Integration of Postclosure Safety Analysis with Repository Design for the Yucca Mountain Repository through the Selectio
- PDF / 1,313,752 Bytes
- 12 Pages / 612 x 792 pts (letter) Page_size
- 73 Downloads / 217 Views
1124-Q01-02
Integration of Postclosure Safety Analysis with Repository Design for the Yucca Mountain Repository through the Selection of Design Control Parameters Gerald Nieder-Westermann1, Robert H. Spencer, Jr. 1, Robert W. Andrews1, and Neil Brown2 1 2
Bechtel SAIC Company, LLC 1180 N. Town Center Drive, Las Vegas, NV 89144 Los Alamos National Laboratory, 1180 N. Town Center Drive, Las Vegas, NV 89144
ABSTRACT The Yucca Mountain repository will use both natural and engineered barriers that work both individually and collectively to limit the movement of water and the potential release and movement of radionuclides to the accessible environment. Engineered structures, systems, and components are designed to function with features of the natural environment in order to meet the postclosure performance objectives established by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The features of the natural environment are expected to respond to the presence of the repository through geomechanical, hydrogeologic, and geochemical changes. In order to ensure that conformity between the design basis of the repository and the analyzed postclosure safety basis is maintained, specific features, both engineered and natural, have been identified as requiring design control during repository construction and operations. These features are referred to as postclosure design controls and are intended to maintain the integration of the repository design with the postclosure performance assessment through continued design evolution and changes in scientific understanding. INTRODUCTION The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has submitted a license application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to construct a geologic repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada to provide permanent storage for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. The repository will be located on Federal property approximately 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada and will consist of both surface and subsurface facilities (Figure 1). The 8,600 page license application consists of both the General Information Section and the Safety Analysis Report [1]. The safety analysis presented in the license application evaluates both the preclosure and postclosure performance objectives required at 10 CFR 63.111 and 63.113. The preclosure and postclosure analyses utilize the design features, including both surface and subsurface structures, systems, and components (SSCs) of the repository in the evaluation demonstrating compliance with these performance objectives [2, 3]. For the subsurface facilities of the repository, the anticipated length of the preclosure period (i.e., the time from initial placement until the conditions for closure are satisfied) is expected to be 100 years. The timescales of concern for the postclosure period have been set by the NRC at 10 CFR 63 and include both the first 10,000 years and the period of geologic stability, which is defined to end at 1 million years after disposal. For the postclosure performance evaluation, the features and associ
Data Loading...
