Calculation of keff for plutonium in high-level waste packages

The proposed national high-level nuclear waste repository will be designed to store approximately 70,000 tons of commercial spent fuel, but other forms of waste will also be considered for ultimate storage at ER site. Plutonium in the form of PuO2 may be added to borosilicate glass for ultimate disposal in the repository. The maximum amount of this fissile that may be added to a glass open-quote logclose quotes will be limited by its ability to sustain a chain reaction. In this study, the removal of neutron absorbers from a glass log and the subsequent possibility of water infiltration were studied to find corresponding neutron multiplication factors. Weight fractions of 1%, 2%, and 3% PuO2 were analyzed in the study. The results show the maximum amount of plutonium missile that may be safely added to a glass log under conditions that lead to leaching of the principal neutron absorbers from the glass