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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2006

A Survey of Plasmas and Their Applications

Plasmas are everywhere and relevant to everyone. We bath in a sea of photons, quanta of electromagnetic radiation, whose sources (natural and artificial) are dominantly plasma-based (stars, fluorescent lights, arc lamps.. .). Plasma surface modification and materials processing contribute increasingly to a wide array of modern artifacts; e.g., tiny plasma discharge elements constitute the pixel arrays of plasma televisions and plasma processing provides roughly one-third of the steps to produce semiconductors, essential elements of our networking and computing infrastructure. Finally, plasmas are central to many cutting edge technologies with high potential (compact high-energy particle accelerators; plasma-enhanced waste processors; high tolerance surface preparation and multifuel preprocessors for transportation systems; fusion for energy production).

Eastman, Timothy E.↗
NASA NTRS2002

The Genesis Mission: Contamination Control and Curation

The Genesis mission, launched in August 2001, is collecting samples of the solar wind and will return to Earth in 2004. Genesis can be viewed as the most fundamental of NASA's sample return missions because it is expected to provide insight into the initial elemental and isotopic composition of the solar nebula from which all other planetary objects formed. The data from this mission will have a large impact on understanding the origins and diversity of planetary materials. The collectors consist of clean, pure materials into which the solar wind will imbed. Science and engineering issues such as bulk purity, cleanliness, retention of solar wind, and ability to withstand launch and entry drove material choices. Most of the collector materials are installed on array frames that are deployed from a clean science canister. Two of the arrays are continuously exposed for collecting the bulk solar wind; the other three are only exposed during specific solar wind regimes as measured by ion and electron monitors. Other materials are housed as targets at the focal point of an electrostatic mirror, or "concentrator", designed to enhance the flux of specific solar wind species. Johnson Space Center (JSC) has two principal responsibilities for the Genesis mission: contamination control and curation. Precise and accurate measurements of the composition of the solar atoms require that the collector materials be extremely clean and well characterized before launch and during the mission. Early involvement of JSC curation personnel in concept development resulted in a mission designed to minimize contaminants from the spacecraft and operations. A major goal of the Genesis mission is to provide a reservoir of materials for the 21 51 century. When the collector materials are returned to Earth, they must be handled in a clean manner and their condition well documented. Information gained in preliminary examination of the arrays and detailed surveys of each collector will be used to guide sample allocations to the scientific community. Samples allocated for analysis are likely to be small sections of individual collectors, therefore subdividing the materials must take place in a clean, well characterized way. A major focus of current research at JSC includes identifying and characterizing the contamination, waste, and alteration of the sample when using different subdividing, transport, and storage techniques and developing protocols for reducing their impact on the scientific integrity of the mission.

Stansbery, E. K.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Agent-Based Modeling for the Circular Economy: Lessons Learned From Three Case Studies

The circular economy (CE) aims at decoupling human activities from resource use, creating wealth in the process. Recently, many scholars have questioned the link between increased circularity and sustainability, resulting in many methodological approaches being developed for that purpose. This presentation summarizes the insights gained from the application of agent-based modeling (ABM) to study the techno-economic and social conditions promoting circularity and sustainability of three technologies: photovoltaic (PV) modules, hard disk drives (HDDs), and wind blades. Four main categories of agents are defined in the ABM: asset owners, service providers (e.g., refurbishers), recyclers, and manufacturers. Two main CE strategies are represented: lifetime extension (through repair or reuse) and recycling. The developed models start by projecting installed capacities and end-of-life (EOL) quantities. Then the theory of planned behavior - a social psychology model explaining behavior adoption based on attitude, peer influence, and costs - is used to model the asset owners' EOL decision (i.e., landfill, recycle or extend the lifetime of the asset). Then, the quantities of assets flowing to the recycler and service provider agents and quantities of materials flowing to manufacturers are computed. Recyclers' economies of scale are dynamically modeled, and the value generated by the CE strategies for the recyclers, service providers, and manufacturers is computed within the model. When data are available, avoided greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the CE strategies adoption are calculated exogenously from the ABM simulations. Results show that with improved used PV modules warranties, the reuse CE strategy adoption increases from 1% to 23% between 2020 and 2050. Similarly, improved standards could enhance HDDs end-users trust in data-wiping - a prerequisite to reuse - leading to a 3-fold increase in the reuse rate and avoid about 5 million tons of CO2 eq by 2050. Regarding wind blades, 5-15 years lifetime extension could reduce EOL blade quantities by 13%. High costs and logistic issues prevent blades from being recycled in greater quantities. One insight from the case studies is the necessity to have mature secondary markets for reuse to be a viable option. Interestingly, PV reuse is limited by the willingness of PV owners to purchase used modules (on the demand side), while HDDs reuse is constrained by the lack of trust toward data-wiping (limiting the supply of used HDDs). The six limits of the CE concepts presented by Korhonen et al. (2018) are finally used to interpret the results. The HDD case study is an exemplary lock-in, where the first accepted practice (shredding) retains most of the market. The PV results illustrate the technical limitation to reuse, as the growing demand cannot be supplied entirely with used PV modules. The wind case study shows the relevance of clearly defining physical flows - what type of waste should wind blades be considered, how should they be transported and landfilled? - a crucial consideration that also applies to PV modules. Finally, the three case studies highlight the relevance of studying a technology's technical, economic, and market material efficiency potentials altogether and the potential benefit of coupling ABM to life cycle assessment.

agent-based modeling↗
DOE OSTI2024

Direct Air Capture and Utilization System (DACUS): FEED Study of CarbonCapture Inc. DAC and CarbonCure Utilization Technologies Using United States Steel’s Gary Works Plant Waste Heat

The effects of climate change are drastically perceived through the alarming rates of severe events such as flooding, hurricanes, wildfires, global temperature rise, sea-level rise, and ocean acidification etc., which has prompted the nations across the globe to control & reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, by massive adoption of electric vehicles, switching to renewal energy sources and promoting sustainable green products. However, recent climate studies have shown that such efforts will not be enough to keep the global temperature rising under 1.5° Celsius by the year 2050, which lead to the development of multiple Direct Air Capture (DAC) technologies. A DAC system extracts CO2 directly from the atmosphere, which is either stored underground for long term or utilized in other processes. The DACUS proposed at U.S. Steel Corporation’s Gary Works Plant in Gary, Indiana, will include an innovative DAC technology from CarbonCapture Inc. (CCI), which will be collocated and powered by waste heat from the steel plant to capture CO2 from ambient air, and CarbonCure CO2 utilization technology- which is a commercial technology that is already installed and in use by early adopters in more than 150 concrete mixing plants across North America and Asia. The University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign spearheaded this Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) study project, which was funded by US Department of Energy (DOE), aimed at designing a state-of-the art DACU system that can remove minimum of 5,000 tonne/year net CO2 from air (based on cradle-to-gate LCA) and converting the captured CO2 into low carbon intensity products. The off takers of the low Carbon product produced by the DACUS have also been identified near the steel plant in the Indiana, Illinois & Wisconsin Region. This creates a full CO2 value chain and provides a means to assess the impact of this holistic approach on job creation, regional economic impact, and environmental justice. DACUS is a promising new technology for reducing greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. Operation costs are minimized by locating CCI’s innovative DAC collector at United States Steel's Gary Works site where waste heat is utilized. Carbon emissions are minimized in CO2 transportation. The captured CO2 will be permanently sequestered in concrete used as construction material. This DOE funded FEED study demonstrates a full CO2 value chain for a DACU system, supported by an industrial facility. If this project were constructed, it would have a very positive and lasting impact on both the environment and the community.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2024

Update on Parallel Process Execution in the Next Generation System Analysis Model (NGSAM)

As of the end of 2022, it is estimated that over 90,000 metric tons of heavy metal (MTHM) of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) were stored at various commercial nuclear power reactor sites (both operating and shutdown) across the United States [1]. The Office of Storage and Transportation within the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy is planning for the transportation, storage, and eventual disposal of SNF and high-level radioactive waste (HLW). To aid in this effort and inform decision-makers about the backend of the spent fuel cycle, systems analysis tools capable of analyzing the various options with respect to SNF and HLW management are being used as well as continuously improved to meet the evolving needs of the program. System analysts typically use these tools to vary underlying assumptions (shipping rates, available facilities, start dates, interim storage capacity, etc.) and study the associated system implications such as timing for clearing sites of SNF, various cost elements, transportation infrastructure acquisition needs, etc.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Reactive transport modeling for supporting climate resilience at groundwater contamination sites

Abstract. Climate resilience is an emerging issue at contaminated sites and hazardous waste sites, since projected climate shifts (e.g., increased/decreased precipitation) and extreme events (e.g., flooding, drought) could affect ongoing remediation or closure strategies. In this study, we develop a reactive transport model (Amanzi) for radionuclides (uranium, tritium, and others) and evaluate how different scenarios under climate change will influence the contaminant plume conditions and groundwater well concentrations. We demonstrate our approach using a two-dimensional (2D) reactive transport model for the Savannah River Site F-Area, including mineral reaction and sorption processes. Different recharge scenarios are considered by perturbing the infiltration rate from the base case as well as considering cap-failure and climate projection scenarios. We also evaluate the uranium and nitrate concentration ratios between scenarios and the base case to isolate the sorption effects with changing recharge rates. The modeling results indicate that the competing effects of dilution and remobilization significantly influence pH, thus changing the sorption of uranium. At the maximum concentration on the breakthrough curve, higher aqueous uranium concentration implies that sorption is reduced with lower pH due to remobilization. To better evaluate the climate change impacts in the future, we develop the workflow to include the downscaled CMIP5 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project) climate projection data in the reactive transport model and evaluate how residual contamination evolves through 2100 under four climate Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) scenarios. The integration of climate modeling data and hydrogeochemistry models enables us to quantify the climate change impacts, assess which impacts need to be planned for, and therefore assist climate resiliency efforts and help guide site management.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Contextualizing Wind Turbine Blade Waste: Comparison to Other Global Waste Streams

Worldwide wind energy generation capacity has grown rapidly over the past several decades, and wind turbines installed at the beginning of this wave of growth are approaching the end of their design lifetimes. As an increasing number of wind power plants reach their end of life, both decommissioning and repowering (i.e., dismantling or refurbishing existing turbines and commissioning new ones) will produce waste material from the retired wind turbines, foundations, and balance of plant. However, the amount and type of waste, particularly for wind blades, is often mischaracterized. Although wind turbine components are largely recyclable, the blades are typically made of fiberglass composites, which can present challenges for material recovery and reuse. Within the USA, the accumulation of wind turbine blades in landfills has raised questions about whether the continued expansion of wind energy is sustainable if it results in substantial future waste. This study compares the mass and volume of potential global wind blade waste to other waste streams. It also discusses the materials used to manufacture wind turbine blades and summarizes current options for material redesign, recycling (recovery and reuse), repurposing, and disposal of used blades. The analysis indicates that, although wind turbine blades could represent 14% of the composite market by 2027, the potential future mass and volume of wind turbine blade waste is relatively small compared to other industries. These findings suggest that although the development of scalable, economically viable, and environmentally sustainable methods for wind turbine manufacturing, repurposing, and recycling is important, it may make sense to take advantage of synergies among multiple industries in recycling composite waste, rather than focusing solely on wind turbine blades. From a global perspective, larger sustainability, recycling, and waste stream reduction impacts can be made in other industries, such as transportation and construction.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Model Package Report: Composite Analysis Solid Waste Release Model (CASWR Model)

This document describes the implementation of a solid waste form release model in GoldSim for the Hanford Site Composite Analysis (CA) Update. This Composite Analysis Solid Waste Release model (CASWR model) was designed to generate deterministic radionuclide release rates for Hanford’s Central Plateau solid waste disposal sites using single realizations of release model coefficients. Five generalized waste form types are used for the conceptual model of waste release: surplus reactor block, cement, soil-debris, grouted residual waste, and ancillary equipment. The surplus reactor block waste form consists of radionuclide leaching from surplus production graphite reactor core blocks via unspecified processes (White et al., 1984 as cited in PNNL-15965). The cement waste form represents solidified wastes whose permeability is much lower than that of the surrounding soil. The soil-debris waste form type is defined as unconsolidated waste mixed with soil material. Tanks and canyon complexes comprise the grouted residual waste form such that their solid waste will be grouted and capped with a surface barrier at the completion of their cleanup. Finally, the ancillary equipment waste form constitutes contaminant releases from ancillary and auxiliary waste form residues associated with tank farms at closure. Individual sub-models are implemented to numerically represent a respective waste form within the CASWR Model: Surplus Reactor Block Sub-model, Cement Sub-model, SoilDebris Sub-model, Grouted Residual Waste Sub-model, and Ancillary Equipment Submodel. Advection is assumed to be the primary transport process governing the release of radionuclides in the Ancillary Equipment and Soil-Debris Sub-models. Diffusion is assumed to be the primary release process in the Grouted Residual Waste and Cement Sub-models. An unspecified zero-order release process is considered in the Surplus Reactor Block Sub-model due to the lack of information regarding actual processes involved in irradiated graphite leaching. The Surplus Reactor Block, Cement, and SoilDebris Sub-models were compared against analytical solutions (PNNL-11800, Composite Analysis for Low-Level Waste Disposal in the 200 Area Plateau of the Hanford Site). The agreement between results of these analytical solutions and the corresponding waste form models verified their correct implementation in GoldSim. A 1-D modeling abstraction approach for the Grouted Residual Waste and Ancillary Equipment Sub-models was adopted from existing Performance Assessment (PA) models. Despite the simplifications made in these sub-models, they were found to be appropriate representations of the waste forms, similar to what was used in the Waste Management Area C PA model (RPP-ENV-58782, Performance Assessment of Waste Management Area C, Hanford Site, Washington, Rev. 0). A sensitivity analysis was conducted to identify the most influential parameters in each waste form sub-model. Suggestions for considering pH-dependent and redox-dependent release mechanisms are formulated through the development of a conditional constant approach in GoldSim.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2020

Goldsim Modeling of Vadose Zone Transport for E-Area Naval Reactor Component Disposal Areas: Model Description and Benchmarking

This report documents the development of a GoldSim® model of flow and radionuclide transport to the water table through the Naval Reactor Components Disposal Area (NRCDA) waste disposal sites and underlying vadose zones. The model is designed to be used for Monte Carlo uncertainty analysis in support of the E-Area Performance Assessment (PA). This report describes the model and shows results obtained from benchmarking the model to best-estimate deterministic results obtained using a PORFLOW model of NRCDA vadose zone transport. The PORFLOW model is three-dimensional while the GoldSim model is a simplified one-dimensional treatment. Nevertheless, the GoldSim model was able to accurately reproduce PORFLOW results with some adjustment to the nominal dispersion coefficient and vadose zone flow area used as “tuning” parameters. An example of the results obtained comparing GoldSim and PORFLOW calculation of releases of I-129, Tc-99, C-14 and Ni-59 from waste disposal containers at the 643-26E site is shown in Figure 1 below. For all of the test cases evaluated, GoldSim predicted peak concentrations within 6% of the PORFLOW values and peak times agreed within 8% with the majority of the results in better agreement. The close agreement between the two models provides confidence that GoldSim will give results accurately reflecting the behavior of releases from the NRCDA under off-normal operating conditions for sensitivity and uncertainty analysis

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2022

Quantification and evaluation of plastic waste in the United States

To develop viable solutions for reducing plastic waste, spatially explicit data on the management of these materials are critical. Here we employ statistical and geospatial methods to present a comprehensive assessment of plastic waste in the United States by resin type at the state, county, and local levels. Of the estimated 44 Mt of plastic waste managed in 2019 domestically, approximately 86% was landfilled, 9% was combusted, and 5% was recycled. Landfilled plastics represented significant losses to the country's economy in 2019: an average of US$7.2 billion in market value, about 3.4 EJ as embodied energy (equivalent to 12% of energy consumption by the industrial sector), and 1.5 EJ as an energy source (equivalent to 5.5% and 5% of energy consumption by the industrial and transportation sectors, respectively). Lastly, we posit that substantial amount of landfilled plastic waste could be recovered through advanced sorting, existing, and emerging recycling processes.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2023

(Project 18-15502) Reducing Uncertainty in Radionuclide Transport Prediction Using Multiple Environmental Tracers (Final Report)

In order to successfully site and design a nuclear waste disposal facility, DOE scientists are required to show safe containment of the radioactive waste for up to 1 million years. A significant hurdle to accurately and convincingly demonstrating disposal safety is predicting the fate of radioactive elements once they enter the groundwater system surrounding the repository. These predictions are often made with computer models, which contain accurate physics of groundwater movement and chemical reactions that occur during groundwater flow. As computer power increases, the physics and chemistry of these computer simulators can become more and more realistic and the physically based error decreases. However, the ability of these computer models to provide accurate predictions in a specific place, over long time periods, requires the scientists and engineers to know the subsurface properties of the Earth that control groundwater movement. In particular, groundwater scientists and engineers need to know the groundwater fluid velocity, which can change over time and strongly vary with location within the groundwater system. Because the Earth’s subsurface cannot be directly seen, and can only be sampled at drilling locations, the properties of the groundwater system are never known completely, and computer models of groundwater transport will always have some amount of uncertainty. This project’s principal goal was to use chemicals and isotope “tracers”, which have been introduced to the groundwater system by natural processes over long time periods, to help inform computer models of the groundwater velocity and subsurface properties. The goal was to calculate how much better predictions of groundwater transport were when these “tracers” were used to inform the computer models.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2024

Preliminary Analysis of Advanced Reactor Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage, Transportation, and Disposal

Due to increased interest in advanced reactor deployment and their associated potential new fuel cycles, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Spent Fuel and Waste Science and Technology (SFWST) program has begun to evaluate the possible implications of long term management and final disposition of the spent nuclear fuel (SNF) generated. Safely managing and dispositioning this SNF, along with any other associated radioactive waste, is the primary focus of this initial preliminary assessment. This paper summarizes efforts to evaluate the characteristics and packaging options for three types of advanced reactor SNF forms: (1) tristructural isotropic (TRISO), (2) metallic, and (3) irradiated fuel salt presented in the report titled “Storage, Transportation, and Disposal of Advanced Reactor Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Waste”. TRISO and metallic SNF and their associated waste streams were emphasized because of the near-term anticipated demonstrations of X-energy’s Xe-100 and TerraPower and GE Hitachi’s Natrium advanced reactors. Preliminary information on spent fuel salts discharged from molten-salt reactors (MSRs) was also examined to provide a baseline for future efforts. All calculations and assumptions were based on publicly available information. This paper identifies several different reactors that produce either TRISO or metallic SNF as well as a few of the reactor and fuel characteristics used for the assessments. Based on these characteristics, calculations were performed to determine the applicability of packaging SNF into existing canister designs. The evaluations included geometric (e.g., dimension, volume) and mass/weight considerations, known operational approaches and loading procedures, physical and chemical considerations/conditions for storage environments, and as-loaded radiation, thermal, and criticality analyses to identify constraints on storage, transportation, and disposal. Gaps in publicly available data pertaining to reactor operation and/or fuel composition provide increased uncertainty in some evaluations. Additionally, uncertainty in packaging and SNF management operations provide additional uncertainty. However, preliminary conclusions can still be assessed through this work and are presented in this paper.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Stability of plutonium oxide nanoparticles in the presence of montmorillonite and implications for colloid facilitated transport

The physical and chemical stability of PuO 2 nanoparticles (intrinsic colloids) in groundwater will control their transport and may affect the performance of high-level radioactive waste repositories. In this study, we examined the chemical stability of two types of PuO 2 nanoparticles at both 25 and 80 °C. The “alkaline” PuO 2 nanoparticles were prepared by neutralizing an acidic Pu(IV) solution with dilute NaOH to pH ~9.5. The “acidic” PuO 2 nanoparticles were precipitated from 0.1 M nitric acid by heating a Pu(IV) solution at 60–80 °C for 30 min. The chemical stability of these PuO 2 nanoparticles was tested in the presence of montmorillonite, a common mineral in the environment and potentially relevant backfill material in some nuclear waste repository designs. The “alkaline” PuO 2 nanoparticles were found to be unstable over a timescale of months at both 25 and 80 °C, with elevated temperature enhancing their dissolution rates and sorption to montmorillonite. PuO 2 nanoparticle dissolution rates decreased with increasing Pu concentration, consistent with solution saturation. The “acidic” PuO 2 nanoparticles appeared to remain stable for much longer than the “alkaline” PuO2 nanoparticles. The “alkaline” PuO 2 nanoparticle dissolution rate constants were as high as 10 -11.9±0.4 mol m -2 s -1 and 10 -11.2±0.2 mol m -2 s -1 at 25 and 80 °C, respectively, while the “acidic” PuO 2 nanoparticle dissolution rate at 80 °C was 10 -13.5 mol m -2 s -1 . Based on transmission electron microscopy, the “alkaline” and “acidic” PuO 2 nanoparticles were of similar size (2.5–4.5 and 2–3 nm nanoparticles, respectively). However, the “acidic” PuO 2 nanoparticles formed more ordered nanoparticle aggregates. Our results suggest that the specific conditions experienced during PuO 2 nanoparticle formation could significantly affect the stability of PuO 2 in the presence of competing sorption processes and, in turn, the relative importance of intrinsic versus pseudocolloid transport in the environment.

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEA↗
DOE OSTI2024

Nuclear Power Plant Infrastructure Evaluations for Removal of Spent Nuclear Fuel

This report provides evaluations of the NPP site infrastructure and near-site transportation infrastructure for removing SNF from 19 NPP sites and the Morris Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI). The material to be removed from the NPP sites includes both the SNF and the greater-than-Class C low-level radioactive waste (GTCC waste)3 that is stored, or will be stored, at the sites. This report is an update of the report Nuclear Power Plant Infrastructure Evaluations for Removal of Spent Nuclear Fuel (Maheras et al. 2021) and includes expansion of the site evaluations to include operating nuclear power plant (NPP) sites and to incorporate updated site inventory data. Figures that include the number of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) assemblies and metric tons heavy metal (MTHM) in a single figure have also been added to the report.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
NASA NTRS1972

Mass transport contamination study

A theoretical analysis was performed to determine the effects of outgassing and waste dumping on the contamination field around an orbiting spacecraft. The spacecraft was assumed to be spherical in shape with the mass flow emitting uniformly from the spherical surface at a constant rate and in a D'Lambertian spatial distribution. The outflow of gases were assumed to be neutrally charged and of a single species with a molecular weight characteristic of a composite of the actual species involved in the mass flow. The theoretical analysis showed that, for outgassing only, less than 1.5 percent of the outgas products will return to the Skylab spacecraft as a result of intermolecular collisions. When the total mass flow from the spacecraft, including waste dumps and reaction control motor firings, was considered, it was estimated that about 30 percent will return to the spacecraft.

Robertson, S. J.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Fuel/Basket Degradation Modeling Summary

This report documents the activities in a preliminary phase of development for three models: 1) waste package breach model, 2) fuel/basket degradation model, and 3) dual-purpose canister (DPC) crush model. The waste package breach model describes the coupling of mass flow, heat transport, and canister shell deformation in response to a heat-generating (criticality) event. The fuel/basket degradation model describes potential weakening and disaggregation of the DPC structure from corrosion, possibly accelerated by seismic ground motion. Progressively degraded three-dimensional (3D) configurations of the fuel, basket, and shell are generated for future analysis of reactivity (with as-loaded DPC fuel characteristics). Another important application for the fuel/basket degradation model is validation of the two stylized degradation cases currently being used by other investigators for analysis of the as-loaded DPC inventory under disposal conditions. The DPC crush model investigates stability of a typical DPC after breach of the disposal overpack allows fluids from the repository near-field environment to penetrate and externally pressurize the canister shell. Preliminary results show that large deformation of the DPC could occur for external pressure on the order of 10 to 15 MPa, or the shell could be stable (not collapse) with pressure of 20 MPa or greater if the basket plates are fully welded at the connections.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗