Technical conservatism in the design of a spent fuel repository in a generic bedded salt stratigraphy

This report illustrates an approach to quantitatively document the degree of technical conservatism incorporated into the design of a hypothetical geologic waste isolation system in a generic bedded salt stratigraphy. The report develops performance constraints for the critical barriers within each subsystem and for the system as a whole. The interface between integrity and loss of function is quantitatively defined for each performance constraint. A conservative margin is applied to this interface to arrive at a design basis. The waste isolation system design is then analyzed to ensure that the design bases are met for the effective lifetimes of each barrier. This approach enables the reader to scrutinize both the methodology and the design to determine for himself in the degreeof technical conservatism incorporated into the waste isolation design