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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.,"
Backgroundon40CFRPart197EnvironmentalRadiationProtectionStandardsforYuccaMountai