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

2.8
The main body of the text (Volume 1) is divided into eight chapters. Chapter 3 pre-
sents the program alternatives under consideration and outlines the technological and envi-
ronmental bases for the analysis. Discussions-of natural background radiation and the
concept of risk are included to give the reader additional perspectives from which to view
the material in the Statement. Non-technical concerns relevant to waste management are also
identified for the purpose of airing such issues, which will have to be addressed in any
ongoing plan.
Chapter 4 describes the wastes and analyzes the various activities required prior to
final disposal on a unit basis (e.g., per GWe-yr, per Kg HM, per facility). The processes
of waste treatment, storage, transportation and facility decommissioning are addressed and
their impacts are presented. Chemical resynthesis and partitioning, items included in the
draft in the presentation of disposal techniques, now appear in the discussion of waste
treatment alternatives. A discussion of the relationship between predisposal activities and
the individual disposal technologies is also included in Chapter 4.
Chapters 5 and 6 examine the mined geologic disposal concept and alternative disposal
technologies, respectively. For consistency of presentation, discussion of each disposal
concept addresses the same topic areas:
* Concept and System Description
* Status of Technical Development and R&D Needs
* Disposal Facility Description
* Environmental Impacts of Construction and Operation
* Environmental Impacts Over the Long Term
* Cost Analysis
* Safeguard Requirements.
The depth of the presentation, however, is not identical for the various disposal alter-
natives for two reasons. First, the extent to which a disposal concept can be examined is
a function of the degree to which the concept has been researched, developed, and reported
in previous studies. Accordingly, mined geologic disposal is more fully described than the
other disposal modes. Secondly, an assessment of the impacts from implementing a disposal
alternative is predicated on having data that can be substantiated. The existing data base
for mined geologic disposal is significantly more extensive than for the other concepts;
hence, a more detailed analysis of impacts is possible.
At the end of Chapter 6, a comparison is made of the nine disposal technologies pre-
sented in Chapters 5 and 6 on the basis of several environmental and policy-related
criteria.
Chapter 7 outlines the trade-offs between the program alternatives (identified in Chap-
ter 3), with emphasis on the entire waste management system. The points of comparison of
the alternative actions deal with nuclear power growth assumptions, fuel cycles, waste vol-
umes, and environmental impacts based on the material in Chapters 4, 5, and 6.
Chapter 8 is a glossary of key environmental, geologic, and waste technology-related
terms and acronyms.