Nuclear Waste Disposal Problem Research Articles

Application-oriented transdisciplinary basic research on nuclear waste management: hollow phrase or sensible concept?

Abstract. In relation to the discourse and controversy surrounding the problem of nuclear waste disposal, an increasing interest in the form and design of research on the subject can be observed among stakeholders and the interested public, as is evident in the final report of the Repository Commission (2016) and in the discussions during the Sub-Areas Conference. In the authors' opinion, this is partly due to the fact that the actions of different scientific institutes and scientists varied widely during the conflicts of past decades. An attribution as “issue advocacy”, i.e., as an actor serving a particular political agenda (Pielke, 2007), appeared obvious in many cases, and led to controversy and fundamental criticism of the role of “science” (Repository Commission 2016, Chap. 4.1.1 on the Asse II mine and particularly the two “parallel representations” of the Gorleben site in Chap. 4.1.4). For these reasons, the Repository Commission recommended the creation of transdisciplinary research collaborations (ibid., Chap. 6.9). With the joint TRANSENS project (http://www.transens.de, last access: 21 October 2021), a transdisciplinary collaboration has been created to pursue application-oriented basic research into four “theme corridors” of nuclear waste management. The term theme corridor was introduced in light of the limitations of the “co-design” approach, i.e., the cooperative formulation of research questions, within the constraints stipulated by application and funding processes. The term describes the fact that the selection and width of topics are still subject to change even during the transdisciplinary research. The conception and implementation of this innovative approach led to a series of conceptional and theoretical but also practical questions. Due to different and sometimes divergent definitions (cf., e.g., Klein, 2013), within the project, the term “transdisciplinarity” is understood as a reflexive, integrative, and methodology-guided scientific principle geared towards solving a societal problem and related scientific challenges, i.e., nuclear waste management. A central element is the inclusion of non-specialists and actors from the realm of practice in the field in the research processes, in order to incorporate their (non-specialist) knowledge, values, and expectations. According to Maasen's typology (2010), the application-oriented basic research performed in the project is “interventional” (in other publications: “transformative”) to only a limited extent, but, in contrast, primarily “methodological” and “distributed.” There thus exists a distance to the site-selection process and other nuclear waste management projects in Germany. The actors or groups of actors to be included and the transdisciplinary formats are selected on a stepwise case-by-case basis, depending on the type and subject of the research (cf. the examples from TRANSENS subprojects presented in other papers submitted to the symposium). This presentation reflects findings and experiences in view of a complex conception and application process and currently 2 years of research experience from the perspective of the participants (the standing working group and other scientists) using case studies from the theme corridors. It thus provides a discussion basis for the session “Challenges & Solutions of disposal research and transdisciplinarity”.

New development: Solving an extremely hazardous problem. Disposing of toxic waste from Britain’s nuclear industry and nascent public engagement

ABSTRACT Waste disposal from the use of nuclear technology for power generation poses international challenges in terms of its enduring, costly and highly toxic nature. This article focuses on the challenges faced by the UK given the lack of solutions that appear to stem from an absence of public debate and consensus. The problems of nuclear waste disposal are contextualized by considering the challenges of public acceptance, lack of funding provisions, cost uncertainties and new reactor construction.

Overview of nuclear waste treatment and management

Nuclear energy is an efficient energy source. Nuclear fuel has the advantages of high energy density and convenient transportation and storage. After decades of tortuous development, nuclear energy has been well utilized in many ways, especially in the field of nuclear power generation. However, as the number of nuclear power plants continues to increase, the problem of nuclear waste disposal is becoming more and more serious. Nuclear waste disposal is a complex process. For nuclear waste treatment, people initially only temporarily deposit these nuclear wastes or dump them directly. However, as people’s awareness of nuclear waste increases, and the huge potential threat of nuclear waste is known, it is necessary to analyze the current characteristics of nuclear waste and its pollution status in order to find a better nuclear waste treatment and management method.

A wedge or a weight? Critically examining nuclear power’s viability as a low carbon energy source from an intergenerational perspective

Some integrated assessment studies of climate change have concluded that nuclear energy has a large potential impact on carbon abatement costs. However, these studies have often modeled the cost of nuclear waste management very simply or neglected it entirely. Common difficulties with existing studies include the use of simplistic nuclear waste management cost models and implicitly minimizing costs in the distant future by using discount rates that are arguably inappropriate for intergenerational cost-benefit analysis. These difficulties lead to results that may underestimate the cost of nuclear waste management – and therefore overestimate the value of nuclear energy as a low carbon energy technology. Here, we consider how a more realistic treatment of the nuclear waste disposal problem than has been used in previous studies could affect the viability of nuclear power in the context of integrated assessments of climate change. We construct a generic nuclear waste management cost model to develop cost estimates for nuclear waste management based on current policy, practice, and cost estimates for storage and disposal technologies. Our cost estimates are discounted using conventional constant exponential discounting as and a declining discount rate scheme. Results suggest that the optimism reflected in previous works is fragile: More realistic nuclear waste management cost models and uncertainty-appropriate intergenerational discount rates produce many more scenarios in which nuclear waste management costs are higher than previously assumed. As a consequence, nuclear energy’s economic attractiveness as a low carbon energy option is appears to be lower than earlier works suggested.

Non-isothermal simulation of the behavior of unsaturated soils using a novel EFG-based three dimensional model

In this paper, a three-dimensional simulation of fully coupled multiphase fluid flow and heat transfer through deforming porous media is presented in the context of EFG mesh-less method. Spatial discretization of the system of governing equations is performed using EFG and a fully implicit finite difference scheme is employed for temporal discretization. Penalty method is used for imposition of essential boundary conditions. The developed numerical tool is employed to simulate two problems of nuclear waste disposal and CO2 sequestration in deep underground strata. The obtained results demonstrate the capability and robustness of the developed EFG code.

Similarity solution for cavity expansion in thermoplastic soil

SummaryThis paper presents an analytical solution for cavity expansion in thermoplastic soil considering non‐isothermal conditions. The constitutive relationship of thermoplasticity is described by Laloui's advanced and unified constitutive model for environmental geomechanical thermal effect (ACMEG‐T), which is based on multi‐mechanism plasticity and bounding surface theory. The problem is formulated by incorporating ACMEG‐T into the theoretical framework of cavity expansion, yielding a series of partial differential equations (PDEs). Subsequently, the PDEs are transformed into a system of first‐order ordinary differential equations (ODEs) using a similarity solution technique. Solutions to the response parameters of cavity expansion (stress, excess pore pressure, and displacement) can then be obtained by solving the ODEs numerically using mathematical software. The results suggest that soil temperature has a significant influence on the pressure‐expansion relationships and distributions of stress and excess pore pressure around the cavity wall. The proposed solution quantifies the influence of temperature on cavity expansion for the first time and provides a theoretical framework for predicting thermoplastic soil behavior around the cavity wall. The solution found in this paper can be used as a theoretical tool that can potentially be employed in geotechnical engineering problems, such as thermal cone penetration tests, and nuclear waste disposal problems.

“Salty” conversation

Gregory Thiel presents an informative look at the technology and economics of seawater desalination through reverse osmosis. California, evidently, is moving strongly toward such desalination to deal with its water shortages.11. California Water Boards, http://www.waterboards.ca.gov.Two issues spring to mind, however—one environmental, the other societal. What is to be done with the concentrated toxic salty brine produced by seaside desalination plants? I’m reminded of the still-existing problem of nuclear waste disposal. Also, through desalination, millions worldwide will no doubt benefit from access to clean, fresh water. Would that not then exacerbate the problem of population growth, which, as Thiel says, “threaten[s] to throttle our most essential, life-sustaining resource” in the first place? There are significant repercussions, I think, and no quick technological fixes to deal with them.REFERENCESSection:ChooseTop of pageREFERENCES <<1. California Water Boards, http://www.waterboards.ca.gov. Google Scholar© 2015 American Institute of Physics.

Spatial effects in willingness to pay for avoiding nuclear risks

Summary How to deal with the risks associated with nuclear energy is a major policy issue. This paper investigates the effect of an individual’s distance from nuclear power plants on willingness to pay for increased insurance coverage against nuclear accidents (MWP C ) as well as on willingness to pay for solving the nuclear waste disposal problem (MWP W ). Using data from a discrete choice experiment conducted in Switzerland, we find evidence that MWP C values decrease with distance from plant once attitudes influencing choice of residential location are controlled for. However, distance from plant has no effect on MWP W values.

Climatic and environmental changes recorded in loess

∗E-mail: ian.smalley@ntu.ac.uk †E-mail: slobodan.markovic@dgt.uns.ac.rs ‡E-mail: ludwig.zoller@uni-bayreuth.de §E-mail: jones@gamma.ttk.pte.hu of geochemistry, and mineralogy, and sedimentology, and many other disciplines. The Danube basin, a key feature of Central Europe is a beautifully defined loess system, almost a closed system with material being delivered from the surrounding mountains and contributing to major deposits. There is geotechnical interest in Central Europe; all loess deposits present geotechnical problems and Central Europe is no exception. There are problems with landslides in the Danube bluffs and a plan has been drawn up for a nuclear waste repository in the deep loess at Kozloduy, in northern Bulgaria. It might be that the thick loess of Central Europe offers opportunities for solving long-standing and intractable problems of nuclear waste disposal. These are lands where loess snails are studied and human habitations discovered. Here are the Black Earth regions, where chernozemisation was remarkably effective and soil science was invented. These are rich loess regions.

Democratic input into the nuclear waste disposal problem: The influence of geographical data on decision making examined through a Web-based GIS

This paper elucidates the manner in which users of an online decision support system respond to spatially distributed data when assessing the solution to environmental risks, specifically, nuclear waste disposal. It presents tests for revealing whether users are responding to geographical data and whether they are influenced by their home location (Not in My Back Yard – style behavior). The tests specifically cope with problems associated with testing home-to-risk distances where both locations are constrained by the shape of the landmass available. In addition, we detail the users’ wider feelings towards such a system, and reflect upon the possibilities such systems offer for participatory democracy initiatives.

Chapter 20 Nirex and the great denouement

Abstract We saw in Chapter 14 how the British Geological Survey came under pressure in various ways in the 1980s - the 'Thatcher yeaars'. Some of its basic funding was diverted to the universities, and one of the reasons for the collaboration between the Survey and the universities was that it provided a means whereby it could recoup its 'own' money, so to speak, via the NERC-funded PhD studentships. However, that in itself was insufficient, and increasingly the Survey had to go into the market to help fund its activities through contract or consulting activities. With its large staff and accumulated experience and databases, the BGS (or Institute of Geological Sciences before the beginning of 1984) could readily aspire to be the largest and best geological consulting agency in Britain, although taking on a consultative role entailed a change in its ethos. We can see this manifested in 1991 when three new divisions were established: International, Marketing, and Corporate Coordination and Information. The posts of Chief Geologist, Chief Geochemist and Chief Geophysicist were abolished. Four new programme divisions were established: Thematic Maps and Onshore Surveys; Petroleum Geology, Geophysics and Offshore Surveys; minerals and Geochemical Surveys; and Groundwater and Geotechnical Surveys (Hackett 1999, p. 7). A considerable amount of the BGS's consulting work had to do wth the nuclear industry and radioactive waste disposal. 1 In the early 1970s, the BGS (then IGS) and the Natural Environment Research Council began to focus on the pending major problem of nuclear waste disposal, and in

France's Commitment to Nuclear Deterrence

Nuclear weapons have become associated with national independence and security against another world war and, more broadly, with de Gaulle's successful efforts to restore France's honor and international status. The French generally deem nuclear weapons an insurance policy in an uncertain and unstable world, and a guarantee of France's political and strategic autonomy. Despite intermittent and apparently growing concerns about nuclear-reactor safety and nuclear-waste disposal problems, and aside from the minor political parties, the consensus behind nuclear deterrence in France remains remarkably robust.

A decision theory perspective on the disposal of high-level radioactive waste.

In this paper the problem of high-level nuclear waste disposal is viewed as a five-stage, cascaded decision problem. The first four of these decisions having essentially been made, the work of recent years has been focused on the fifth stage, which concerns specifics of the repository design. The probabilistic performance assessment (PPA) work is viewed as the outcome prediction for this stage, and the site characterization work as the information gathering option. This brief examination of the proposed Yucca Mountain repository through a decision analysis framework resulted in three conclusions: (1) A decision theory approach to the process of selecting and characterizing Yucca Mountain would enhance public understanding of the issues and solutions to high-level waste management; (2) engineered systems are an attractive alternative to offset uncertainties in the containment capability of the natural setting and should receive greater emphasis in the design of the repository; and (3) a strategy of "waste management" should be adopted, as opposed to "waste disposal," as it allows for incremental confirmation and confidence building of a permanent solution to the high-level waste problem.

Perspectives on the high level waste disposal problem

The problem of high level nuclear waste disposal can be brought into perspective by comparing the waste produced by the nuclear industry with that produced by other electricity generating industries. Negative health effects of the waste produced by these industries can be measured and compared by calculating the risks of fatalities produced by standard waste disposal techniques. This comparison, both on a long term (millions of years) and on a relatively short term (500 years) basis, shows that the health risks are far greater for the coal burning industry and that those for the nuclear industry are minimal and controllable. Further, the author asserts that the nuclear industry is actually helping to reduce radon emissions, and thereby cancer fatalities, through the use and prudent disposal of source uranium.

Transferable belief model for decision making in the valuation-based systems

We present a decision support system which is based on the transferable belief model (TBM), a model to represent someone's degree of belief based on belief functions. The system performs reasoning and decision making by integrating a system for belief propagation and a system for Bayesian decision analysis. The two subsystems are developed within the framework of the valuation-based systems. They are connected through the pignistic transformation as described in the context of the TBM. The system takes as inputs the user's beliefs and utilities, and suggests either the optimal decision or the optimal sequence of decisions. An example concerning a nuclear waste disposal problem is given to demonstrate the applicability of the system in a real-world domain.

Thermoelastic and thermoplastic response of a porous space submitted to a decaying heat source

AbstractA general solution scheme is developed for one‐dimensional and non‐isothermal consolidation problems for fluid‐saturated, porous, thermoelastic media. Two fundamental parameters which describe the coupling effects between thermal, hydraulic and mechanical behaviour are: ratio of thermal and hydraulic diffusivity and ratio of thermomechanical deformabilities in drained and undrained conditions. The solution scheme has been applied to the nuclear waste disposal problem. A solution for a thermoporoelastic rock mass containing a decaying heat source is presented. Numerical results show that coupling effects are most pronounced for low permeability and high porosity media such as deep compressible clays. This corresponds to a low value of the ratio of hydraulic and thermal diffusivities and a high value of the ratio of deformabilities in drained and undrained conditions.Comparison with numerical simulations taking into account the non‐linear and non‐reversible behaviour of the rock mass is presented. It shows that the thermoelastic model is quite correct for temperature and displacement fields, and gives maxima of the pore pressure and stress elevations.

A future AMS/chromatography instrument for biochemical and environmental measurements

A summary will be presented of an instrumentation study conceived to design a miniature accelerator mass spectroscopy (AMS) system. A secondary set of goals endeavoured to link the chemical specificity of gas and liquid chromatography with the ultra-sensitivity of AMS. The purpose of such combined instrumentation would be to permit 14C tracking of biochemical molecules and to provide identification of their metabolic products with a minimum of additional chemical manipulations. Features of a compact chromatograph/AMS system will be presented. Its size will make possible installation in hospitals and non-nuclear research institutions. The sensitivity suggests that, because only very low concentrations of radio-tracers will be needed, nuclear waste disposal problems will be minimized.

Public Relations Practitioners, Journalists View Lying Similarly

Journalists and public relations persons hold similar views about what is and is not lying as practitioners supply information about two hypothetical events: the firing of a basketball coach and nuclear waste disposal problems facing a research laboratory. The 210 respondents in the nationwide survey do not view lying differently if the practitioner works for a public or private organization.

A Market-based Solution to the Problem of Nuclear and Toxic Waste Disposal

Siting new low-level and high-level nuclear waste sites and other hazardous facilities has been difficult, if not impossible, in recent years. Experts claim that the physical and biological risks associated with these sites are extremely low, but the public often does not believe these assertions. Psychological costs are high because large risks are perceived. Compensation methods for residents near a potential site have been suggested. However, when this technique has been attached to present programs for site selection, prospective site neighbors viewed it as coercive. A reverse Dutch auction would eliminate these objections and generate a volunteer political jurisdiction, removing the element of coercion. Residents of a volunteer area would set their own price for psychological compensation. The Dutch auction feature would set a limit on this price, however. The reverse Dutch auction in effect sets the true “social cost” of hazardous waste sites, but retains environmental safeguards.

Geophysical problems in nuclear waste disposal, Part I

Geophysicists contribute their knowledge to the solution of many societal problems—seismic and volcanic risk, exploration and mapping, to name a few. A field of special demand which has recently grown important is nuclear waste disposal. To effectively contribute to this project, the geophysicist must be well versed in the underlying issues. This article summarizes the background of the nuclear waste disposal problem and how geophysicists are contributing to its solution. The emphasis is on the high‐level nuclear waste generated in the commercial sector. An accompanying article by Larry Irons illustrates some of the tools that have proved useful in hazardous waste investigations. Many of these techniques have been applied to the characterization of the site for high‐level nuclear waste. The repository program is an enormous one, perhaps the largest concentrated application of geologic knowledge ever made to a single question. There is a significant need for geophysical expertise because those techniques s...