Repository Design-Postclosure Safety Analyses Iterations-A Retrospective Evaluation of the Last Decade of Development of the Yucca Mountain Repository

摘要

Over the past decade there have been several major programmatic decisions associated with the conceptual design and related pre- and post-closure safety analyses of the planned geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level radioactive wastes (HLW) designated for Yucca Mountain, Nevada. These programmatic decisions have resulted from the ongoing evolution of the repository design and scientific understanding of the natural and engineered features that affect the safety analyses of the design. These decisions have also been affected by changes in the regulatory requirements as well as the tradeoffs between pre-closure hazard and safety analyses of near term risks, including worker safety, longer term risks analyzed in the postclosure performance assessment, and cost. The above factors have been considered by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in the formal decision making process dictated by the U.S. Congress as well as the governing laws such as the Nuclear Waste Policy Act and the applicable U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulation 10 CFR Part 63.