Waste Management Organization Research Articles

Postclosure Performance Assessment of a Hypothetical Canadian Deep Geological Repository for Thorium-Containing Advanced Heavy Water Reactor Fuels

Lattice physics depletion calculations were performed to obtain postburnup fuel compositions for several candidate advanced heavy water reactor fuels. These fuel compositions were used as input for a deep geological repository (DGR) modeling tool for hydrogeology simulations to simulate the transport of radionuclides to the surface, to find the radionuclides that reach the surface path through the biosphere, and to estimate the hypothetical dose rate to humans located above the DGR.Three primary factors were found to contribute to surface dose rate: burnup, composition of the primary waste matrix, and percentage of thorium in the fuel. Higher burnup and thorium percentage contribute to increased surface dose rates through increased 129I production, while a primarily uranium waste matrix increases surface dose rate through faster dissolution leading to increased radionuclide release rate from the fuel. For all the hypothetical fuels investigated, the estimated dose rates are well within the Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s hypothetical DGR’s acceptance criterion of 0.3 mSv/year.

The relationship between transaction costs, resource dependency, social networks, partnerships, and organizational performance in the industrial waste management industry

This study aimed to examine the effects of the relationships between partnerships and trust relationships, partnerships and resource dependency, and partnerships and transaction costs on organizational performance. A survey in the form of a questionnaire was conducted among legitimate private and public waste treatment and disposal organizations (including domestic and foreign organizations) in the six special municipalities of Taiwan. A total of 1,000 questionnaires were distributed, and 550 questionnaires were ultimately returned. Among those, an effective sample of 539 questionnaires was collected, for an effective recovery rate of 98%. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used for data analysis. The results showed significant positive effects from resource dependency on transaction costs, from relational trust on institutional trust, from relational trust on resource dependency, from relational trust on partnerships, and from partnerships on organizational performance. Transactional costs, resource dependency, and institutional trust were found to have negative but insignificant effects on partnership. These results can provide industrial waste management organizations with a reference for decision-making related to the management of partnerships and organizational performance.

Corrosion of copper-coated used nuclear fuel containers due to oxygen trapped in a Canadian deep geological repository

ABSTRACTThe Nuclear Waste Management Organization is evaluating the safety and feasibility of the permanent disposal of used nuclear fuel in a deep geological repository. Their current design concept utilises copper-coated steel used fuel containers to isolate the waste from the environment. Immediately following repository closure, a finite quantity of O2 will be trapped inside the repository and could cause some amount of oxic corrosion to the outer copper layer of the containers. On a per container basis, 13 mol of O2 will be trapped in the repository rooms at the time of closure, based on reference design dimensions. This corresponds to a maximum depth of copper corrosion of 81 μm, assuming a uniform distribution. This work also considers the sensitivity of this oxic corrosion allowance to various hypothetical design changes to the repository that may occur before or during construction.

Solid Waste Management on Romanian Households

The problem associated with the household behavior on solid waste disposal site in today�s society is complex because of the large quantity and diverse nature of the wastes. Due increase the population, rapid development, global agricultural development has moved rapidly, limitations of financing, emerging limitations of both energy and raw materials and also add to the complexity of any waste management system, large quantities of wastes are being generated in different forms such as solid, liquid and gases. This research explored factors affecting the level of participation in solid waste segregation and recycling of households in Romania, as well as examining current Romania households waste management practices and their knowledge of waste management. This study investigated the solid waste situation and the organization of solid waste management in both urban and rural settings from the perspective of households. Solid waste management is a key component of public services which needs to serve the urban and rural municipalities in an efficient way in order to maintain a decent standard of public health.

The organization of waste management in city Mytisci

The organization of waste management in city Mytisci

Extended Producer Responsibility for waste televisions and computers: A regulatory evaluation of the Australian experience

High annual volumes of television and computer waste presents a challenge to Australian communities, resulting in the development of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation. This study aims to establish, through the use of public interest theory, whether EPR legislation in Australia was in the public interest. Using a regulatory analysis, the results show that during the first 3 years of the scheme, over 130 liable parties joined co-regulatory arrangements each year to fund upstream recycling services for television and computer waste. In program terms, the scheme has been highly successful recycling over 130,000 tonnes of metals, leaded and non-leaded glass, plastics and other materials while limiting landfill transfers to approximately 6900 tonnes, all at a cost of A$50–60 million per annum to producers. The scheme has also seen a range of upstream recycling partnerships established between the co-regulated administrators and formal technical and social enterprise waste management organizations. However, while the upstream material recovery rate is steady at approximately 95%, the results suggests that exporting waste for downstream processing will continue in the future. Analysis also points to substantial funding for ‘over target’ collections, downstream recycling infrastructure and landfill diversion strategies as critical for averting severe environmental impacts from e-Waste dumping. The study concludes by suggesting that while the successes of EPR scheme are in the public interest, its potential deficiencies could limit such benefits and therefore need to be addressed. Notably, the scheme could be enhanced through the application of improved recycling target methodologies, including the estimation and forecasting of domestic Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) stock levels.

Indigenous Knowledge and Contested Spirituality in Canadian Nuclear Waste Management

Indigenous spirituality is often deployed in grassroots environmental movements as a strategy to revitalize cultures and contest a hegemonic worldview that continues to marginalize Indigenous Peoples. From this perspective, Indigenous spirituality serves as an epistemological foil that these social movements utilize to critique prevailing capitalist values, environmental degradation, and neo-colonialism. Indigenous spiritual knowledge is also being employed by government and industry as a strategy to enhance the prolle of their own political and commercial agendas. Indigenous spirituality has therefore come to signify a wide variety of meanings and concerns in environmental management and public discourse. This can be illustrated by considering how Indigenous spirituality has become a site of contestation between the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO), the public body responsible for managing Canada’s used nuclear fuel, and the Committee for Future Generations (CFFG), a grass roots anti-nuclear organization, regarding the proposal to store nuclear waste in Northern Saskatchewan.

Expanding roles for the Swedish waste management sector in inter-organizational resource management

Several waste management (WM) professionals see an ongoing shift in the focus of the industry, from that of a transport and treatment sector to that of a more integrated sustainable service provision and material production sector. To further develop such transitional ambitions, WM organizations are increasingly looking toward inter-organizational resource network concepts (such as the circular economy and industrial symbiosis) as models of how they would like to create new value together with their customers and partners.This article aims to take a step in addressing uncertainties behind such transitions by analyzing barriers for inter-organizational resource management and in turn uncovering some potential opportunities and risks of novel offerings from the WM sector. Obstacles for developing innovative inter-organizational resource networks have been identified based on studies of implementing industrial symbiosis networks. Subsequently, managing executives from Swedish private and public WM organizations were interviewed regarding the sector’s capacity to overcome such barriers – opportunities and risks of providing new resource management services – and how their organizations might approach the role of actively facilitating more resource efficient regions.Eco-Industrial park management and contracting out holistic resource management are some areas in which the respondents see WM organizations offering new services. In relation to such approaches, various risks (e.g. being cut out of investment benefits, or unstable supply) and opportunities (e.g. new markets and enhanced sustainability profiles) were identified. Additionally, it was seen that WM companies would need to make substantial changes to their business approach, becoming less dependent on flows of mixed materials for example, if they are to become even more central value chain actors. To strengthen such approaches, it was seen that the sector will need to find methods to strategically build strong, long term partnerships, expand upon and take advantage of available knowledge resources (i.e. best practice technologies and regional material flows), and explore new business models (i.e. stockpiling, park management, or waste minimization). Additionally, working with sector representatives to argue for a more balanced market conditions next to primary production should assist the viability of new offerings in the wider market.

Women’s environmental health activism around waste and plastic pollution in the coastal wetlands of Yucatán

ABSTRACT This article focuses on women’s grassroots organisations and their role in confronting waste-induced water, health, and development challenges in low-lying tropical coastal areas. As a case study, the article will focus on women’s waste management and plastics recycling organisations in Yucatán, Mexico and their role in preventing water-borne diseases and educating the community on the links between garbage and human health. Women educate the community on the links between garbage and human health; challenge exclusionary gender norms by increasing women’s participation in community sustainable development, and improve urban conditions in the coastal wetlands. I draw from over 400 surveys with coastal residents and 14 oral histories with coastal women, to underscore the muddy links that connect sanitation to gendered responsibility and the exclusionary spaces of urban development and ecological restoration in the swamps. The information shared through the histories and broad surveys emphasises how gendered roles and expectations are critical variables in shaping social difference, ecological degradation, and human health in low-lying coastal areas and cities.

Multi-dimensional transport modelling of corrosive agents through a bentonite buffer in a Canadian deep geological repository

The use of a deep geological repository (DGR) for the long-term disposal of used nuclear fuel is an approach currently being investigated by several agencies worldwide, including Canada's Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO). Within the DGR, used nuclear fuel will be placed in copper-coated steel containers and surrounded by a bentonite clay buffer. While copper is generally thermodynamically stable, corrosion can occur due to the presence of sulphide under anaerobic conditions. As such, understanding transport of sulphide through the engineered barrier system to the used fuel container is an important consideration in DGR design. In this study, a three-dimensional (3D) model of sulphide transport in a DGR was developed. The numerical model is implemented using COMSOL Multiphysics, a commercial finite element software package. Previous sulphide transport models of the NWMO repository used a simplified one-dimensional system. This work illustrates the importance of 3D modelling to capture non-uniform effects, as results showed locations of maximum sulphide flux are 1.7 times higher than the average flux to the used fuel container.

An overview of the Canadian corrosion program for the long-term management of nuclear waste

ABSTRACTThe Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) has developed a comprehensive Proof Test Plan to evaluate the feasibility and safety of its deep geological repository solution for nuclear waste. This work plan includes many active research programs to build confidence in the Canadian used nuclear fuel container design, a copper-coated steel vessel that is optimised for the CANDU waste form. Ongoing research within the Proof Test Plan includes several programs to evaluate the possible extent of damage that may be caused by various corrosion mechanisms: the anoxic corrosion of copper in pure water, concentrated chloride solutions, and in the presence of sulphide; a comparison of the corrosion behaviour of copper coatings on steel with wrought copper; the localised corrosion and surface roughening of copper; the γ-radiolysis-induced corrosion of copper; the galvanic corrosion of through-coating defects; and the localised corrosion of the internal steel weld region.This paper is part of a supplement on the 6th International Workshop on Long-Term Prediction of Corrosion Damage in Nuclear Waste Systems.

Durability of the Canadian used fuel container

ABSTRACTThe Nuclear Waste Management Organization is responsible for the implementation of Adaptive Phased Management, the federally approved plan for the safe long-term management of Canada’s used nuclear fuel. Under this plan, used nuclear fuel will ultimately be placed within a deep geological repository in a suitable host rock formation. The repository’s engineered barrier system (EBS) comprises the used fuel container and engineered sealing materials. The EBS is a key component of the design of the underground repository. The Canadian EBS consists of a carbon-steel, copper-coated used fuel container that is encapsulated within a bentonite buffer box. Corrosion of copper and steel in the postclosure environment of a deep geological repository is expected to be very slow. This paper presents an estimate of these corrosion rates, forming the basis for assessing postclosure safety of a repository system and building confidence in the long-term performance of a Canadian repository for used nuclear fuel.This paper is part of a supplement on the 6th International Workshop on Long-Term Prediction of Corrosion Damage in Nuclear Waste Systems.

Prognostication of energy use and environmental impacts for recycle system of municipal solid waste management

The aim of this study is to perform a life cycle and energy flow assessments of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). These latter are modeled using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) for integrated waste management system in Tehran Municipality, Iran. The initial data used in this study have been obtained from Waste Management Organization of Tehran Municipality, while the required data related to the background system were extracted from the EcoInvent 2.2 database. Based on the obtained results from the energy cycle analysis, energy consumptions for transportation and processing plus recycling were calculated as 227.02 and 155.95 Gigajoules (GJ), respectively for 8500 t MSW. This energy consumption has led to the production of 18,884.03 GJ energy output (recycled materials) with an energy ratio of 121.56. A high energy ratio demonstrated that recycling of municipal solid is a new gateway against energy challenges. By optimizing energy consumption, especially energy related to transportation, this ratio could increase more than before. The results obtained from Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) indicate that transportation is considered the most important hot spot in the recycling of MSW while recycling papers is the main contributor to the redaction of environmental indicators in the recycling system. More intensity is observed for indicators related to toxicity due to the lack of waste disposal and to the entry of undesirable substances in natural resources. The 5-7-7-11 structure is the best topology to predict the amount of recycled materials and the impacts of environmental emissions from MSW recycling process developed by feed-forward back-propagation ANN models which are based on Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) training algorithm. Coefficient of determination values for train are in the ranges of 0.926–0.978 and have excellent performance in predicting all the output parameters based on the input parameters.

Transient modelling of sulphide diffusion under conditions typical of a deep geological repository

ABSTRACTThe Canadian Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) has chosen a used fuel container (UFC) design that consists of an inner steel core and outer copper coating that resists corrosion in the anaerobic underground. However, in these anaerobic conditions, microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) can contribute to UFC corrosion if sulphides are present in the repository. Therefore, an engineered barrier system (EBS) consisting of bentonite blocks and pellets has been designed to inhibit production of sulphide by microorganisms and impede the movement of sulphides from the host rock to the UFC. Initially, the bentonite within the deep geological repository will contain no sulphides and it will take time for sulphide from the host rock to saturate the repository. To examine the transient effect of sulphide transport and the effectiveness of the EBS, a 3D numerical model was developed capable of simulating the diffusive transport of sulphide within the NWMO repository. The model was developed using COMSOL Multiphysics, a finite element software package. The developed model included the NWMO placement room, as well as a stand-alone UFC package. Conservative assumptions such as constant-concentration boundary condition and transport-limited corrosion were assumed. The time-dependent analysis predicted the inflow of sulphide into the EBS over time, and the results showed that a steady-state condition would be reached in over 2,000 years in the placement room. The model also showed that the highest sulphide flux occurred at the semi-spherical end caps of the UFC and consequently, that corrosion from sulphide diffusion would not be uniform over the container surface.This paper is part of a supplement on the 6th International Workshop on Long-Term Prediction of Corrosion Damage in Nuclear Waste Systems.

Modeling of energy consumption and environmental life cycle assessment for incineration and landfill systems of municipal solid waste management - A case study in Tehran Metropolis of Iran

As the economy has improved in Iran, residents have produced more municipal solid wastes in recent decades. The various scenarios for municipal solid waste management are projected with the main purpose for reduction of environmental impact and energy production. The aim of this study is to evaluate the energy consumption and environmental impacts of incineration and landfill scenarios. The data used in this study are supplied by Waste Management Organization of Tehran Municipality, Iran. Results of the energy analysis show that 406.08 GJ (8500 t MSW)−1 of energy is consumed in the process of incineration and landfill with transportation system. Most energy consumption is related to transportation. Life cycle assessment indicates that incineration leads to the reduction of detrimental factors related to toxicity as the results of electricity generation and the production of phosphate fertilizers. Besides, the rates of daily greenhouse gas emissions from incineration and landfill are estimated at 4499.07 and 92,170.30 kg CO2eq., respectively. In this study, feed-forward back-propagation models based on Levenberg-Marquardt training algorithm are developed for predicting electricity and environmental factors against energy consumption for municipal solid waste management. An Artificial Neural Network model with 4-5-5-11 structure is selected as the best structure. Results show that, in the selected model, the amount of R2 varies in the ranges of 0.948–0.999 for training, testing and validation, demonstrating excellent performance in predicting all outputs based on the input factors. Sensitivity analysis for Artificial Neural Network model indicates that transportation has the highest sensitivity in four impact categories including eutrophication, marine aquatic ecotoxicity, human toxicity and terrestrial ecotoxicity.

Mathematical Models for Regional Solid Waste Management Development

The mathematical methods of waste management assessment and software for various life cycle applications are widely used as one of the decision-making support tools in waste policy. This comparatively new approach to waste management planning offers an option for investigating the life cycle impact of solid waste management processes which generate anthropogenic impact on the environment, of which the most unfavorable is greenhouse gas emission. 
 In the research a software application called WAMPS (waste management planning system) developed by the IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute within the Reco Baltic 21 Tech project has been used to create a better understanding about waste management processes and their produced impact on climate change. It is the first time when WAMPS software is applied for regional domestic waste management planning for the next seven-year period in the Baltic states, in this particular case for the Piejura region, which is one of the ten waste management planning regions in Latvia. The Piejura region includes one city of national level and nine districts, with the total area of about 5,300 sq. km and the number of inhabitants 153,899. In accordance with national legislation, responsibility for waste management organization has been delegated to local municipalities. 
 In this study the solutions for elaboration of the Piejura region waste management strategy are based on those waste management processes which will produce the best environmental options. The main results of the research were obtained comparing various waste management scenarios in WAMPS: the existent situation in regional waste management, where more than 94% of domestic waste is landfilled; European Union framework demands according to Waste and Landfill directives; and the best technological solutions for the Piejura region based on local circumstances. The next phase of research will draw attention to the implementation and integration of the chosen technological solutions on the basis of economical solutions.

A Decision Support System for Sustainable Waste Collection

This paper presents a decision support system (DSS) for making the waste collection process more sustainable. Currently, waste collection schedules and routes are created manually in most waste management organizations. This is both very time consuming and likely to result in poor solutions, as the task is extremely difficult due to the large number of bins combined with the many parameters to be considered simultaneously. With a sophisticated DSS, it becomes possible to address the complexities of optimal waste collection and improve sustainability—not least from the environmental perspective. The DSS proposed here is designed to be used on the operational level in the waste management organization and supports daily operations and activities. System evaluation indicates that it can reduce truck operating time by approximately 25%, corresponding to a saving of approximately 21,300 kg of carbon dioxide and 187 kg of nitrogen oxides per year and truck.

Development of approaches for modelling coupled thermal–hydraulic–mechanical–chemical processes in single granite fracture experiments

The geological formation immediately surrounding a nuclear waste disposal facility has the potential to undergo a complex set of physical and chemical processes starting from construction and continuing many years after closure. The DECOVALEX project (DEvelopment of COupled models and their VALidation against EXperiments) was established and maintained by a variety of waste management organizations, regulators and research organizations to help improve capabilities in experimental interpretation, numerical modelling and blind prediction of complex coupled systems. In the present round of DECOVALEX (D-2015), one component of Task C1 has considered the detailed experimental work of Yasuhara et al. (Appl Geochem 26:2074–2088, 2011), wherein three natural fractures in Mizunami granite are subject to variable fluid flows, mechanical confining pressure and different applied temperatures. This paper presents a synthesis of the completed work of six separate research teams, building on work considering a single synthetic fracture in novaculite. A range of approaches are presented including full geochemical reactive transport modelling and 2D and 3D high-resolution coupled thermo–hydro–mechanical–chemical (THMC) models. The work shows that reasonable fits can be obtained to the experimental data using a variety of approaches, but considerable uncertainty remains as to the relative importance of competing process sets. The work also illustrates that a good understanding of fracture topography, interaction with the granite matrix, a good understanding of the geochemistry and the associated multi-scale THMC process behaviours is a necessary pre-cursor to considering predictive models of such a system.

Transparency and accountability lost?

Purpose The aim of this paper is to explore the causes of variations in financial accounting and disclosure practices in a municipal setting highly influenced by governance reforms – the Swedish municipal waste management sector. This focus is motivated by the claim that recent governance reforms have made the organization of public services delivery more diversified and fragmented, which may have had a negative effect on transparency and accountability. Design/methodology/approach To document the accounting and disclosure practices of the Swedish solid waste management organizations, a questionnaire approach was selected. The study uses a conceptual theoretical framework that complements the basic variables considered to influence public sector financial accounting and disclosure practices with factors such as competition and municipal governance forms. Findings The results show that compliance accounting and disclosure transparency to some extent have different antecedents and that the external environment, including market competition, size and economic input, influences both. The governance forms, on the other hand, only influenced compliance accounting (negatively and positively) and not the willingness to disclose information in general. The overall conclusion is that changes to the economic and institutional context mixed with different municipal governance forms introduces a multiplicity of forces that makes the accounting practices themselves diversified and fragmented and not necessarily only in a “negative” direction. Practical implications From a policy perspective the results indicate that the changing institutional and organizational environment has not been matched by attention to, and regulation of, reporting structures that secure external vertical accountability processes. The general implication for future regulations should therefore be to recognize the influence of different economic and institutional forces and develop accountability models that enable and preserve the benefits of governance reform initiatives without losing accountability and transparency. Originality/value Few prior quantitative studies have theoretically related municipal accounting and disclosure practices to factors such as market competition and popular municipal governance forms (municipal corporation, regional cooperation, outsourcing, etc.). Knowledge of how reforms might influence municipal accounting practices might benefit future policy decisions on accountability models with aim of enable and preserve the benefits of governance reform initiatives without losing accountability and transparency.

DOPAS full-scale experiments: approaches to compliance assessment

Abstract The Full-Scale Demonstration Of Plugs And Seals (DOPAS) Project is a European Commission programme of work jointly funded by the Euratom Seventh Framework Programme and European nuclear waste management organizations (WMOs). The DOPAS Project aims to improve the industrial feasibility of plugs and seals, the measurement of their characteristics, the control of their behaviour over time in repository conditions, and their hydraulic performance with respect to safety objectives. Within the project, an approach has been developed and applied to assess the compliance of two of the full-scale experiments to their design bases. The approach involves a review of each requirement in the design basis and the strategy used to demonstrate compliance of the experiment with that requirement. Feedback in the form of proposed updates to the design statements is captured by this approach. Learning points on plugs and seals from the compliance assessment are also noted for consideration in the DOPAS Project outcomes. This developed compliance and assessment approach can be employed as part of, or in conjunction with, other more generic approaches used by WMOs, including monitoring, full-scale testing and the documentation of construction procedures.