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

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22. (Page 3.1.6, sixth paragraph) This discussion of resource
potential of the host rock is incomplete. 'It treats only the loss of
contrary to the evidence in ICRP, UNSCEAR, BEIR, and other reports that oresource roh tntalu aoft barea nta nepod in i nitely sin
s u c h l o s s
variations in by cer irrditibily of issue to induction of different
forms of cancer by irradiation are quite large and not necessarily
loss of control over this site must be expected. The real problem with
resource potential of the host rock is that it will tend to attract
related to the marked variations in natural incidence of the diverse future human intrusion and so increae the probability that the
types of cancer, repository integrity can be breached by man's activities.
There are also problems in the statistical analysis in ANL/ES-26:
misuse or misinterpretation of the t-statistic, failure to use
Scheffes' test or calculations of variance ratio to check the
23. (Page 3.1.8, last paragraph) We recommend that the low water
content and drier nature of salt domes resulting from the diapirism
process be cited as a particular advantage over bedded salt
significance of the series of t-tests, and use of gross averages in the
analysis. 24. (Page 3.1.11 - Table at bottom of page) There should be two
In reality, the paper can be shown to be erroneous by inspection
categories of salt, Bedded Salt and Salt Domes, so that the difference
in moisture content can be emphasized. Salt Domes have lower moisture
of Frigerio et al.'s source of cancer mortality data, NCI Monograph 33, content which is a major consideration.
Patterns in Cancer Mortality in the United States: 1950-1967. In
Monograph 33, Burbank presented an analysis of Dynamic Geographic
Distribution for each cancer. The complex pattern of increasing and;
decreasing cancer mortality by state and cancer show that factors other
than background are the major driving force in cancer mortality rates
and that natural background radiation is not.
Indeed, in a later publication (Jacobson, A.P., Plato, P.A., and
Plasticity, ion exchange capacity, and linear discontinuities
should be added to the properties for the rock types. Plasticity
values would have the following relative scale values: Bedded
Salt (3), Salt Domes (3), Granite (1), Shale (2), and Basalt (1).
Ion exchange capacity would have values of 1, 1, 2, 3, and 2,
respectively. Linear discontinuities would have values of 3, 3, 2, 3,
and 1, respectively.
Frigerio, N.A. "The Role of Natural Radiations in Human
Leukemogenesis," Am. J. Public Health 66, p. 31-37, 1976), a more
reasonable major conclusion was reached: "It appears that conditions
25. (Page 3.1.16, third pargraph) This statement is too vague to be
useful in the site selection process. It is necessary to make a
relative to populations and their environment could mask a radiation
effect, if in fact one is present."
19. (Page 3.1) The main reason that the waste waste management system
evaluation was emphasized on deep geological disposal in salt
determination as to the period of time for which high-level radioactive
waste must be kept isolated from the biosphere and also for how
complete such isolation must be. Complete isolation u c h
s t e
for all time is
probably snot achievable e
and certainly
tai
cannot
ola for all eis
be assured in advance.
formations was that this alternative received the most study. We
suggest other geologic media and other disposal methods receive
26. (Page 3.1.17) Somewhere it should be emphasized that global plate
boundaries should be excluded as locations for potential repository
adequate scrutiny.
20. (Page 3.1.3) The concept of the equilibrium release fringe does
sites because most of the catastrophic
occur along
geologic
these well defined
events
linear features.
of this planet
o c c u r a l o n g t h e s e d e f i n ed l i n e a r
not appear to have significance for long-term isolation, considering
the potential for disruption of the containment.
21. (Page 3.1.4, last paragraph) We recommend that the last paragraph
on this page (mid-paragraph) address the fact that most of the intense
tectonic activity and virtually all of the volcanic activity of the
North American continent occur along the global plate boundaries.
27. (Page 3.1.17) Several uncertainties exist in the projected
behavior of the system, such as the philosophy for radionuclide
containment, waste form, the host rock, etc. We suggest there also be
a discussion as to how these uncertainties can be overcome.