A Proposal to Research the Storage Facility.docx

A Proposal to Research the Storage Facility.docx

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AProposaltoResearchtheStorageFacility

AProposaltoResearchtheStorageFacility

forSpentNuclearFuelatYuccaMountain

RogerBloom

October1997

Introduction

Nuclearpowerplantsproducemorethan20percentoftheelectricityusedintheUnitedStates[Murray,1989].Unfortunately,nuclearfission,theprocessusedtocreatethislargeamountenergy,createssignificantamountsofhighlevelradioactivewaste.Morethan30,000metrictonsofnuclearwastehavearisenfromU.S.commercialreactorsaswellashighlevelnuclearweaponswaste,suchasuraniumandplutonium[Roush,1995].Becauseofthebuild-upofthiswaste,somepowerplantswillbeforcedtoshutdown.Toavoidlosinganimportantsourceofenergy,asafeandeconomicalplacetokeepthiswasteisnecessary.ThisdocumentproposesaliteraturereviewofwhetherYuccaMountainisasuitablesiteforanuclearwasterepository.Theproposedreviewwilldiscusstheeconomicalandenvironmentalaspectsofanationalstoragefacility.Thisproposalincludesmymethodsforgatheringinformation,ascheduleforcompletingthereview,andmyqualifications.

StatementofProblem

OnJanuary1,1998,theDepartmentofEnergy（DOE）mustacceptspentnuclearfuelfromcommercialplantsforpermanentstorage[Clark,1997].However,theDOEisundecidedonwheretoputthishighlevelradioactivewaste.YuccaMountain,locatedinNevada,isaproposedsite.

TherearemanyquestionsregardingthesafetyoftheYuccaMountainwasterepository.ResearchersatLosAlamosNationalLaboratorydisagreeoverthelong-termsafetyoftheproposedhighlevelnuclearwastesitelocatedinNevada.In1994,CharlesBowman,aresearcheratLosAlamos,developedatheoryclaimingthatyearsofstoringwasteinthemountainmayactuallystartanuclearchainreactionandexplode,similartoanatomicbomb[Taubes,1995].ThestircausedbytheorysuggeststhatresearchershavenotexploredallsidesofthesafetyissueconcerningpotentiallyhazardoussituationsatYuccaMountain.

Bowman'stheorythatYuccaMountaincouldexplodeisbasedupontheideathatenoughwastewilleventuallydispersethroughtherocktocreateacriticalmass.Acriticalmassisanamountoffissilematerial,suchasplutonium,containingenoughmasstostartaneutronchainreaction[Murray,1989].Bowmanarguesthatifthischainreactionwerestartedunderground,therocksinthegroundwouldhelpkeepthesystemcompressedandspeedupthechainreaction[Taubes,1995].Achainreactionformedundergroundcouldthengeneratehugeamountsofenergyinafractionofasecond,resultinginanuclearblast.Anuclearexplosionofthismagnitudewouldemitlargeamountsofradioactivityintotheairandgroundwater.

AnothersafetyconcernisthepossibilityofavolcaniceruptioninYuccaMountain.Thelong-termnuclearwastestoragefacilityneedstoremainstableforatleast10,000yearstoallowtheradioactiveisotopestodecaytonaturallevels[Clark,1997].Thereareatleastadozenyoungvolcanoeswithin40kilometersoftheproposedYuccaMountainwastesite[Weiss,1996].TheproximityofYuccaMountaintothesevolcanoesmakesitpossibletohaveavolcaniceruptionpassthroughthespentfuelwasterepository.Suchavolcaniceruptioncouldreleasedamagingamountsofradioactivitytotheenvironment.

Objectives

IproposetoreviewtheavailableliteratureaboutusingYuccaMountainasapossiblerepositoryforspentnuclearfuel.InthisreviewIwillachievethefollowingtwogoals:

（1）explainthecriteriaforasuitablerepositoryofhigh-levelradioactivewaste;and

（2）determinewhetherYuccaMountainmeetsthesecriteria.

AccordingtotheDepartmentofEnergy（DOE）,arepositoryforhigh-levelradioactivewastemustmeetseveralcriteriaincludingsafety,location,andeconomics[Roush,1995].Safetyincludesnotonlytheeffectoftherepositoryonpeoplenearthesite,butalsopeoplealongthetransportationroutestothesite.InmyresearchIwillconsiderbothgroupsofpeople.Asfaraslocation,awastesitecannotbeinanareawithalargepopulationornearagroundwatersupply.Also,becauseoneofthemostsignificantfactorsindeterminingthelifespanofapossiblerepositoryishowlongthewastestoragecanisterswillremainintact,thewastesitemustbelocatedinadryclimatetoeliminatethemoisturethatcancausethewastecanisterstocorrode.Theeconomicsinvolvedinselectingasiteisanothercriterion.Atpresent,theDepartmentofEnergy（DOE）hasspentmorethan1.7billiondollarsontheYuccaMountainproject[Taubes,1995].Forthatreason,muchpressureexiststoselectYuccaMountainasarepositorysite;otherwise,thismoneywouldhavebeenwasted.Othercosts,though,havetobeconsidered.Forinstance,howeconomicalisittotransportradioactivewasteacrossseveralstatestoasinglenationalsite?

Iwilltrytoaccountforasmanyoftheseothercostsaspossible.

Afterexplainingthecriteria,IwillassesshowwellYuccaMountainmeetsthosecriteria.Inthisassessment,Iwillnotassignanumericalscoreforeachcriterion.Rather,IwilldiscussqualitativelyhowwellYuccaMountainmeetseachcriterion.Insomesituations,disagreementexistsamongexpertsastohowwellYuccaMountainmeetsacriterion.Insuchcases,Iwillpresentbothsides.Inthisassessment,onlyYuccaMountainwillbeconsideredasapossiblesite.AlthoughmanysitesintheUnitedStatescouldmeettheDOE'sestablishedcriteria,IwillconsideronlyYuccaMountainbecausetheDOEisconsideringonlyYuccaMountain[Taube,1995].

PlanofAction

Thissectionpresentsmyplanforobtainingtheobjectivesdiscussedintheprevioussection.TherehasbeenanincreaseofinterestinthenuclearindustryconcerningtheYuccaMountainsitebecauseoftheJanuary1,1998,deadlinefortheDOE.SeveraljournalarticlesandpapersdiscussingthepossibilityofYuccaMountainasaspentfuelrepositoryinournearfuturehavesurfacedasaconsequenceofthatinterest.Thesearticlesandbooksaboutthedangersofnuclearwasteshouldprovidesufficientinformationformetocompletemyreview.ThefollowingtwoparagraphswilldiscusshowIwillusethesesourcesinmyresearch.

Thefirstgoalofmyresearchistoexplainthecriteriafordeterminingwhetheranuclearwasterepositoryissuitable.Forexample,willtherockstructurebeabletowithstandhumaninvasioninthefuture[Clark,1997]?

Whatwillhappenifthewastecontainerscorrodeanddonotlastaslongaspredicted?

Willthenaturalsettingcontainthewaste?

Toachievethisgoal,Iwillrelyon"Backgroundon40CFRPart197EnvironmentalStandardsforYuccaMountain"[Clark,1997],theDOEYuccaMountainhomepage[1997],andthebookUnderstandingRadioactiveWaste[Murray,1989].

AsecondgoalofmyliteraturereviewistoevaluateYuccaMountainmeetsthosecriteria.IwillbasemyevaluationonthesourcesmentionedaboveaswellasspecificEnvironmentalProtectionAgencystandards.Ialsointendtoresearchthevalidityofpossibleenvironmentaldisasters,suchastheexplosiontheory.Toaccomplishthisgoal,IwillrelyonthepaperpresentedbyClark[1997],andonthebookBlowupatYuccaMountain[Taubes,1995].

Becauseengineeringstudentsaretheprimaryaudienceformyproposedresearchtopicandmaynotbefamiliarwiththehistoryofnuclearwaste,Iwillprovideabackgroundonpastmethodsusedforwastestorage.Peopleinthenuclearfieldwithsomeknowledgeofthewasteproblemfacingtheindustrymaybeasecondaryaudience.

ManagementPlan

Thissectionpresentsmyschedule,costs,andqualificationsforcompletingtheproposedresearch.Thisresearchculminatesinaformalreport,whichwillbecompletedbyDecember5,1997.Toreachthisgoal,IwillfollowtheschedulepresentedinFigure1.SinceIalreadypossessliteratureonthesubjectofYuccaMountainasanuclearwastesite,mostofmytimewillbespentsortingthroughtheliteraturetofindkeyresults,andpresentingthoseresultstotheaudience.

Figure1.Scheduleforcompletionoftheliteraturereview.TheformalpresentationwillbeonOctober27,andtheformalreportwillbecompletedbyDecember5.

GiventhatallmysourcesareavailablethroughtheUniversityofWisconsinlibrarysystem,thereisnoappreciablecostassociatedwithperformingthisreview,unlessonetakesintoconsiderationtheamountoftuitionspentonmaintainingtheuniversitylibraries.Theonlyotherminorcostsarephotocopyingarticles,creatingtransparenciesformypresentation,printingmyreport,andbindingmyreport.Iestimatetheseexpenseswillnotexceed$20.

IamaseniorintheEngineeringPhysicsDepartmentattheUniversityofWisconsinatMadison,majoringinnuclearengineeringandphysics.Ihavetakenseveralclassesrelatedtonuclearwaste,economics,andenvironmentalstudies.Ibelievethatthesecourseswillaidmeinpreparingtheproposedreview.Forfurtherinformationaboutmyqualifications,seetheattachedresume.

Conclusion

Morethan30,000metrictonsofnuclearwastehavearisenfromU.S.commercialreactorsaswellashighlevelnuclearweaponswaste,suchasuraniumandplutonium[Roush,1995].ThisdocumenthasproposedresearchtoevaluatethepossibilityofusingYuccaMountainasapossiblerepositoryforthisspentnuclearfuel.Theproposedresearchwillachievethefollowinggoals:

（1）explainthecriterianecessarytomakeasuitablehighlevelradioactivewasterepository,and

（2）determineifYuccaMountainmeetsthesecriteria.TheresearchwillincludeaformalpresentationonNovember11andaformalreportonDecember5.

References

Clark,RaymondL.,"Backgroundon40CFRPart197EnvironmentalRadiationProte