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

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5.56<br />

the environment. Discharge <strong>of</strong> this volume <strong>of</strong> water to the environment could require piping<br />

or ditching to reduce erosion, and could require sufficient cleanup and neutralization <strong>of</strong><br />

acid to prevent environmental impact.<br />

5.4.4.4 Ecological Effects for a Repository in Basalt<br />

The expected ecological impacts from the construction and operation <strong>of</strong> a basalt geolo-<br />

gic repository will be small and similar to that <strong>of</strong> a granite repository. Some impact will<br />

occur from noise, dust, and disturbance <strong>of</strong> surface soil. This will be mainly confined<br />

within the 81 ha (200 acre) control zone.<br />

About 9.0 x 107 MT <strong>of</strong> basalt rock will be mined and 4.4 x 107 MT will require disposal.<br />

Suggested disposal methods include surface storage and use in large construction projects<br />

(e.g., highways). Several hundred tons <strong>of</strong> dust will be released per year unless reduced by<br />

establishing vegetation on the spoils piles. Erosion through run<strong>of</strong>f will be controlled by<br />

ditching and catch basins. Environmental release <strong>of</strong> silts from run<strong>of</strong>f will be small,<br />

because the basalt deposits under consideration for a repository are in arid regions.<br />

Except for land use considerations, the impacts <strong>of</strong> the basalt repository will be <strong>of</strong> little<br />

ecological consequence.<br />

5.4.4.5 Ecological Impacts Related to Repositories for Reprocessing <strong>Waste</strong>s<br />

Ecological effects <strong>of</strong> repository construction for the reprocessing wastes are expected<br />

to be similar to those <strong>of</strong> spent fuel repositories. Impacts from salt repository construc-<br />

tion for these fuel reprocessing wastes are slightly greater than for spent fuel because<br />

about 20% more salt is mined. Impacts <strong>of</strong> granite, shale, and basalt repository construction<br />

are less than impacts <strong>of</strong> spent fuel disposal, because about 32%, 15%, and 34% less mate-<br />

rials, respectively, are mined. Again the major ecological impact is from dust depositions<br />

that occur from surface handling operations <strong>of</strong> mined material. Of major concern is the<br />

potential for salt depositions at the salt repository fenceline <strong>of</strong> 11 and 110 g/m2-yr for<br />

the reference and arid environments, respectively.<br />

5.4.5 Nonradiological Accidents<br />

Table 5.4.11 summarizes the number <strong>of</strong> predicted injuries (temporarily disabling) and<br />

fatalities (or permanently disabling injuries) associated with surface facility construction<br />

and underground mining operations for the various geologic media for spent fuel and fuel<br />

reprocessing waste repositories. These predictions are based on an injury rate <strong>of</strong> 13.6 tem-<br />

porary disabling injuries per million hours <strong>of</strong> construction (National Safety Council 1974)<br />

for the surface facilities, and an injury rate <strong>of</strong> 25 temporary disabling injuries per mil-<br />

lion man-hours for underground mining (other than coal). A fatality rate <strong>of</strong> 0.17 fatalities<br />

(or permanently disabling injuries) per million man-hours <strong>of</strong> construction (same site) for<br />

the surface facilities and 0.53 fatalities per million man-hours for underground mining<br />

(other than coal) were used.<br />

Normalizing the construction injuries and fatalities based on standard industrial sta-<br />

tistics to a 100,000 MTHM spent fuel repository, the injuries by rock type are about 860,

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