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Conceptual Model for Deriving the Repository Source Term

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2011

D. H. Alexander,
M. J. Apted,
A. M. Liebetrau,
A. E. Van Luik,
R. E. Williford and
P. G. Doctor
D. H. Alexander
Affiliation:
U. S. Department of Energy, Washington, D.C., 20545
M. J. Apted
Affiliation:
Pacific Northwest Laboratory, P. O. Box 999, Richland, Washington, 99352
A. M. Liebetrau
Affiliation:
Pacific Northwest Laboratory, P. O. Box 999, Richland, Washington, 99352
A. E. Van Luik
Affiliation:
Roy F. Weston, Inc./Rogers & Assoc. Engineering Corp., 2301 Research Blvd., Rockville, Maryland, 20850
R. E. Williford
Affiliation:
Pacific Northwest Laboratory, P. O. Box 999, Richland, Washington, 99352
P. G. Doctor
Affiliation:
Pacific Northwest Laboratory, P. O. Box 999, Richland, Washington, 99352
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Abstract

Part of a strategy for evaluating the compliance of geologic repositories with Federal regulations is a modeling approach that would provide realistic release estimates for a particular configuration of the engineered-barrier system. The objective is to avoid worst-case bounding assumptions that are physically impossible or excessively conservative and to obtain probabilitistic estimates of (1) the penetration time for metal barriers and (2) radionuclide-release rates for individually simulated waste packages after penetration has occurred. The conceptual model described in this paper will assume that release rates are explicitly related to such time-dependent processes as mass transfer, dissolution and precipitation, radionuclide decay, and variations in the geochemical environment. The conceptual model will take into account the reduction in the rates of waste-form dissolution and metal corrosion due to a buildup of chemical reaction products. The sorptive properties of the metal-barrier corrosion products in proximity to the waste form surface will also be included. Cumulative releases from the engineered-barrier system will be calculated by summing the releases from a probabilistically generated population of individual waste packages.

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References

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