Publications

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Current practice for commercial spent nuclear fuel management in the United States of America (US) includes storage of spent fuel in both pools and dry storage cask systems at nuclear power plants. Most storage pools are filled to their operational capacity, and management of the approximately 2,200 metric tons of spent fuel newly discharged each year requires transferring older and cooler fuel from pools into dry storage. In the absence of a repository that can accept spent fuel for permanent disposal, projections indicate that the US will have approximately 134,000 metric tons of spent fuel in dry storage by mid-century when the last plants in the current reactor fleet are decommissioned. Current designs for storage systems rely on large dual-purpose (storage and transportation) canisters that are not optimized for disposal. Various options exist in the US for improving integration of management practices across the entire back end of the nuclear fuel cycle.

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Safety assessments estimate the long-term performance of geological disposal systems for radioactive waste using quantitative models. This paper reviews regulatory standards, selection of scenarios for analysis, the development of computational models and their linkage into a system analysis, and the iterative relationship between site characterization and safety assessment. Uncertainty must be acknowledged and can be accounted for using both conservative deterministic and probabilistic approaches. In addition to generating performance estimates for comparison to regulatory standards, safety assessments can also guide research and model development, evaluate design alternatives, enhance the scientific understanding of the system, and contribute to public acceptance.

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The Spent Fuel and Waste Science and Technology Campaign, formerly the Used Fuel Disposition Research and Development Campaign, within the Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy identifies alternatives and conducts scientific research and technology development to enable storage, transportation, and disposal of spent nuclear fuel and wastes generated by existing and future nuclear fuel cycles. This paper summarizes the major fiscal year 2016 accomplishments of the spent nuclear fuel storage and transportation part of the campaign. The purpose of the storage and transportation research and development is to support development of the technical basis to inform management and licensing decisions regarding storage and transportation of spent nuclear fuel. Storage research and development focuses on closing technical gaps related to extended storage of spent nuclear fuel, including uncertainties with highburnup spent nuclear fuel cladding performance and long-term canister integrity. Transportation research and development focuses on ensuring transportability of spent nuclear fuel following extended storage, addressing data gaps regarding nuclear fuel integrity, retrievability, and understanding the stresses and strains the fuel experiences during normal conditions of transport. Both of these areas are currently initiating large, multi-year tests, and this paper provides the progress of each. Because the tests are in the initial stages, little data will be presented here; further data will be available as the tests mature. References will be provided in this document for additional background, data, and details.

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An important issue for present and future generations is the final disposal of spent nuclear fuel. Over the past over forty years, the development of technologies to isolate both spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and other high-level nuclear waste (HLW) generated at nuclear power plants and from production of defense materials, and low- and intermediate-level nuclear waste (LILW) in underground rock and sediments has been found to be a challenging undertaking. Finding an appropriate solution for the disposal of nuclear waste is an important issue for protection of the environment and public health, and it is a prerequisite for the future of nuclear power. The purpose of a deep geological repository for nuclear waste is to provide to future generations, protection against any harmful release of radioactive material, even after the memory of the repository may have been lost, and regardless of the technical knowledge of future generations. The results of a wide variety of investigations on the development of technology for radioactive waste isolation from 19 countries were published in the First Worldwide Review in 1991 (Witherspoon, 1991). The results of investigations from 26 countries were published in the Second Worldwide Review in 1996 (Witherspoon, 1996). The results from 32 countries were summarized in the Third Worldwide Review in 2001 (Witherspoon and Bodvarsson, 2001). The last compilation had results from 24 countries assembled in the Fourth Worldwide Review (WWR) on radioactive waste isolation (Witherspoon and Bodvarsson, 2006). Since publication of the last report in 2006, radioactive waste disposal approaches have continued to evolve, and there have been major developments in a number of national geological disposal programs. Significant experience has been obtained both in preparing and reviewing cases for the operational and long-term safety of proposed and operating repositories. Disposal of radioactive waste is a complex issue, not only because of the nature of the waste, but also because of the detailed regulatory structure for dealing with radioactive waste, the variety of stakeholders involved, and (in some cases) the number of regulatory entities involved.

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For more than three decades, the US Department of Energy has investigated the potential for permanent disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel in a deep-mined repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada (USA). A detailed license application submitted to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2008 provides full documentation of the case for permanent disposal of nuclear waste in tuff. The aridity of the site and great depth to the water table provide a disposal environment and a design concept unique among deep-mined repositories currently or previously proposed worldwide.

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