenance of chemically reducing conditions in the WP that minimize SNF solubility by sacrificial oxidation of DU from the +4 valence state, and (3) evolution of DU to lower-density hydrated uranium silicates. The fill expansion minimizes water flow in the degraded WP. The DU also isotopically exchanges with SNF uranium as the SNF degrades to reduce long-term nuclear-criticality concerns.


1998 ◽  
Vol 121 (2) ◽  
pp. 174-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernd Grambow ◽  
Andreas Loida ◽  
Emmanuel Smailos

1985 ◽  
Vol 50 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. B. Lyon ◽  
L. H. Johnson

AbstractThe Canadian Nuclear Fuel Waste Management Program is reviewed, illustrating the progress that has been made in assessing the concept of disposal of nuclear fuel waste in plutonic rock of the Canadian Shield. Research is being conducted into used fuel storage and transportation, fuel waste immobilization, site characterization and selection methods, and performance assessment modelling. Details of achievements in these areas are outlined, and results of the most recent interim assessment are discussed.


1984 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Onofrei ◽  
D. K. Raine ◽  
L. Brown ◽  
F. Stanchell

AbstractThe leaching behaviour of various ceramics was studied as part of a program to evaluate their potential use as container material for very long term containment of nuclear fuel waste under conditions of deep geologic disposal.Samples of four grades of Al2O3, stabilized ZrO2, TiO2, a cermet (70% A12O3- 30% TiC) and porcelain have been leached in deionized distilled water, Standard Canadian Shield Saline Solution (SCSSS), and SCSSS plus 20% Na-bentonite under static conditions at 100°C for periods up to 120 d.The results of these ongoing leaching experiments suggest that the controlling features of the ceramic leaching process were leachant composition, and the presence and concentration of ions in the solution capable of preferentially precipitating on the ceramic surface, i.e., silicon, Mg2+, Ca2+, etc. Weight losses were determined after leaching. The initial leach rates showed a dependence upon ceramic purity and the processing used to prepare the ceramics, as well as the leachant composition. Also, it was apparent that the decrease of leach rates with time occurred as a result of the ceramic components in the leachant approaching their saturation limits.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document