An Innovative Cask for Transporting Defense High-Level Waste
In the early 1980s, the U.S. Department of Energy/Defense Programs (DOE/DP) initiated a project to develop a safe and efficient transportation system for defense high-level waste (DHLW)....
Certification Challenges in the Development of an Innovative High Payload Capacity Spent Fuel Transportation Cask
The design approach and certification strategy used in the development of an innovative transportation cask for legal weight truck shipments of spent nuclear fuel is presented. The proposed...
TN28V High Capacity Cask for the Transport and Storage of Vitrified Wastes
When the option of reprocessing has been selected, closing of the fuel cycle implies the return shipment of reprocessing wastes back to the country of origin of the spent fuel, in particular...
Operational Considerations in Specifying Legal Weight Vehicles for the Highway Transport of Spent Nuclear Fuel
This paper presents the results of a research project in which tractor manufacturers and carrier companies were interviewed to gather information on operational concerns in specifying...
Social Realities in High-Level Radioactive Waste Management and Their Policy Implication
The management of high-level radioactive waste involves a number of enduring social realities that have posed major obstables to timely progress. These realities include: the deep-seated...
Current Social Systems Issues in the U.S. High Level Waste Management Program
Major changes in the U.S. high level waste management program since passage of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (NWPA) have weakened the social consensus about waste policy that existed...
A Numerical Study of Some Effects of Nuclear Fuel Waste Vault Construction and Closure on Evolution of Groundwater Flow Paths in the Geosphere
We have performed a series of three dimensional finite-element simulations on the sensitivity of the groundwater flow paths and travel times in a conceptual hydrogeological model with...
Three-Dimensional Plume Dynamics in the Vadose Zone: PORFLO-3 Modeling of a Defense Waste Leak at Hanford
In 1973, approximately 450 m3 of liquid containing radioactive and chemical wastes leaked from the 241-T-106 single-shell tank into the vadose zone...
Permeability and Dispersivity of Variable-Aperture Fracture Systems
A number of recent experiments have pointed out the need of including the effects of aperture variation within each fracture in predicting flow and transport properties of fractured media....
A Stratified Percolation Model for Saturated and Unsaturated Flow Through Natural Fractures
The geometry of the asperities of contact between the two surfaces of a fracture and of the adjacent void spaces determines fluid flow through a fracture and the mechanical deformation...
Study of Fractal Aperture Distribution and Flow in Fractures
This study examines the roughness profiles and aperture distributions of fractures and faults by using concepts from fractal geometry. Simple models of flow of fluid in rough fractures...
Dynamic Use of Geoscience Information to Develop Scientific Understanding for a Nuclear Waste Repository
The development and safety evaluation of a nuclear waste geologic repository require a proper scientific understanding of the site response. Such scientific understanding depends on information...
Infill Sampling Design for Geologic Site Characterization of Potential High-Level Radioactive Waste Repositories
Geologic site characterization is fundamental to the selection and design of a high-level radioactive waste repository. Yet, to date, the simple question 'how many samples...
Plans for Characterization of the Potential Geologic Repository Site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada
Site investigations in the vicinity of the potential repository site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, have occurred for many years. This is due to the proximity of the potential repository site...
Surface-Based Site Characterization Testing to Determine the Suitability of the Yucca Mountain Site for a Nuclear Waste Repository
The Yucca Mountain Site in Nevada is currently being evaluated by the U.S. Department of Energy to determine its suitability for the first U.S. high-level radioactive waste repository....
Assessment of Natural Resources in Repository Siting
One way to discourage people from intruding into a repository for high-level radioactive waste is to locate it at a place that is not valuable for mineral resources. Thus, the Nuclear...
Geochemical Modeling: An Integrated Approach to Nuclear Waste Disposal Issues
To meet nuclear waste repository licensing requirements, the response of repository components and of the enclosing host rocks and fluids to temperature fluctuations, fluid flow, radionuclide...
Thermal Stability of Zeolitic Tuff from Yucca Mountain, Nevada
Thermal models of the potential repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, suggest that rocks near the potential host rock will experience elevated temperatures for at least 1000 yr. In order...
Drill-Back Studies Examine Fractured, Heated Rock
To investigate the effects of heating on the mineralogical, geochemical, and mechanical properties of rock by high-level radioactive waste, cores are being examined from holes penetrating...
Simulation of Heat Transfer in the Unsaturated Zone
It is well known that heat transfer can play an important roll in fluid flow near the emplacement site of high-level nuclear waste (K. Pruess and J.S.W. Wang, 1987). Heat transfer effects...
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