Reference concepts for geologic disposal of used nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste in the U.S. are developed, including geologic settings and engineered barriers. Repository thermal analysis is demonstrated for a range of waste types from projected future, advanced nuclear fuel cycles. The results show significant differences among geologic media considered (clay/shale, crystalline rock, salt), and also that waste package size and waste loading must be limited to meet targeted maximum temperature values. In this study, the UFD R&D Campaign has developed a set of reference geologic disposal concepts for a range of waste types that could potentially be generated in advanced nuclear FCs. A disposal concept consists of three components: waste inventory, geologic setting, and concept of operations. Mature repository concepts have been developed in other countries for disposal of spent LWR fuel and HLW from reprocessing UNF, and these serve as starting points for developing this set. Additional design details and EBS concepts will be considered as the reference disposal concepts evolve. The waste inventory considered in this study includes: (1) direct disposal of SNF from the LWR fleet, including Gen III+ advanced LWRs being developed through the Nuclear Power 2010 Program, operating in a once-through cycle; (2) waste generated from reprocessing of LWR UOX UNF to recover U and Pu, and subsequent direct disposal of used Pu-MOX fuel (also used in LWRs) in a modified-open cycle; and (3) waste generated by continuous recycling of metal fuel from fast reactors operating in a TRU burner configuration, with additional TRU material input supplied from reprocessing of LWR UOX fuel. The geologic setting provides the natural barriers, and establishes the boundary conditions for performance of engineered barriers. The composition and physical properties of the host medium dictate design and construction approaches, and determine hydrologic and thermal responses of the disposal system. Clay/shale, salt, and crystalline rock media are selected as the basis for reference mined geologic disposal concepts in this study, consistent with advanced international repository programs, and previous investigations in the U.S. The U.S. pursued deep geologic disposal programs in crystalline rock, shale, salt, and volcanic rock in the years leading up to the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, or NWPA (Rechard et al. 2011). The 1987 NWPA amendment act focused the U.S. program on unsaturated, volcanic rock at the Yucca Mountain site, culminating in the 2008 license application. Additional work on unsaturated, crystalline rock settings (e.g., volcanic tuff) is not required to support this generic study. Reference disposal concepts are selected for the media listed above and for deep borehole disposal, drawing from recent work in the U.S. and internationally. The main features of the repository concepts are discussed in Section 4.5 and summarized in Table ES-1. Temperature histories at the waste package surface and a specified distance into the host rock are calculated for combinations of waste types and reference disposal concepts, specifying waste package emplacement modes. Target maximum waste package surface temperatures are identified, enabling a sensitivity study to inform the tradeoff between the quantity of waste per disposal package, and decay storage duration, with respect to peak temperature at the waste package surface. For surface storage duration on the order of 100 years or less, waste package sizes for direct disposal of SNF are effectively limited to 4-PWR configurations (or equivalent size and output). Thermal results are summarized, along with recommendations for follow-on work including adding additional reference concepts, verification and uncertainty analysis for thermal calculations, developing descriptions of surface facilities and other system details, and cost estimation to support system-level evaluations.
This report evaluates the feasibility of disposing U.S. high-level radioactive waste in granite several hundred meters below the surface of the earth. The U.S. has many granite formations with positive attributes for permanent disposal. Similar crystalline formations have been extensively studied by international programs, two of which, in Sweden and Finland, are the host rocks of submitted or imminent repository license applications. This report is enabled by the advanced work of the international community to establish functional and operational requirements for disposal of a range of waste forms in granite media. In this report we develop scoping performance analyses, based on the applicable features, events, and processes (FEPs) identified by international investigators, to support generic conclusions regarding post-closure safety. Unlike the safety analyses for disposal in salt, shale/clay, or deep boreholes, the safety analysis for a mined granite repository depends largely on waste package preservation. In crystalline rock, waste packages are preserved by the high mechanical stability of the excavations, the diffusive barrier of the buffer, and favorable chemical conditions. The buffer is preserved by low groundwater fluxes, favorable chemical conditions, backfill, and the rigid confines of the host rock. An added advantage of a mined granite repository is that waste packages would be fairly easy to retrieve, should retrievability be an important objective. The results of the safety analyses performed in this study are consistent with the results of comprehensive safety assessments performed for sites in Sweden, Finland, and Canada. They indicate that a granite repository would satisfy established safety criteria and suggest that a small number of FEPs would largely control the release and transport of radionuclides. In the event the U.S. decides to pursue a potential repository in granite, a detailed evaluation of these FEPs would be needed to inform site selection and safety assessment.
Pd and Pd alloys are candidate material systems for Tr or H storage. We have actively engaged in material synthesis and studied the material science of hydrogen storage for Pd-Rh alloys. In collaboration with UC Davis, we successfully developed/optimized a supersonic gas atomization system, including its processing parameters, for Pd-Rh-based alloy powders. This optimized system and processing enable us to produce {le} 50-{mu}m powders with suitable metallurgical properties for H-storage R&D. In addition, we studied hydrogen absorption-desorption pressure-composition-temperature (PCT) behavior using these gas-atomized Pd-Rh alloy powders. The study shows that the pressure-composition-temperature (PCT) behavior of Pd-Rh alloys is strongly influenced by its metallurgy. The plateau pressure, slope, and H/metal capacity are highly dependent on alloy composition and its chemical distribution. For the gas-atomized Pd-10 wt% Rh, the absorption plateau pressure is relatively high and consistent. However, the absorption-desorption PCT exhibits a significant hysteresis loop that is not seen from the 30-nm nanopowders produced by chemical precipitation. In addition, we observed that the presence of hydrogen introduces strong lattice strain, plastic deformation, and dislocation networking that lead to material hardening, lattice distortions, and volume expansion. The above observations suggest that the H-induced dislocation networking is responsible for the hysteresis loop seen in the current atomized Pd-10 wt% Rh powders. This conclusion is consistent with the hypothesis suggested by Flanagan and others (Ref 1) that plastic deformation or dislocations control the hysteresis loop.
A liquid metal ESD is being developed to provide electrical switching at different acceleration levels. The metal will act as both proof mass and electric contact. Mercury is chosen to comply with operation parameters. There are many challenges surrounding the deposition and containment of micro scale mercury droplets. Novel methods of micro liquid transfer are developed to deliver controllable amounts of mercury to the appropriate channels in volumes under 1 uL. Issues of hermetic sealing and avoidance of mercury contamination are also addressed.
This report investigates the effects that increased distributed photovoltaic (PV) generation would have on the Kauai Island Utility Co-op (KIUC) system operating requirements. The study focused on determining reserve requirements needed to mitigate the impact of PV variability on system frequency, and the impact on operating costs. Scenarios of 5-MW, 10-MW, and 15-MW nameplate capacity of PV generation plants distributed across the Kauai Island were considered in this study. The analysis required synthesis of the PV solar resource data and modeling of the KIUC system inertia. Based on the results, some findings and conclusions could be drawn, including that the selection of units identified as marginal resources that are used for load following will change; PV penetration will displace energy generated by existing conventional units, thus reducing overall fuel consumption; PV penetration at any deployment level is not likely to reduce system peak load; and increasing PV penetration has little effect on load-following reserves. The study was performed by EnerNex under contract from Sandia National Laboratories with cooperation from KIUC.
World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2011: Bearing Knowledge for Sustainability - Proceedings of the 2011 World Environmental and Water Resources Congress
TAC/AA (ad auction game) provides a forum for research into strategic bidding in keyword auctions to try out their ideas in an independently simulated setting. We describe an agent that successfully competed in the TAC/AA game, showing in the process how to operationalize game theoretic analysis to develop a very simple, yet highly competent agent. Specifically, we use simulation-based game theory to approximate equilibria in a restricted bidding strategy space, assess their robustness in a normative sense, and argue for relative plausibility of equilibria based on an analogy to a common agent design methodology. Finally, we offer some evidence for the efficacy of equilibrium predictions based on TAC/AA tournament data.
It is often observed that software engineering (SE) processes and practices for computational science and engineering (CSE) lag behind other SE areas [7]. This issue has been a concern for funding agencies, since new research increasingly relies upon and produces computational tools. At the same time, CSE research organizations find it difficult to prescribe formal SE practices for funded projects. Theoretical and experimental science rely heavily on independent verification of results as part of the scientific process. Computational science should have the same regard for independent verification but it does not. In this paper, we present an argument for using reproducibility and independent verification requirements as a driver to improve SE processes and practices. We describe existing efforts that support our argument, how these requirements can impact SE, challenges we face, and new opportunities for using reproducibility requirements as a driver for higher quality CSE software. Copyright 2011 ACM.
This paper describes the Regional Economic Accounting (REAcct) analysis tool that has been in use for the last 5 years to rapidly estimate approximate economic impacts for disruptions due to natural or manmade events. It is based on and derived from the well-known and extensively documented input-output modeling technique initially presented by Leontief and more recently further developed by numerous contributors. REAcct provides county-level economic impact estimates in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) and employment for any area in the United States. The process for using REAcct incorporates geospatial computational tools and site-specific economic data, permitting the identification of geographic impact zones that allow differential magnitude and duration estimates to be specified for regions affected by a simulated or actual event. Using these data as input to REAcct, the number of employees for 39 directly affected economic sectors (including 37 industry production sectors and 2 government sectors) are calculated and aggregated to provide direct impact estimates. Indirect estimates are then calculated using Regional Input-Output Modeling System (RIMS II) multipliers. The interdependent relationships between critical infrastructures, industries, and markets are captured by the relationships embedded in the inputoutput modeling structure.
Petti, Jason P.; Sagues, Alberto; Erler, Bryan A.; Naus, Dan J.; Weyers, Richard E.; Berke, Neal S.
This report documents the proceedings of an expert panel workshop conducted to evaluate the mechanisms of corrosion for the steel liner in nuclear containment buildings. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) sponsored this work which was conducted by Sandia National Laboratories. A workshop was conducted at the NRC Headquarters in Rockville, Maryland on September 2 and 3, 2010. Due to the safety function performed by the liner, the expert panel was assembled in order to address the full range of issues that may contribute to liner corrosion. This report is focused on corrosion that initiates from the outer surface of the liner, the surface that is in contact with the concrete containment building wall. Liner corrosion initiating on the outer diameter (OD) surface has been identified at several nuclear power plants, always associated with foreign material left embedded in the concrete. The potential contributing factors to liner corrosion were broken into five areas for discussion during the workshop. Those include nuclear power plant design and operation, corrosion of steel in contact with concrete, concrete aging and degradation, concrete/steel non-destructive examination (NDE), and concrete repair and corrosion mitigation. This report also includes the expert panel member's recommendations for future research.