23.04.2013 Views

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

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

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

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

6.52<br />

Precipitation<br />

Surface Facilities<br />

Sea Level / I -<br />

Fresh Water Lens<br />

Water Table<br />

Sea Water \ 1 I Location / Sea Water<br />

I 'A<br />

\ I I //<br />

Saline \ \ / /<br />

Front /<br />

Saline<br />

Ground Water<br />

I Location<br />

'B,<br />

FIGURE 6.1.9. Hydrological Classification <strong>of</strong> Repository Locations<br />

All three classes exhibit the classical island geohydrology described above, as modified by<br />

local geology and geographic setting. There are further discussions <strong>of</strong> the geology and<br />

hydrology <strong>of</strong> typical islands in DOE (1979), Todd (1959), Bott (1971), and Bayley and<br />

Muehlberger (1968).<br />

Transportation Features. The island concept would incorporate the same basic procedure<br />

for transportation and handling as mined geological disposal. Of course, additional trans-<br />

portation from the mainland port to the island and additional receiving and handling facil-<br />

ities would be required. Transportation from the fuel reprocessing plant to the disposal<br />

site would be accomplished in three stages. The first stage would consist <strong>of</strong> truck or rail<br />

transport to a mainland port. <strong>Waste</strong> would be carried in transport casks that would cool the<br />

wastes and provide radiation shielding. (See Chaper 4 for a discussion <strong>of</strong> this procedure.)<br />

The second transport stage would be by ship to the island port. The subseabed disposal<br />

option (Section 6.1.4) details the operational features <strong>of</strong> this transportation phase. The<br />

casks would be cooled by either a closed-circulation water system, filtered forced-air sys-<br />

tem, or heat exchangers cooled by seawater. The coolant would be continuously monitored for<br />

radiation and temperature changes. Ship construction would provide for additional cooling.<br />

The ships could also include a shielded cell facility for examination <strong>of</strong> the casks.<br />

The receiving port at the island would have the same features as the embarkation port de-<br />

scribed in Section 6.1.4. It could have a facility for temporary waste storage and transfer<br />

<strong>of</strong> the waste to specially designed transportation casks for final transport to the reposi-<br />

tory, the third phase. Conceptual design studies for island disposal are unavailable, but<br />

the required additional transportation facilities might be based on those discussed for the<br />

port and sea transport parts <strong>of</strong> the subseabed disposal option in Section 6.1.4.

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!