AN INFORMAL EXPERT JUDGMENT ASSESSMENT OF SUBSIDENCE MITIGATION OPTIONS FOR LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT SITES ON THE NEVADA TEST SITE

摘要

An assessment of options to mitigate the effects of subsidence at low-level radioactive wastedisposal sites on the Nevada Test Site was conducted using an informal method of expertjudgment. Mitigation options for existing waste cells and future waste cells were identified by acommittee composed of knowledgeable personnel from the DOE and DOE-contractors. Eightranking factors were developed to assess the mitigation options and these factors were scoredthrough elicitation of consensus views from the committee. Different subsets of the factors wereapplied respectively, to existing waste cells and future waste cells, and the resulting scores wereranked using weighted and unweighted scores. These scores show that there is a large number ofviable mitigation options and considerable flexibility in assessing the subsidence issue with agreater range of options for future waste cells compared to existing waste cells. A highly rankedoption for both existing and future waste cells is covering the waste cells with a thick closure capof compacted native alluvium.