Bounding Estimates for Critical Events When Directly Disposing Highly Enriched Spent Nuclear Fuel in Unsaturated Tuff

Rob P. Rechard, Martin S. Tierney, Larry C. Sanchez and Mary‐Alena Martell

Risk Analysis, 1997, vol. 17, issue 1, 19-35

Abstract: This paper examines the possibility of criticality in a nuclear waste repository. The estimated probabilities are rough bounds and do not entirely dismiss the possibility of a critical condition; however, they do point to the difficulty of creating conditions under which a critical mass could be assembled (i.e., corrosion of containers, separation of neutron absorbers from the fissile material, and collapse or precipitation of the fissile material). In addition, should a criticality occur in or near a container, the bounding consequence calculations showed that fissions from one critical event are quite small (

Date: 1997
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https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1539-6924.1997.tb00840.x

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wly:riskan:v:17:y:1997:i:1:p:19-35

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