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Management of Commercially Generated Radioactive Waste - U.S. ...

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Draft p. 3.1.64<br />

Issue<br />

134<br />

RISK PERSPECTIVES<br />

Paragraph 7 is very questionable. Hazard indices are not based on estimates <strong>of</strong> soci-<br />

etal risks compared to other societal risks, in general. There is also the question <strong>of</strong><br />

whether the hazard <strong>of</strong> the waste after several hundred years <strong>of</strong> decay, considering nuclides<br />

and pathways, is less than the hazard <strong>of</strong> the ores. (113-EPA)<br />

Response<br />

DOE disagrees. If one is to determine the significance <strong>of</strong> a hazard it must be compared<br />

to other hazards.<br />

The text does not state that the hazard <strong>of</strong> the waste after several hundred years <strong>of</strong><br />

decay is less than the hazard <strong>of</strong> the ores. The statement made was that the radioactivity<br />

<strong>of</strong> the wastes would not exceed that <strong>of</strong> the natural ore. However, because <strong>of</strong> the nature <strong>of</strong><br />

a repository, i.e., 600 meters <strong>of</strong> overburden, compared to the overburden <strong>of</strong> most commercial<br />

mines, the hazard to the population from repository wastes stored several hundred years<br />

would not exceed the hazard from natural ores.<br />

Draft p. 3.1.65, Hazard Indices<br />

Issue<br />

One commenter noted that this section contains several specious arguments culled from<br />

various sources and that more detail should be presented or the entire discussion be<br />

eliminated. (218-DOI).<br />

Response<br />

In preparing the final Statement an effort was made to provide more detailed informa-<br />

tion for the reader in the discussion <strong>of</strong> hazard indices (see Section 3.4).<br />

Draft p. 3.1.65<br />

Issue<br />

The following statement is made: "Eventually 239 Pu will disappear due to its 24,000<br />

239<br />

year half life; the lead will persist indefinitely." Although 239Pu will decay, its<br />

daughter is 235U which is the parent <strong>of</strong> a decay series terminating, after more than a<br />

dozen radioactive decays, in 207Pb (lead-207). Thus the legacy <strong>of</strong> 239Pu also persists<br />

indefinitely. (217)

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