Publications Details

Role of flexible design in staged development of repositories for spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste

Williams, Jeffrey R.; Cotton, Thomas A.; Rechard, Rob P.

At the early stages of a repository program an important decision is the selection of a system development strategy that will lead effectively and efficiently to a final operating system in the face of inevitable technical and institutional uncertainties about how the future will unfold. The approach to designing the repository can contribute to the flexibility required to allow a repository program to adapt to unforeseen developments. The evolution of the Yucca Mountain repository design from a large integrated facility optimized for a single reference development and operation scenario to a modular design that is more readily adaptable to a wide range of alternative futures is an example of both the importance of and an approach to designing flexibility into a repository system.