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

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6.2.1.9 Space<br />

6.171<br />

In the space disposal concept, disposal <strong>of</strong> selected waste products would be achieved<br />

by insertion <strong>of</strong> waste packages into a stable solar orbit approximately half-way between the<br />

orbits <strong>of</strong> Earth and Venus. Engineered containment would be provided by the waste form and<br />

its engineered package. Isolation would be provided by the remoteness <strong>of</strong> the orbit from<br />

Earth and the stability <strong>of</strong> the orbit. An additional impediment to return <strong>of</strong> waste would be<br />

provided by inclining the orbit to the ecliptic.<br />

Spent fuel would be chopped and dissolved at a processing facility. Plutonium and ura-<br />

nium would be chemically separated and sent to a MOX-FFP if a reprocessing fuel cycle were<br />

utilized. <strong>Waste</strong> products for which space disposal is intended would be partitioned from the<br />

waste stream and transferred to an adjacent waste preparation facility. High-level and<br />

contact-handled TRU waste not destined for space disposal would be processed for disposal<br />

using a suitable alternative disposal concept (Table 6.2.1). Alternatively, the entire<br />

liquid high-level waste stream, including uranium and plutonium constituents, could be<br />

transferred to the waste preparation facility for space disposal.<br />

At the waste preparation facility, the waste would be incorporated into a solid<br />

ceramic-metal composite ("cermet") which would be formed into a payload <strong>of</strong> suitable shape<br />

and size. The payload would be packed into a radiation shield and this assembly loaded into<br />

a shipping cask for transport to the nuclear payload preparation facility near the launch<br />

site.<br />

At the nuclear payload preparation facility, the shielded waste assembly would be<br />

removed from the shipping cask and loaded into a reentry vehicle. A special transporter<br />

would then take the assemby to the launch site, where it would be positioned in the space<br />

shuttle cargo bay with an orbit transfer vehicle and a solar orbit insertion stage.<br />

The space shuttle would be launched into earth orbit where the reentry vehicle-payload<br />

assembly would be deployed from the cargo bay. The shielded waste assembly would then be<br />

removed from the reentry vehicle and attached to the solar orbit insertion stage, which<br />

would be latched to the orbit transfer vehicle. The orbit transfer vehicle would propel the<br />

solar orbit insertion stage into an earth escape trajectory, release the solar orbit inser-<br />

tion stage and return to earth orbit for recovery. The solar orbit insertion stage and the<br />

waste would continue and the waste would ultimately be inserted into a stable solar orbit<br />

at 0.85 astronomical units. The space shuttle would return to earth carrying the reentry<br />

and orbit transfer vehicles.<br />

6.2.1.10 Summary<br />

The relationships <strong>of</strong> the nine disposal concepts to the waste products <strong>of</strong> the two pri-<br />

mary fuel cycles have been summarized in Table 6.2.1. Products <strong>of</strong> the once-through fuel<br />

cycle include spent fuel assemblies with probably a small stream <strong>of</strong> contact-handled TRU<br />

waste resulting from fuel element failures. Five <strong>of</strong> the disposal concepts could dispose <strong>of</strong><br />

these products directly. However, rock melt, well injection, transmutation and space dis-<br />

posal would require processing the spent fuel to liquid or slurry form with the result that

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