Year-end Sale % OFF 
Abstract
In the absence of a federal geologic repository or consolidated, interim storage in the United States, commercial spent fuel will remain stranded at some 75 sites across the country. Currently, these include 18 "orphaned sites" where spent fuel has been left at decommissioned reactor sites. In this context, local communities living close to decommissioned nuclear power plants are increasingly concerned about this legacy of nuclear power production and are seeking alternative strategies to move the spent fuel away from those sites. In this paper, we present a framework and method for the socio-technical multi-criteria evaluation (STMCE) of spent fuel management strategies. The STMCE approach consists of (i) a multi-criteria evaluation that provides an ordinal ranking of alternatives based on a list of criterion measurements; and (ii) a social impact analysis that provides an outranking of options based on the assessment of their impact on concerned social actors. STMCE can handle quantitative, qualitative or both types of information. It can also integrate stochastic uncertainty on criteria measurements and fuzzy uncertainty on assessments of social impacts. We conducted an application of the STMCE method using data from the decommissioned San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California. This example intends to facilitate the preparation of stakeholder engagement activities on spent fuel management using the STMCE approach. The STMCE method provides an effective way to compare spent fuel management strategies and support the search for compromise solutions. We conclude by discussing the potential impact that such an approach could have on the management of commercial spent fuel in the United States.
Highlights
In the United States, despite plans for geological disposal, spent fuel, so far, is stored at surface storage facilities at the sites where it has been generated (Reset Report, 2018)
Multi-criteria evaluations Considering the five generic scenarios of long-term spent fuel management (Fig. 2), we evaluate their socio-technical performance against 14 indicators (Table 2)
This assumption is acceptable for the present study, ideally, the indifference thresholds should be set independently from the individual values of the criteria and, independently from the scenarios considered in the analysis
Summary
In the United States, despite plans for geological disposal, spent fuel, so far, is stored at surface storage facilities at the sites where it has been generated (Reset Report, 2018). This situation results in an increasing amount of spent fuel being stored in dry casks at many different spent fuel storage installations, all located at or near reactor sites (Fig. 1). Interim storage is a temporary surface storage solution to the management of spent fuel and high-level waste pending the licensing and construction of the deep geologic repository for permanent disposal. The law does not allow the U.S DOE to study other potential sites either for geological disposal or interim storage unless approved by Congress
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
