Safety and economic comparison
Centralised and Dispersed Storage
Client
UK Department of Environment
Project
Compare safety and cost implications of centralised and dispersed storage of radioactive wastes
Services Provided
See below
Execution Period
1984-1985
Project Description
To examine the safety, cost, and feasibility of storing radioactive waste near the surface in facilities that can be converted to repositories (for some wastes). This is done for dispersed and centralised scenarios.
Particular Services
The Department of the Environment (DoE) conducted an assessment of the Best Practicable Environmental Options (BPEOs) for the management of Low- and Intermediate-Level radioactive wastes. The study considered long-term storage prior to disposal, as one of several options for managing such wastes. Long-term in the present content meaning up to 200 years. The Pöyry Energy business group (UK)'s study followed on from the DoE study and looked more closely at the feasibility and implications of long-term storage options.
Several variants of a long-term storage policy can be envisaged. One possibility would be to keep all the wastes in stores above ground for 200 years before disposal elsewhere. Another option would be to place the wastes in subsurface facilities, the depth depending on activity levels, with the facilities designed to allow monitoring and retrieval of the wastes. After 200 years the facility would be sealed and closed. In this study, both surface or subsurface storage of wastes at producing sites for up to two centuries were considered, and the feasibility assessed of designing the stores such that they could be converted into repositories at the end of this period.
The study described the characteristics of all Intermediate and Low Level radioactive wastes generated to the year 2030. It distinguished between those that could be stored at the producing site in a facility convertible to a repository, and those that would ultimately require deep burial elsewhere. Store designs were proposed for each producing site, and the financial and radiological implications of long-term storage were investigated together with the resulting constraints on waste producers. Alternatives to storage at the producing site were also examined, and comparisons made with direct disposal. |
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