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

Potential Events
6.24
TABLE 6.1.6. Estimated Consumption of Critical Resources
Material Spent Fuel HLW
Carbon Steel, MT 3.3 x 10 6 6.8 x 10 5
Stainless Steel , MT 8.4 x 10 4 2.3 x 10 4
Components
Chromium, MT 1.4 x 10 4 4.6 x 10 3
Nickel, MT 7.5 x 10 3 2.0 x 10 3
Tungsten, MT 3.0 x 103 0.5 x 10 3
Copper, MT 1.3 x 103 1.9 x 10 3
Lead, MT 1.3 x 10 4 2.9 x 10 3
Zinc, MT 1.2 x 103 0.6 x 10 3
Aluminum MT 1.3 x 10 3 1.2 x 10 3
Water, m3 2.0 x 108 5.9 x 10 7
Concrete, m 3 1.9 x 106 1.3 x 106
Lumber, 10 4 m 3 5.6 x 10 4 3.8 x 104
Clays, 10 6 MT 9.2 x 106 1.5 x 106
The long-term impact of a VDH repository on the ground-water regime would be governed
essentially by the nature of the deep ground-water system. Because of the great depth of em-
placement and the larger volume of rock available to absorb the energy released by radio-
active decay, the deep ground-water system probably would not be appreciably perturbed by the
waste itself. If the deep hole were located within a recharge zone or in a zone of lateral
movement, the distance to the biosphere along the path of flow might be so long and the
velocities so low that isolation might be effectively achieved. Furthermore, the transport
of radioactive contaminants by the flowing water would also be greatly retarded by the
increased residence times and the increased time for interaction of the contaminant with the
host rock.
Engineering Failure of Isolation Mechanism. The principal engineered isolation mechan-
ism for this waste disposal system would be the containment seal. After emplacing the
nuclear waste in the deep boreholes, the holes would be sealed to isolate the waste from the
biosphere. This isolation would have to be sustained for tens to hundreds of thousands of
years for HLW. Not only would it be necessary to seal the borehole itself, but considera-
tion would have to be given to plugging any damage that could have occurred around the hole.
The loss of the integrity of this containment seal might provide a pathway for the waste
into the biosphere. The impact on the environment resulting from such a failure could be