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

6.57
species that recolonize an island could be expected to establish considerably different
trophic structures than were present prior to construction.
Emplacement operations in the repository would be similar to those for the conventional
mined geologic disposal concept. However, if an accident were to occur within the island re-
pository, water might be present because of drainage into the excavation. Thus, these opera-
tions, and other activities associated with the island repository, could affect the fresh-
water regimes on the island. In addition, water pumped from the underground excavation would
be brackish if the repository were located below the freshwater lens in the saline zone.
Therefore, care would be required to prevent contamination of surface freshwater streams and
lakes. Disturbance of the natural ground-water regime could result in some freshwater wells
becoming saline. Such activity could significantly affect the island's ecosystem, of which
freshwater is a critical element.
Socioeconomic Impacts
Construction of an island repository would require assembling and transporting a large
work force to a remote island. These activities would affect the socioeconomic structure of
coastal communities through which the project personnel and equipment were transported. De-
tailed assessment of these impacts has been limited, but information presented on the subsea-
bed and ice sheet options provides a useful perspective (Sections 6.1.4.5 and 6.1.5.5).
On the island, socioeconomic impacts would be a different type of concern associated with
the entirely new communities that would normally be established. Selecting unoccupied
islands for a final repository would greatly reduce socioeconomic impacts.
Aesthetic Impacts
Aesthetic impacts of the island disposal option would be limited because few people would
live in the vicinity of the repository. During construction and operation, authorized site
personnel would be the only individuals to perceive aesthetic impacts.
Aesthetic impacts would also be associated with transportation activities. Although
these are generally not viewed as significant, additional discussion on this matter appears
in Sections 6.1.4.5 and 6.1.5.5 on the subseabed and ice sheet disposal options,
respectively.
Resource Consumption
Construction and operation of the island repository facilities would require energy, as
would transporting the waste material to the disposal site, over mainland, ocean, and island
routes. There are no studies available to quantify these energy needs.
Although the size of the facility and the land area required would be similar to that for
the conventional mined geologic concept, it should be recognized that island repositories
would likely require that an entire island be devoted to a waste repository. This commitment
of land might not be important, however, considering that extensive study would be completed
before an individual island was proposed as a disposal site.