Nuclear Waste Management System Research Articles

Impact of Dilute Amounts of Fission Products on the Mechanical Behavior of Ni.

Fission products may interact with structural materials in various nuclear energy applications and cause their mechanical performance to deteriorate. Therefore, it is important to study the effects of different fission products on the mechanical properties of structural materials. In this work, nickel was chosen as a model structural material system and dilute amounts of uranium and fission product impurities X = (Tc, Te, Sb, Ce, Eu, and U) up to 4 at % were used. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were utilized to assess the effects of these substitutional impurities on the elastic behavior of the metal. Additionally, DFT was used to investigate some aspects of plastic response by computing the generalized stacking fault energies on the {111} ⟨112⟩ slip system for all alloying elements and at varying distances away from the stacking fault plane. None of the dopants satisfied the Pugh or Pettifor criteria for embrittlement, and alloying with Tc led to a slight increase in the elasticity of nickel. The phenomenon of Suzuki segregation was observed for all alloying elements, and there was consequently a significant reduction in the intrinsic stacking fault energy. Finally, and based on the analysis of the stacking fault energies, dopants generally led to softening the nickel (except for Tc and Ce), and all of the dopants were correlated with a loss of ductility (except Eu). These findings may be useful to consider in the design of next-generation reactors and nuclear waste management systems.

Current Progress on the Development of the Integrated Waste Management Consent-Based Siting Process in the United States

Consent-based siting is an approach to siting facilities that prioritizes the participation and needs of people and communities and seeks their willing and informed consent to accept a project in their community. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is firmly committed to a consent-based approach to siting one or more spent nuclear fuel management facilities that enables meaningful and inclusive public participation, addresses community well-being and community needs, and centers equity and environmental justice as core values. At present, nuclear energy accounts for 19% of U.S. electricity production and half of the nation’s carbon-free energy. Nuclear energy is key to achieving the Nation’s goal of a 50% reduction in carbon emissions by the end of the decade, 100% clean electricity by 2035, and a net-zero emissions economy by 2050. Nuclear power will be key to achieving the Nation’s goals, as the United States strives to reduce carbon emissions; ensure energy independence; and maintain leadership in nuclear technology, safety, and security. However, the use of nuclear energy also requires an effective, integrated system for safely managing, storing, and permanently disposing of spent nuclear fuel. Since the 1950s, approximately 90 000 metric tons of heavy metal (MTHM) of spent nuclear fuel has been generated from commercial nuclear power generation in the United States. This inventory grows by approximately 2000 MTHM every year. This commercial spent nuclear fuel is currently safely and securely stored at over 70 sites in more than 30 states where it is enclosed in either steel-lined concrete pools of water or steel and concrete containers known as dry storage casks. The United States also has an inventory of noncommercial spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste, which makes up less than 5% of the total inventory. Management of the Nation’s spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste is the responsibility of the DOE, under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as amended. This responsibility includes finding sites to store and eventually dispose of this material. Per Congressional direction, DOE’s current activities are focused on establishing a federal interim storage capability for commercial spent nuclear fuel following a consent-based approach. However, a permanent disposal solution for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste will still be needed. DOE will apply lessons learned from consent-based siting for one or more interim storage facilities to future siting efforts for other elements of an integrated nuclear waste management system. An integrated waste management system will include consolidated interim storage capacity, a permanent disposal pathway, and the transportation infrastructure needed to move spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste from nuclear power plants to storage and disposal facilities. This paper describes DOE’s current progress to identify one or more sites to develop a federal consolidated interim storage capability for commercial spent nuclear fuel using a consent-based siting process.

Design of IoT-based Radiation Monitor Area for Nuclear and Radiological Emergency Preparedness System in Yogyakarta Nuclear Area

Yogyakarta Nuclear Area (YNA) is one of BATAN’s nuclear facility that has many nuclear facilities such as nuclear reactor, accelerator, irradiator, and waste management system. Due to nuclear accident is potentially occur, YNA has nuclear emergency response program and there is a preparedness system to support this program. Radiation monitoring system is one of utilization to acquire and record nuclear radiation exposure in the facility and its environment. An Internet of Thing based radiation area monitor was developed to improve the system not only to acquire the radiation exposure, but also to distribute the acquired data to the cloud server through the internet network. The distributed radiation data can be utilized to analyze nuclear emergence potential in the nuclear emergency response and preparedness system. The area monitor system was designed as sensor network that consists of Geiger Muller detector and high voltage power supply, signal conditioning system, and Arduino as counter and data processor. Data is acquired by a detector and it is transmitted to the server through wireless network using the node MCU communication module. The receiver station system was developed to acquire data from database server to display the radiation exposure in the environment and to identify radiological emergency status. Based on the chi square test stability method, the developed device has good stability which the probability of x2 was obtained 0.75. The validation testing also was done using Sr-90 and x-ray spectrometer as radiation source, and the developed device has been compared using a standard survey-meter. The mean square error of this validation testing was 0.37 and 0.24 respectively for Sr-90 at two difference source distance, while for x-ray spectrometer source the mean square error value was 2.48. For further development, the system will be combined with a smart meteorological system to build the integrated data acquisition system for Nuclear and Radiological Emergency Preparedness System in Yogyakarta Nuclear Area.

Development of Streamlined Nuclear Safety Analysis Tool for Spent Nuclear Fuel Applications

To understand the changing nuclear and mechanical characteristics of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) or used nuclear fuel (UNF) and the different storage, transportation, and disposal systems at various stages within the waste management system, different types of analyses are required. These analyses require the use of assorted tools and numerous types of data. Using the appropriate modeling and simulation (M&S) parameters and selecting from the diversity of analytic tools to conduct SNF analyses can be a tedious, error-prone, and time-consuming undertaking for analysts and reviewers alike. A new, integrated data and analysis system was designed to simplify and automate performance of accurate, efficient evaluations for characterizing the input to the overall U.S. nuclear waste management system—the UNF-Storage, Transportation & Disposal Analysis Resource and Data System (UNF-ST&DARDS). A relational database has been assembled to provide a standard means by which UNF-ST&DARDS can succinctly store and retrieve M&S parameters for specific SNF analysis. A library of various analysis model templates is used to communicate M&S parameters for the most appropriate M&S application. A process manager facilitates performance of actual as-loaded, assembly-specific, and cask-specific evaluations. Interactive visualization capabilities facilitate data analysis and results interpretation. To date, UNF-ST&DARDS has completed (1) explicit depletion and decay analysis of every fuel assembly (~245 000) discharged from commercial U.S. reactors through June 2013, with 13 cooling time steps (results include isotopic compositions for 142 isotopes, and radiation and thermal source terms); (2) SNF radiation dose rate evaluations at 1 m for all the fuel assemblies discharged through June 2013; and (3) criticality, shielding, thermal, and containment analyses of hundreds of loaded casks. UNF-ST&DARDS also provides various automated report generation capabilities with dynamic figure and table update capabilities based on changes to the Unified Database.

Current Status of the Nuclear Waste Management System and Related R&D in France and Japan

Current Status of the Nuclear Waste Management System and Related R&D in France and Japan

Re-engineering high risk, high complexity industries through multiple level technological learning A case study of the world nuclear power industry

Abstract Applying lessons learned at the national, the utility, and the plant level, from selected segments of the world-wide nuclear power industry, might facilitate an environmentally acceptable renaissance of the U.S. nuclear power industry through re-engineering it. Elements of this learning from experience process can be found: (a) at the national level in Europe, Japan, and the U.S., (b) at the utility level in two New York State nuclear power utilities, Niagara Mohawk and New York Power Authority, the Tenessee Valley Authority, and Duke Power and Light in the U.S., in Ontario Hydro in Canada, and in the Electricite de France (EdF) in France, and (c) at the plant level in several of these utilities. At the core of all the continuous quality improvement and re-engineering programs, lies this twofold mission: (a) to insulate society from foreseeable and unacceptably high environmental risks, and (b) to continuously improve the design and management of nuclear technology (including nuclear waste management and environmental risk management systems) by learning, learning how to learn, and learning to learn-how-to-learn, both explicitly and tacitly, through feedback from individual and organizational experience.

Demonstration of Safety for Geologic Disposal

ABSTRACTThe U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) is developing a nuclear waste management system that will accept high-level radioactive waste, transport it, store it, and ultimately emplace it in a deep geologic repository. The key activity now is determining whether Yucca Mountain, Nevada is suitable as a site for the repository. If so, the crucial technological advance will be the demonstration that disposal of nuclear waste will be safe for thousands of years after closure. This paper assesses the impact of regulatory developments, legal developments, and scientific developments on such a demonstration.