Application of the RES methodology for identifying features, events and processes (FEPs) for near-field analysis of copper-steel canister

摘要

Rock Engineering Systems (RES) is an approach to discover the important characteristics and interactions of a complex problem. Recently RES has been applied to identify features, events, and processes (FEPs) for performance analysis of nuclear waste repositories. The RES methodology was applied to identify FEPs for the near-field analysis of the copper-steel canister for spent fuel disposal. The aims of the exercise were to learn and test the RES methodology and, secondly, to find out how much the results differ when RES is applied by two different groups on the same problem. A similar exercise was previously carried out by a SKB group. A total of 90 potentially significant FEPs were identified. The exercise showed that the RES methodology is a practicable tool to get a comprehensive and transparent picture of a complex problem. The approach is easy to learn and use. It reveals the important characteristics and interactions and organizes them in a format easy to understand. (9 refs., 5 figs., 3 tabs.). (Atomindex citation 26:042191)