scholarly journals Use of One-On Analysis to Evaluate Total System Performance of the Proposed Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jr. G.J. Saulnier ◽  
K.P. Lee ◽  
S. Mehta ◽  
S.D. Sevougian ◽  
D. Kalinich ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Waste ◽  
System Performance ◽  
Yucca Mountain ◽  
Nuclear Waste Repository ◽  
Total System ◽  
Waste Repository

Experimental Investigation of Hydrous Pyrolysis of Diesel Fuel and the Effect of Pyrolysis Products on Performance of the Candidate Nuclear Waste Repository at Yucca Mountain

1993 ◽  
Vol 333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth J. Jackson ◽  
Susan A. Carroll
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Investigation ◽  
Nuclear Waste ◽  
Diesel Fuel ◽  
Yucca Mountain ◽  
Nuclear Waste Repository ◽  
Hydrothermal Solutions ◽  
Pyrolysis Products ◽  
Analytical Technique ◽  
Hydrous Pyrolysis ◽  
Waste Repository

It is thought that a significant amount of diesel fuel and other hydrocarbon-rich phases may remain inside the candidate nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain after construction and subsequent emplacement of radioactive waste. Although the proposed repository horizon is above the water table, the remnant hydrocarbon phases may react with hydrothermal solutions generated by high temperature conditions that will prevail for a period of time in the repository. The preliminary experimental results of this study show that diesel fuel hydrous pyrolysis is minimal at 200°C and 70 bars. The composition of the diesel fuel remained constant throughout the experiment and the concentration of carboxylic acids in the aqueous phases was only slightly above the detection limit (1–2 ppm) of the analytical technique.

Yucca mountain nuclear waste repository takes next step - [News]

IEEE Spectrum ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 28-28
Author(s):  
David P. Amber ◽  
Willie D. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Waste ◽  
Yucca Mountain ◽  
Nuclear Waste Repository ◽  
Waste Repository

Total System Performance Assessment Model for the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Potential High-Level Nuclear Waste Repository at Yucca Mountain

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
George J. Saulnier ◽  
K. Patrick Lee ◽  
Donald A. Kalinich ◽  
S. David Sevougian ◽  
Jerry A. McNeish
Keyword(s):  
System Performance ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Yucca Mountain ◽  
Nuclear Waste Repository ◽  
Total System ◽  
Operating Modes ◽  
Final Rule ◽  
High Level Nuclear Waste ◽  
High Level ◽  
Component Models

The total-system performance assessment (TSPA) model for the final environmental impact statement (FEIS) for the potential high-level nuclear-waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada was developed from a series of analyses and model studies of the Yucca Mountain site. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has recommended the Yucca Mountain, Nevada site for the potential development of a geologic repository for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. In May 2001, the DOE released the Yucca Mountain Science and Engineering Report (S&ER) for public review and comment. The S&ER summarizes more than 20 years of scientific and engineering studies supporting the site recommendation (SR). Following internal reviews of the S&ER and other documents, the DOE performed supplemental analyses of uncertainty in support of the SR as summarized in the Supplemental Science and Performance Analysis (SSPA) reports [2, 3]. The SSPA (1) provided insights into the impact of new scientific data and improved models and (2) evaluated a range of thermal operating modes and their effect on the predicted performance of a potential repository. The various updated component models for the SSPA resulted in a modified TSPA model, referred to as the supplemental TSPA model or SSPA TSPA model capturing the combined effects of the alternative model representations on system performance. The SSPA TSPA model was the basis for analyses for the FEIS for the Yucca Mountain site. However, after completion of the SSPA, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its final radiation-protection standards for the potential repository at Yucca Mountain (40 CFR Part 197). Compliance with the regulation required modification of several of the component models (e.g., the biosphere transport model and the saturated-zone transport model) in order to evaluate repository performance against the new standards. These changes were incorporated into the SSPA TSPA model. The resulting FEIS TSPA model, known as the “integrated TSPA model,” was used to perform the calculations presented in this report. The results of calculations using the FEIS TSPA model under a non-disruptive scenario, show that the potential disposal of commercial and DOE waste at a Yucca Mountain repository would not produce releases to the environment that would exceed the regulatory standards promulgated in the EPA Final Rule 10 CFR 197 and the NRC Final Rule 10 CFR 63 for both individual protection and groundwater protection. The analyses also show that both the high and low-temperature operating modes result in similar mean annual dose to the reasonably maximally exposed individual (RMEI). Further, the analyses show that consideration of intrusive and extrusive igneous events, human intrusion, or inclusion of the potential inventory of all radioactive material in the commercial and DOE inventory would not exceed those published standards.

scholarly journals Studies of Altered Vitrophyre for the Prediction of Nuclear waste Repository-Induced Thermal Alteration at Yucca Mountain, Nevada

1983 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Schon S. Levy
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Waste ◽  
Thermal Loading ◽  
Adsorbed Water ◽  
Yucca Mountain ◽  
Nuclear Waste Repository ◽  
Thermal Alteration ◽  
Secondary Porosity ◽  
Hydrous Minerals ◽  
Waste Repository ◽  
A Minor

ABSTRACTNuclear waste emplacement in devitrified volcanic tuff at Yucca Mountain will raise the temperature of surrounding rock for a geologically significant period of time. This study evaluates the susceptibility of an underlying 50 ft-thick vitrophyre to thermal alteration by examining alteration that occurred in the rock as it cooled after deposition. A 10°C temperature rise should have no mineralogical effects on the vitrophyre, but an increase of 60° or more is likely to result in alteration. Expected mineralogic changes in the vitrophyre caused by this amount of thermal loading include crystallization of zeolites and smectite. Alteration will be concentrated in a thin interval near the top of the vitrophyre and along fractures. Adsorbed water and water in preexisting hydrous minerals and in glass may contribute to hydrothermal alteration of underlying vitrophyre. Bulk porosity change would be slight and local porosity increase would probably be restricted to the upper part of the vitrophyre. Although some fracture filling could occur, such a minor sealing effect would be balanced by development of secondary porosity. Zeolites and smectite, newly-crystallized along fluid flow paths below the waste repository, could provide an enhanced sorptive barrier to radionuclide migration.

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