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

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Response<br />

Issue<br />

281<br />

MULTIBARRIERS FOR DISPOSAL<br />

This appendix has been deleted from the final Statement.<br />

Several commenters stated that a more thorough treatment <strong>of</strong> the possible contribution<br />

<strong>of</strong> natural and engineered barriers should be provided in the final Statement together with<br />

a summary description <strong>of</strong> the related R&D program(s), (43, 58, 97, 114, 124, 154, 219)<br />

Response<br />

DOE agrees that the concept <strong>of</strong> multiple barriers and their use in future repository<br />

systems was incompletely described in the draft. Further discussion <strong>of</strong> multiple barriers<br />

and the associated R&D efforts may be found in Sections 5.1 and 5.2 <strong>of</strong> Volume 1,<br />

respectively.<br />

Issue<br />

Several commenters noted that the Statement should make clear whether or not glass is<br />

an acceptable high-level waste form for the initial repository. (58, 124)<br />

Response<br />

The acceptability <strong>of</strong> a particular waste form will depend upon the specifics <strong>of</strong> the<br />

final system design and repository medium. A discussion <strong>of</strong> the properties <strong>of</strong> glass as well<br />

as other possible waste forms is contained in final Section 4.3.<br />

Issue<br />

Several commenters questioned the effectiveness <strong>of</strong> engineered barriers and/or whether<br />

these barriers would be <strong>of</strong> significance over the long term. (6, 43, 113-EPA, 141, 142, 214)<br />

Response<br />

A systems (or multibarrier) approach to the design <strong>of</strong> waste repository assumes that<br />

the fate <strong>of</strong> radionuclides will be determined by geologic environment, the properties <strong>of</strong> the<br />

host medium, the waste form chosen, and any other engineered barriers utilized. In select-<br />

ing these design components, the objective will be to prevent release <strong>of</strong> radionuclides to<br />

the biosphere by providing redundant as well as independent barriers. DOE recognizes that<br />

the engineered components <strong>of</strong> the multibarrier system would be <strong>of</strong> greatest importance in the<br />

short term and that the repository medium and the surrounding geology would be the critical<br />

elements over long periods <strong>of</strong> time. It is envisioned that the waste container will be<br />

designed to remain intact for about 1,000 years. The recent DOE Position P~aper to the NRC<br />

Rulemaking proceedings on nuclear waste storage and disposal (DOE 1980a) notes that" <strong>Waste</strong>

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