Resource-Limited Multiattribute Value Analysis of Alternatives for Immobilizing Radioactive Liquid Process Waste Stored in Saluggia, Italy

Abstract

This large Italian public works project started with the development of engineering data to support the evaluation of three alternatives for processing nuclear waste. After an analysis of the alternatives' performance from an engineering perspective was completed, Società Gestione Impianti Nucleari (Sogin), which is the Italian authority with the responsibility to decommission Italy's four nuclear power plants, asked Battelle, a company thoroughly familiar with nuclear waste processing, to provide an independent assessment of this important decision. The initial analysis did not include an evaluation of alternative performance from the perspective of a broad set of public values. As part of the assessment, we developed a decision methodology as a practical variation of the data-intensive decision processes often found in textbooks. In this paper, we describe a decision process in which we made use of engineering data and expert judgment to minimize expensive additional data collection so that we could perform a multiattribute decision analysis that was theoretically grounded and economical to implement, while incorporating both engineering and stakeholder objectives. Through this process, the Battelle staff verified the initial selection made by the staff at Sogin.

Improving the Generation of Decision Objectives

“…From this set, 19 objectives might be useful in creating alternatives, 12 might be particularly relevant for including various stakeholders' concerns, 8 might be considered to screen out obviously inferior alternatives, and 5 may be used in a formal analysis of subsequent contending alternatives. Recent applications including Mild and Salo (2009) and Brothers et al (2009) have discussed the process of selecting objectives for a formal analysis.…”

From the Editor…

“…Ahti Salo provides editorial leadership for Decision Analysis as an associate editor. In the last issue of Decision Analysis, Brothers et al (2009) presented a method for resource-limited multiattribute value function analysis of alternatives for managing nuclear waste stored in Italy.…”