Abstract
This study attempts to establish a ranking for species that are routinely released to the environment for a projected nuclear power growth scenario. Unlike comparisons made to existing standards, which are subject to frequent revision, the ranking of releases can be used to form a more logical basis for identifying the areas where further development of control technology could be required. This report describes projections of releases for several fuel cycle scenarios, identifies areas where alternative control technologies may be implemented, and discusses the available alternative control technologies. The release factors were used in a computer code system called ENFORM, which calculates the annual release of any species from any part of the LWR nuclear fuel cycle given a projection of installed nuclear generation capacity. This survey of fuel cycle releases was performed for three reprocessing scenarios (stowaway, reprocessing without recycle of Pu and reprocessing with full recycle of U and Pu) for a 100-year period beginning in 1977. The radioactivity releases were ranked on the basis of a relative ranking factor. The relative ranking factor is based on the 100-year summation of the 50-year population dose commitment from an annual release of radioactive effluents. The nonradioactive releases were ranked on the basis of dilution factor. The twenty highest ranking radioactive releases were identified and each of these was analyzed in terms of the basis for calculating the release and a description of the currently employed control method. Alternative control technology is then discussed, along with the available capital and operating cost figures for alternative control methods.
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