Radioactive Waste Management

427 Pages·2001·25.9 MB·English

by  Tang, Yu S., Saling, James H., Fentiman, Audeen W

RADIOACTIVE WASTE
MANAGEMENT

RADIOACTIVE WASTE
MANAGEMENT
2nd Edition
Edited by
James H. Saling &
Audeen W. Fentiman
TAYLOR & FRANCIS
New York
Denise T. Schanck,Vice President
Robert H. Bedford,Editor
Catherine M. Caputo,Assistant Editor
Tom Hastings,Marketing Director
Mariluz Segarra,Marketing Associate
Published in 2001 by
Taylor & Francis
29 West 35th Street
New York,NY 10001
Published in Great Britain by
Taylor & Francis
11 New Fetter Lane
London EC4P 4EE
Copyright ©2001 by Taylor & Francis
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper.
All right reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any
electronic,mechanical,or other means,now known or hereafter invented,including photocopying and
recording or in any information storage or retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Radioactive waste management / edited by James H. Saling & Audeen W. Fentiman.–2nd ed.
p. cm.
Rev. ed. of:Radioactive waste management / Y.S. Tang,James H. Saling.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-56032-842-8 (alk. paper)
1. Radioactive waste disposal. 2. Radioactive wastes–Management.
I. Saling,James H. II. Fentiman,Audeen W. III. Tang,Y.S. (Yu S.),1922-Radioactive waste
management. IV. Title.
TD812.R33 2001
363.72(cid:2)89—dc21
2001023959
CONTENTS
PREFACE ix
1 INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Power Generation 2
1.2 Classification of Radwaste 8
1.3 Sources of Radwaste 10
1.4 Mixed Wastes 14
1.5 Environmental Restoration 17
1.6 Waste Management Activities and Responsibilities 18
1.7 Regulation of Activities and Regulatory Agencies 18
1.8 Legislative Involvement 19
References 21
2 RADIATION SOURCES,EXPOSURE,
AND HEALTH EFFECTS 23
2.1 Introduction 23
2.2 Basic Radiation Science 23
2.3 Radiation Doses 27
2.4 Health Effects 34
2.5 Historical Radiation Protection 43
v
vi CONTENTS
2.6 Computer Codes 49
2.7 Discussion Questions and Problems 52
References 53
3 SPENT FUEL MANAGEMENT 55
3.1 Introduction 55
3.2 Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage 60
3.3 Dry Cask Storage of Spent Fuel at Reactors 70
3.4 Legislative and Regulatory Requirements Concerning Spent Nuclear Fuel 70
3.5 Federal Interim Storage and Monitored Retrievable Storage 78
3.6 Spent Fuel Packaging for Disposal 88
3.7 Transportation of Spent Fuel 89
3.8 Cooperative Demonstration Programs for Dry Storage 91
3.9 Experimental Programs for Storage Systems 95
3.10 Economic Evaluation of Spent Fuel Management Systems 97
3.11 Computer Codes 98
3.12 Discussion Questions and Problems 99
References 99
4 HIGH-LEVEL WASTE MANAGEMENT 103
4.1 Introduction 103
4.2 Fuel Reprocessing Methodology 108
4.3 Treatment of High-Level Waste 118
4.4 Packaging of High-Level Waste 135
4.5 Transporting High-Level Waste 150
4.6 Computer Codes 151
4.7 Discussion Questions and Problems 152
References 152
5 DISPOSAL OF SPENT FUEL AND HIGH-LEVEL WASTE 157
5.1 Introduction 157
5.2 Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Waste Disposal Methods 157
5.3 Major Development Programs in the United States 174
5.4 Development Programs in Other Countries 178
5.5 Experimental Programs for Disposal Systems 185
5.6 Socioeconomic Impacts and Institutional Issues 188
References 189
6 TRANSURANIC WASTE 193
6.1 Transuranic Waste. Definitions,Sources,and Inventories 193
6.2 Processing,Storage,and Transportation of Transuranic Waste 197
CONTENTS vii
6.3 Regulations and Standards for Transuranic Waste 200
6.4 Waste Isolation Pilot Plant 201
6.5 Discussion Questions and Problems 207
References 207
7 LOW-LEVEL WASTE 209
7.1 Introduction 209
7.2 Historical Background,State Compacts,and Regulations 214
7.3 Treatment and Conditioning Processes 220
7.4 Low-Level Waste Packaging and Transportation 258
7.5 Operational Experience with Volume Reduction Systems 261
7.6 Shallow Land Disposal 265
7.7 Computer Codes 273
7.8 Discussion Questions and Problems 274
References 274
8 URANIUM ORE MILL TAILINGS MANAGEMENT 277
8.1 Introduction 277
8.2 History and Current Management of Tailings 279
8.3 Case Studies of Management and Disposal of Mill Tailings
and Wastes 283
8.4 Computer Codes 287
8.5 Discussion Questions and Problems 288
References 288
9 MIXED WASTES 291
9.1 Introduction 291
9.2 Historical Background 292
9.3 Sources,Classification,and Inventories 292
9.4 Regulations and Standards for Mixed Wastes 293
9.5 Waste Minimization Methodologies 293
9.6 Waste Packaging and Disposal 295
9.7 Computer Codes 296
9.8 Discussion Question 297
References 297
10 ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION 299
10.1 Introduction 299
10.2 Description of the Nuclear Weapons Complex 299
10.3 Waste Inventories and Contamination at Nuclear Weapons
Complex Sites 305
viii CONTENTS
10.4 Laws and Department of Energy Orders That Apply
to Weapons Complex Sites 308
10.5 Department of Energy Plans for Environmental Restoration 311
10.6 Environmental Restoration Technologies 312
10.7 Computer Codes 313
10.8 Discussion Questions and Problems 314
References 315
11 TRANSPORTATION 317
11.1 Introduction 317
11.2 Current Status of Radwaste Transportation Worldwide 318
11.3 Public Concerns 319
11.4 Regulations Governing Radwaste Transportation 320
11.5 Radioactive Waste Packages for Transportation 324
11.6 High-Level Waste and Spent Fuel Transportation 329
11.7 Shipper and Carrier Responsibilities 335
11.8 Risk Analysis for Transportation 338
11.9 Computer Programs 345
11.10 Discussion Questions and Problems 345
References 346
12 DECONTAMINATION AND DECOMMISSIONING 349
12.1 Introduction 349
12.2 Decommissioning Commercial Nuclear Power Plants 354
12.3 Decommissioning Environmental Impacts
and Regulatory Guides 363
12.4 Decon and Decommissioning Techniques
and Technology Development 365
12.5 Decommissioning Experience 373
12.6 Decommissioning Cost Estimates 388
12.7 Computer Codes 388
12.8 Discussion Questions 389
References 389
APPENDICES 393
INDEX 401
PREFACE
Disposal of nuclear wastes has been studied for more than five decades under the aus-
pices of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and its successors,the U.S. Energy
Research and Development Administration (ERDA) and the U.S. Department of Energy
(DOE). In 1982,the U.S. Congress passed the Nuclear Waste Policy Act,which,among
other things, directed the DOE to establish the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste
Management. The purpose of this organization was to design and construct facilities that
would accept and start disposing of spent nuclear fuel and high-level wastes by January 31,
1998. Almost two decades have passed since that act was signed into law,and after the
expenditure of several billion dollars, we still have no firm date for disposal of high-
level nuclear wastes.
Similar delays have occurred in disposing of other types of radioactive waste. Con-
struction of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, designed for the permanent disposal of
transuranic waste,was essentially complete in 1989,but the first shipment of waste was
not accepted until 1999. The Low-Level Waste Policy Act of 1980 made states respon-
sible for providing disposal capacity for their own low-level waste (LLW) and allowed
them to form compacts for that purpose,but in the intervening 20 years,no state or com-
pact has opened a new LLW disposal facility.
One wonders why a country with the technological capability to put a man on the
moon in a single decade has been unable to accomplish the seemingly much less chal-
lenging task of placing nuclear wastes safely underground in five decades. There may
be several reasons for this. The Department of Energy supported the development of
many technologies for packaging,storing,handling,transporting,and disposal of nu-
clear wastes, including spent fuel. As a result, the technical community developed a
ix