Publications Details

Conceptual structure of performance assessments for the geologic disposal of radioactive waste

Helton, J.C.; Hansen, Clifford H.; Sallaberry, Cedric J.

A conceptual structure for performance assessments (PAs) for radioactive waste disposal facilities and other complex engineered facilities based on the following three basic conceptual entities is described: EN1, a probability space that characterizes aleatory uncertainty; EN2, a function that predicts consequences for individual elements of the sample space for aleatory uncertainty; and EN3, a probability space that characterizes epistemic uncertainty. The implementation of this structure is illustrated with results from PAs for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant and the proposed Yucca Mountain repository for high-level radioactive waste.