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

3-21 3-22
Comment Comment
Number Number
.e.9 p. 3.1.123 While a considerable amount of useful information is presented in terms of
Provide justification for all the assertions in the discussion of a tornado manpower needs and expected social service demands for the three reference
strike. Specifically: the dimensions of the salt pile, the size of the sites, the demands are not related to the infrastructure capacities of the
pieces, the probability of the tornado, its maximum wind speed, the amount expected impacted communities to ascertain net impacts. The subjects of
of material removed and the resultant concentration in air. compensation, payments in lieu of taxes, and mitigation in general, need
In addition, no reason is given for discussing this accident. Is it the
considerably more development.
worst nonradiological accident possible, is it the only one considered, or 3.e.11 pp. 3.1.179, 183, 188, 203
is there another reason for its choice? What about other accidents? No No basis for any of the values of resources committed shown in Tables
conclusions are presented. Should measures be taken to protect salt piles 3.1.55, 62, 65, 78 are given. In addition, no units are given for oper-
from tornados? Has a cost-benefit analysis been made? ational water use, concrete, propane and electricity in Table 3.1.55.
3.e.10 p. 3.1.126-132, 3.1.179-181, 3.1.184-186, 3.1.193-195, 3.1.200 3.e.12 p. 3.1.223
GEIS is characterized as generic and not site specific (page 3.1.98). The The third paragraph suggests that water use will not be a problem. The
document further states that the ability to identify socioeconomic impacts basis for the statement was the assumption that the facilities could all
increases as one proceeds from a generic to a site-specific situation. be located near the "R" river, which had adequate flow. However, the
However, a model was employed which provided and compared very specific statement should recognize that water use could be a significant environsocial
service demands anticipated for each of the reference sites. It is mental impact for a repository which cannot be located near a convenient
unclear why the analysis, which used actual site specific population, water source.
employment, education and housing information to estimate social service
demands, did not relate the demands to existing capacities to indicate net The resource commitments listed include annual water use for the once-
impacts. through fuel cycle option. The total annual use is about 1% of the annual
mean flow of the "R" River, a small amount when water is plentiful.
The reference sites are compared and the comparison reveals a range of However, in the semi-arid west where river flows can be less than 100 cfs
different conditions and anticipated social service demands. Are these (one-fiftieth that of the R River) and where water is fully allocated,
reference sites being presented as being representative of sites to be this is a significant amount of surface water use.
found in the Southeast, Southwest and Midwest areas of the country? How
much variability can one expect to find among sites within the geographical 3.e.13 p. 3.1.226
boundaries of each of the above areas (Southeast, Southwest and Midwest)? The 2nd paragraph states that there will be 10's of millions of tons of salt
If large differences are expected within each of the geographical areas, "whose final disposition is yet undecided." It is not clear where this fits
to what use is the reviewer to put comparative information presented in into the analysis, or if it is taken into account, where in comparing environ-
GEIS? mental impacts in the various geological media does this occur.