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

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7.3 SYSTEM LOGISTICS<br />

7.11<br />

To develop the system logistics requirements, some assumptions were made regarding the<br />

characteristics <strong>of</strong> a future nuclear industry and its associated waste management systems.<br />

These assumptions are not intended to be predictions <strong>of</strong> the future; rather, they are<br />

intended to provide a basis for estimating a potential range <strong>of</strong> requirements over a broad<br />

range <strong>of</strong> possible future developments. The results are valid primarily in terms <strong>of</strong> poten-<br />

tial ranges <strong>of</strong> values. In general, the assumptions are intended to be conservative; that<br />

is, they err in a direction that tends to overstate rather than understate potential<br />

requirements and impacts.<br />

The assumptions made in developing the logistics requirements for the once-through<br />

cycle were as follows.<br />

1. Spent fuel is stored for a minimum <strong>of</strong> five years at the reactor basins after which<br />

it can be shipped to a repository if one is available.<br />

2. The maximum storage capacity at the reactor basins averages 7 annual discharges.<br />

This is based on the assumption that reactor basin capacity will be expanded, on<br />

the average, to provide capacity for at least 3 full cores. Retaining full-core<br />

discharge capability and considering 3 annual discharges per core for a PWR and<br />

4 annual discharges per core for a BWR results in an average capacity for approxi-<br />

mately 7 annual discharges. This assumption also results in away-from-reactor<br />

storage requirements that approximate the maximum requirements shown in a recent<br />

study when currently licensed expansion plans <strong>of</strong> the electric utilities are<br />

assumed to be implemented and full-core reserve is maintained (DOE/NE-0002 1980).<br />

3. After reactor storage basin capacity is filled, excess spent fuel is shipped to an<br />

away-from-reactor (AFR) independent spent-fuel storage facility.<br />

4. When a repository opens, spent fuel is sent to the repository on a first-in,<br />

first-out basis; that is, the oldest fuel is always sent to the repository first.<br />

5. Repository receiving capacity is expanded according to the following schedule for<br />

the first 10 years:<br />

Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10<br />

Receiving<br />

Capacity,<br />

MTHM 700 1,300 2,000 2,000 2,000 2,700 3,300 4,000 4,000 4,000<br />

After 10 years 2,000 MTHM capacity increments can be added annually as needed to<br />

meet the demand. This capacity does not necessarily represent a single repository,<br />

but may represent several repositories that are opened up sequentially.<br />

However, single repositories with receiving capability <strong>of</strong> at least 6,000 MTHM per<br />

year are considered feasible.<br />

6. The distance from a reactor to an AFR storage facility is 1,000 miles.<br />

7. The distance from either a reactor or an AFR facility to a repository is<br />

1,500 miles.

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