Download or read book Overview of the United States Department of Energy s Used Fuel Disposition Disposal Research Program written by and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 30 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Overview of the United States Department of Energy s Used Fuel Disposition Research and Development Campaign written by and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 16 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Used Fuel Disposition Research and Development Roadmap FY10 Status written by and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since 1987 the U.S. has focused research and development activities relevant to the disposal of commercial used nuclear fuel and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) owned spent nuclear fuel and high level waste on the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. At the same time, the U.S. successfully deployed a deep geologic disposal facility for defense-related transuranic waste in bedded salt at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. In 2009 the DOE established the Used Fuel Disposition Campaign (UFDC) within the Office of Nuclear Energy. The Mission of the UFDC is to identify alternatives and conduct scientific research and technology development to enable storage, transportation and disposal of used nuclear fuel and wastes generated by existing and future nuclear fuel cycles. The U.S. national laboratories have participated on these programs and has conducted research and development related to these issues to a limited extent. However, a comprehensive research and development (R & D) program investigating a variety of geologic media has not been a part of the U.S. waste management program since the mid 1980s. Such a comprehensive R & D program is being developed in the UFDC with a goal of meeting the UFDC Grand Challenge to provide a sound technical basis for absolute confidence in the safety and security of long-term storage, transportation, and disposal of used nuclear fuel and wastes from the nuclear energy enterprise. The DOE has decided to no longer pursue the development of a repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Since a repository site will ultimately have to be selected, sited, characterized, designed, and licensed, other disposal options must now be considered. In addition to the unsaturated volcanic tuff evaluated at Yucca Mountain, several different geologic media are under investigation internationally and preliminary assessments indicate that disposal of used nuclear fuel and high level waste in these media is feasible. Considerable progress has been made in the U.S. and other nations in understanding disposal concepts in different geologic media, but gaps in knowledge still exist. A principal aspect of concern to the UFDC as it considers the broad issues of siting a repository in different geologic media are the marked differences in the regulatory bases for assessing suitability and safety of a repository between the U.S. and other nations. Because the probability based - risked informed nature of the current U.S. regulations for high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel is sufficiently different from other regulations, information gained in previous studies, while useful, likely need to be supplemented to enable more convincing communication with the public, better defense of the numerical models, and stronger safety cases. Thus, it was recognized when the UFDC was established that there were readily identified disposal-related R & D opportunities to address knowledge gaps. An effort to document these research opportunities was a key component of Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 engineered system, natural system, and system-level modeling activities for a range of disposal environments. A principal contribution to identifying these gaps was a workshop held to gather perspectives from experts both within and external to the UFDC regarding R & D opportunities. In the planning for FY2010 it was expected that these activities would culminate with a UFDC research and development roadmap that would identify the knowledge gaps, discuss the R & D needed to fill these gaps, and prioritize the proposed R & D over both the near- and long-term. A number of knowledge gaps and needed R & D were identified and are discussed in this report. However, these preliminary R & D topics have not been evaluated in detail nor have they been prioritized to support future planning efforts. This will be completed in FY11 and the final UFDC Research and Development Roadmap will be completed. This report discusses proposed R & D topics in three areas related to repository siting, design, and performance: natural systems, engineered systems, and overall disposal system. The intent of this report is to consolidate the proposed R & D topics to support subsequent discussions among UFDC and external expertise to identify additional R & D needs and to prioritize these needs, leading to the development for the UFDC Research and Development Roadmap.

Download or read book Overview of the United States Department of Energy s Used Fuel Disposition Research and Development Campaign and Nuclear Fuel Storage and Transportation Planning Project written by and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 7 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Used Fuel Disposition Campaign International Activities Implementation Plan written by and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The management of used nuclear fuel and nuclear waste is required for any country using nuclear energy. This includes the storage, transportation, and disposal of low and intermediate level waste (LILW), used nuclear fuel (UNF), and high level waste (HLW). The Used Fuel Disposition Campaign (UFDC), within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Nuclear Energy (NE), Office of Fuel Cycle Technology (FCT), is responsible for conducting research and development pertaining to the management of these materials in the U.S. Cooperation and collaboration with other countries would be beneficial to both the U.S. and other countries through information exchange and a broader participation of experts in the field. U.S. participation in international UNF and HLW exchanges leads to safe management of nuclear materials, increased security through global oversight, and protection of the environment worldwide. Such interactions offer the opportunity to develop consensus on policy, scientific, and technical approaches. Dialogue to address common technical issues helps develop an internationally recognized foundation of sound science, benefiting the U.S. and participating countries. The UNF and HLW management programs in nuclear countries are at different levels of maturity. All countries utilizing nuclear power must store UNF, mostly in wet storage, and HLW for those countries that reprocess UNF. Several countries either utilize or plan to utilize dry storage systems for UNF, perhaps for long periods of time (several decades). Geologic disposal programs are at various different states, ranging from essentially 'no progress' to selected sites and pending license applications to regulators. The table below summarizes the status of UNF and HLW management programs in several countriesa. Thus, the opportunity exists to collaborate at different levels ranging from providing expertise to those countries 'behind' the U.S. to obtaining access to information and expertise from those countries with more mature programs. The U.S. fuel cycle is a once through fuel cycle involving the direct disposal of UNF, as spent nuclear fuel, in a geologic repository (previously identified at Yucca Mountain, Nevada), following at most a few decades of storage (wet and dry). The geology at Yucca Mountain, unsaturated tuff, is unique among all countries investigating the disposal of UNF and HLW. The decision by the U.S. Department of Energy to no longer pursue the disposal of UNF at Yucca Mountain and possibly utilize very long term storage (approaching 100 years or more) while evaluating future fuel cycle alternatives for managing UNF, presents a different UNF and HLW management R & D portfolio that has been pursued in the U.S. In addition, the research and development activities managed by OCRWM have been transferred to DOE-NE. This requires a reconsideration of how the UFDC will engage in cooperative and collaborative activities with other countries. This report presents the UFDC implementation plan for international activities. The DOE Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) has cooperated and collaborated with other countries in many different 'arenas' including the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) within the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and through bilateral agreements with other countries. These international activities benefited OCRWM through the acquisition and exchange of information, database development, and peer reviews by experts from other countries. DOE-NE cooperates and collaborates with other countries in similar 'arenas' with similar objectives and realizing similar benefits. However the DOE-NE focus has not typically been in the area of UNF and HLW management. This report will first summarize these recent cooperative and collaborative activities. The manner that the UFDC will cooperate and collaborate in the future is expected to change as R & D is conducted regarding long-term storage and the potential disposal of UNF and HLW in different geologic environments. While some continuation of on-going or recent cooperative and collaborative activities are expected to continue, the approach taken in these activities may be different than past activities given the changes in the U.S. waste management program. In addition, new cooperative and collaborative activities with different scope than in the past may be undertaken. Such potential future cooperative and collaborative activities will be discussed. The last part of the plan includes the implementation of the UFDC international activities.

Download or read book Overview of the United States Spent Nuclear Fuel Program written by and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 11 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As a result of the end of the Cold War, the mission of the US Department of Energy (DOE) has shifted from an emphasis on nuclear weapons development and production to an emphasis on the safe management and disposal of excess nuclear materials including spent nuclear fuel from both production and research reactors. Within the US, there are two groups managing spent nuclear fuel. Commercial nuclear power plants are managing their spent nuclear fuel at the individual reactor sites until the planned repository is opened. All other spent nuclear fuel, including research reactors, university reactors, naval reactors, and legacy material from the Cold War is managed by DOE. DOE's mission is to safely and efficiently manage its spent nuclear fuel and prepare it for disposal. This mission involves correcting existing vulnerabilities in spent fuel storage; moving spent fuel from wet basins to dry storage; processing at-risk spent fuel; and preparing spent fuel in road-ready condition for repository disposal. Most of DOE's spent nuclear fuel is stored in underwater basins (wet storage). Many of these basins are outdated, and spent fuel is to be removed and transferred to more modern basins or to new dry storage facilities. In 1995, DOE completed a complex-wide environmental impact analysis that resulted in spent fuel being sent to one of three principal DOE sites for interim storage (up to 40 years) prior to shipment to a repository. This regionalization by fuel type will allow for economies of scale yet minimize unnecessary transportation. This paper discusses the national SNF program, ultimate disposition of SNF, and the technical challenges that have yet to be resolved, namely, release rate testing, non-destructive assay, alternative treatments, drying, and chemical reactivity.

Download or read book Improving the Scientific Basis for Managing DOE s Excess Nuclear Materials and Spent Nuclear Fuel written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2003-06-09 with total page 124 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The production of nuclear materials for the national defense was an intense, nationwide effort that began with the Manhattan Project and continued throughout the Cold War. Now many of these product materials, by-products, and precursors, such as irradiated nuclear fuels and targets, have been declared as excess by the Department of Energy (DOE). Most of this excess inventory has been, or will be, turned over to DOE's Office of Environmental Management (EM), which is responsible for cleaning up the former production sites. Recognizing the scientific and technical challenges facing EM, Congress in 1995 established the EM Science Program (EMSP) to develop and fund directed, long-term research that could substantially enhance the knowledge base available for new cleanup technologies and decision making. The EMSP has previously asked the National Academies' National Research Council for advice for developing research agendas in subsurface contamination, facility deactivation and decommissioning, high-level waste, and mixed and transuranic waste. For this study the committee was tasked to provide recommendations for a research agenda to improve the scientific basis for DOE's management of its high-cost, high-volume, or high-risk excess nuclear materials and spent nuclear fuels. To address its task, the committee focused its attention on DOE's excess plutonium-239, spent nuclear fuels, cesium-137 and strontium-90 capsules, depleted uranium, and higher actinide isotopes.

Download or read book Update of the Used Fuel Disposition Campaign Implementation Plan written by and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 38 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Campaign Implementation Plan provides summary level detail describing how the Used Fuel Disposition Campaign (UFDC) supports achievement of the overarching mission and objectives of the Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy Fuel Cycle Technologies Program The implementation plan begins with the assumption of target dates that are set out in the January 2013 DOE Strategy for the Management and Disposal of Used Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste (http://energy.gov/downloads/strategy-management-and-disposal-used-nuclear-fuel-and-high-level-radioactive-waste). These target dates and goals are summarized in section III. This implementation plan will be maintained as a living document and will be updated as needed in response to progress in the Used Fuel Disposition Campaign and the Fuel Cycle Technologies Program.

Download or read book Update on the United States Department of Energy s Used Fuel Disposition R D Campaign written by and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 14 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Low Level Radioactive Waste Management and Disposition written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2017-06-05 with total page 163 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Department of Energy's Office of Environmental Management (DOE) is responsible for the safe cleanup of sites used for nuclear weapons development and government-sponsored nuclear energy research. Low-level radioactive waste (LLW) is the most volumetrically significant waste stream generated by the DOE cleanup program. LLW is also generated through commercial activities such as nuclear power plant operations and medical treatments. The laws and regulations related to the disposal of LLW in the United States have evolved over time and across agencies and states, resulting in a complex regulatory structure. DOE asked the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to organize a workshop to discuss approaches for the management and disposition of LLW. Participants explored the key physical, chemical, and radiological characteristics of low-level waste that govern its safe and secure management and disposal in aggregate and in individual waste streams, and how key characteristics of low level waste are incorporated into standards, orders, and regulations that govern the management and disposal of LLW in the United States and in other major waste-producing countries. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

Download or read book Used Fuel Disposition in Crystalline Rocks written by and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy, Office of Fuel Cycle Technology established the Used Fuel Disposition Campaign (UFDC) in fiscal year 2010 (FY10) to conduct the research and development (R&D) activities related to storage, transportation and disposal of used nuclear fuel and high level nuclear waste. The objective of the Crystalline Disposal R&D Work Package is to advance our understanding of long-term disposal of used fuel in crystalline rocks and to develop necessary experimental and computational capabilities to evaluate various disposal concepts in such media.

Download or read book Disposition of High Level Radioactive Waste Through Geological Isolation written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1999-10-07 with total page 42 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the next several years, decisions are expected to be made in several countries on the further development and implementation of the geological disposition option. The Board on Radioactive Waste Management (BRWM) of the U.S. National Academies believes that informed and reasoned discussion of relevant scientific, engineering and social issues can-and should-play a constructive role in the decision process by providing information to decision makers on relevant technical and policy issues. A BRWM-initiated project including a workshop at Irvine, California on November 4-5, 1999, and subsequent National Academies' report to be published in spring, 2000, are intended to provide such information to national policy makers both in the U.S. and abroad. To inform national policies, it is essential that experts from the physical, geological, and engineering sciences, and experts from the policy and social science communities work together. Some national programs have involved social science and policy experts from the beginning, while other programs have only recently recognized the importance of this collaboration. An important goal of the November workshop is to facilitate dialogue between these communities, as well as to encourage the sharing of experiences from many national programs. The workshop steering committee has prepared this discussion for participants at the workshop. It should elicit critical comments and help identify topics requiring in-depth discussion at the workshop. It is not intended as a statement of findings, conclusions, or recommendations. It is rather intended as a vehicle for stimulating dialogue among the workshop participants. Out of that dialogue will emerge the findings, conclusions, and recommendations of the National Academies' report.

Download or read book Research Reactor Aluminum Spent Fuel written by Milton Levenson and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1998-05-20 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is preparing an environmental impact statement (EIS) for management of aluminum spent fuel from foreign and domestic research reactors, much of which is highly enriched in uranium-235. This EIS will assess the need for additional treatment and storage facilities at the Savannah River Site to accommodate the receipt of this fuel, and it also will assess and select a treatment technology to prepare this fuel for interim storage and eventual shipment to a repository for disposal. This National Research Council book, which was prepared at the request of DOE's Savannah River Office, provides a technical assessment of the technologies, costs, and schedules developed by DOE for eight alternative treatment options and the baseline reprocessing option. It also provides comments on DOE's aluminum spent fuel disposal program, a program that is slated to last for about 40 years and cost in excess of $2 billion.

Download or read book Department of Energy Study on Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage written by United States. Department of Energy and published by . This book was released on 1980 with total page 108 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Update of the Used Fuel Dispositon Campaign Implementation Plan written by and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 39 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Review of the Department of Energy s Plans for Disposal of Surplus Plutonium in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2020-06-01 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 2018, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine issued an Interim Report evaluating the general viability of the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration's (DOE-NNSA's) conceptual plans for disposing of 34 metric tons (MT) of surplus plutonium in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), a deep geologic repository near Carlsbad, New Mexico. It provided a preliminary assessment of the general viability of DOE-NNSA's conceptual plans, focused on some of the barriers to their implementation. This final report addresses the remaining issues and echoes the recommendations from the interim study.

Download or read book Spent Fuel Storage and Disposal written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. Subcommittee on Energy and Power and published by . This book was released on 1980 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: