Safety implication for an unsaturated zone nuclear waste repository

Hamdan, Lubna K.; Walton, John C.; Woocay, Arturo

doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2010.05.022

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…It is extremely difficult for policy-makers worldwide to develop a consensus on final disposal of high-level nuclear waste. The disposal of high-level nuclear waste [1][2][3] is gaining a new momentum [4] due to the need for more electricity with minimal emission of CO 2 and other greenhouse gases to limit global warming.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-Level Nuclear Wastes and the Environment: Analyses of Challenges and Engineering Strategies

Rana¹

2012

WJNST

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The main objective of this paper is to analyze the current status of high-level nuclear waste disposal along with presentation of practical perspectives about the environmental issues involved. Present disposal designs and concepts are analyzed on a scientific basis and modifications to existing designs are proposed from the perspective of environmental safety. A new concept of a chemical heat sink is introduced for the removal of heat emitted due to radioactive decay in the spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste, and thermal spikes produced by radiation in containment materials. Mainly, UO 2 and metallic U are used as fuels in nuclear reactors. Spent nuclear fuel contains fission products and transuranium elements which would remain radioactive for 10 4 to 10 8 years. Essential concepts and engineering strategies for spent nuclear fuel disposal are described. Conceptual designs are described and discussed considering the long-term radiation and thermal activity of spent nuclear fuel. Notions of physical and chemical barriers to contain nuclear waste are highlighted. A timeframe for nuclear waste disposal is proposed and time-line nuclear waste disposal plan or policy is described and discussed.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-Level Nuclear Wastes and the Environment: Analyses of Challenges and Engineering Strategies

Rana¹

2012

WJNST

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“…This is significant knowledge gap, given that unsaturated conditions are expected to exist at some points during the life cycle of the waste repository [8][9][10]. Unsaturated conditions in the host clay (and clay based EBS) can also result from temperature and pressure changes emanating from the conditions in and around the radioactive waste packages [11] Thus, for improving gas diffusion process understanding, it is also important to study gas diffusion in partially saturated clay based materials as well as to understand and link the processes that affect these gas diffusivities in partially saturated conditions. It is worth noting that the overall water content of the partially saturated zones within the radioactive waste repository is not expected to be strongly below full saturation [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An experimental methodology to assess the impact of desaturation on gas diffusion in clay based materials

et al. 2023

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The transport of gas in clay-based materials is dominated by diffusion. SCK CEN has studied and recorded an extensive data set of diffusion coefficients of gases in various saturated clays (Boom Clay, Opalinus Clay, Callovo-Oxfordian claystone and bentonites) used in Europe as host formations or in engineered barrier systems in the context of deep geological disposal of high and intermediate level nuclear wastes. However, partially saturated conditions may exist during the life cycle of a radioactive waste repository. The current study aims at establishing an experimental method to measure the diffusion coefficients of various gases in partially saturated clay-based materials by means of double through diffusion tests (cross diffusion of gases across the porous sample, driven by concentration gradients) and to assess the impact of desaturation on gas diffusivity. Historically, gas diffusion measurements have been performed under dissolved conditions with continuous water and dissolved gas flow around the clay sample. However, since the saturation degree of the sample has to be constant, a novel setup has been designed and optimized to operate under a pure gas phase under controlled relative humidity (RH). The experimental concept consists of cross diffusion of gas mixtures from two reservoirs at a fixed relative humidity on either side of the sample cell, namely, the upstream and downstream reservoirs. The RH is controlled using the same saturated salt solutions in both reservoirs. During the experiment, gases will diffuse from the upstream to the downstream reservoir. By measuring the change in gas composition in the downstream reservoir with a gas analyzer equipped with a mass spectrometer (which expresses the gas composition in terms of partial pressure), the gas flux and hence the diffusion coefficient is estimated by applying steady state Fick’s first law. The experimental methodology has been validated by performing an experiment on a sandy-clay sample of known petrophysical properties, at full saturation.

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“…These articles appeared in journals across the social sciences from the late 1970s, mostly after the 2000s. Further broadening the scope of the books outlined above, these articles typically explore more specific themes of significance to nuclear waste such as attitudes and risk perceptions [ 4 – 8 ]; public acceptance [ 9 ]; opposition and environmentalism [ 10 – 11 ]; sites and the siting process [ 12 – 16 ]; ethics, responsibility, justice [ 17 – 19 ]; safety concerns [ 20 ]; security concerns [ 21 ]; property values [ 22 ]; other management and policy issues [ 23 – 30 ]; and methodological innovations [ 31 – 32 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two Paradigmatic Waves of Public Discourse on Nuclear Waste in the United States, 1945-2009: Understanding a Magnitudinal and Longitudinal Phenomenon in Anthropological Terms

Pajo

2016

PLoS ONE

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This project set out to illuminate the discursive existence of nuclear waste in American culture. Given the significant temporal dimension of the phenomenon as well as the challenging size of the United States setting, the project adapted key methodological elements of the sociocultural anthropology tradition and produced proxies for ethnographic fieldnotes and key informant interviews through sampling the digital archives of the New York Times over a 64-year period that starts with the first recorded occurrence of the notion of nuclear waste and ends with the conclusion of the presidency of George W. Bush. Two paradigmatic waves of American public discourse on nuclear waste come to light when subjecting this empirical data to quantitative inventorying and interpretive analysis: between 1945 and 1969 nuclear waste was generally framed in light of the beneficial utilizations of nuclear reactions and with optimistic expectations for a scientific/technological solution; by contrast, between 1969 and 2009 nuclear waste was conceptualized as inherited harm that could not be undone and contestation that required political/legal management. Besides this key finding and the empirical timing of the two paradigms, the study’s value lies also with its detailed empirical documentation of nuclear waste in its sociocultural existence.

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Safety implication for an unsaturated zone nuclear waste repository

Cited by 3 publications

References 12 publications

High-Level Nuclear Wastes and the Environment: Analyses of Challenges and Engineering Strategies

High-Level Nuclear Wastes and the Environment: Analyses of Challenges and Engineering Strategies

An experimental methodology to assess the impact of desaturation on gas diffusion in clay based materials

Two Paradigmatic Waves of Public Discourse on Nuclear Waste in the United States, 1945-2009: Understanding a Magnitudinal and Longitudinal Phenomenon in Anthropological Terms

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