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

7.5 SYSTEM RESOURCE COMMITMENTS
7.42
Estimates of required commitments for major resources for construction and operation
of the entire waste management system were developed for each of the nuclear growth assump-
tions and for each repository and reprocessing startup date. The resources considered
include steel, cement, diesel fuel, gasoline, propane, electricity and manpower. The esti-
mated resource commitments for two cases used as reference cases for resource commitments
comparisons are shown in Table 7.5.1. Resource commitments for other cases are summarized
here in terms of ratios to the requirements for these reference cases. A detailed listing
of these resource commitments for each case can be found in Appendix A.
The reference cases in Table 7.5.1 represent resource commitments using the Case 3
growth assumptions and a 1990 repository for the once-through cycle and a 1990 reprocessing
date and a 1990 repository for the reprocessing cycle. Requirements considering all four
geologic media are shown. Resource commitment variations for the different geologic media
are relatively small. Requirements for reprocessing are somewhat higher than for the once-
through cycle in the case of steel, cement, electricity, and manpower; are about the same
to somewhat higher for diesel fuel and gasoline; and are substantially higher for propane.
The higher propane requirement results from incineration of combustible waste. Gasoline and
diesel fuel are used primarily in transportation. These fuel requirements are based on
present practice and can be expected to change as fuel-use patterns change generally. The
propane requirements for the reprocessing cycle represent about 0.5% of the total U.S. con-
sumption for the period to year 2050 assuming current consumption rates hold constant. The
largest diesel fuel use amounts to about 1% of total U.S. consumption over the period.
Electricity consumption amounts of 0.02 to 0.05% to the total energy generated by the nuc-
lear power system in this case.
The resource commitments for the program alternatives using the once-through cycle are
compared in Table 7.5.2 in terms of ratios relative to the quantities in Table 7.5.1. These
comparisons, which are shown as ranges, take into account the range of repository startup
dates considered and the four different geologic media. In general, the requirements
increase with the size of the nuclear system served. With the exception of the present
inventory case, which changes only slightly, requirements for the alternative program com-
pared to the proposed program tend to range up to 2 to 3 times higher for steel, cement,
gasoline, propane, and manpower and modestly higher for diesel fuel and electricity. Req-
uirements for the no-action alternative are zero in the present inventory case and are about
the same as the alternative program for steel, cement, gasoline, propane, and manpower, but
diesel and electricity consumption are much lower.
Relative resource commitments for the program alternatives in the reprocessing cycle
are compared in Table 7.5.3. Requirements for the alternative program tend to be about the
same to somewhat higher than the proposed program requirements.