Correlation of radioactive waste treatment costs and the environmental impact of waste effluents in the nuclear fuel cycle for use in establishing ''as low as practicable'' guides: milling of uranium ores

A cost-benefit study was made to determine the cost and effectiveness of radioactive waste (radwaste) treatment systems for decreasing the release of radioactive materials from model uranium ore processing mills, and to determine the radiological impact (dose commitment) of the released materials on the environment. The study is designed to assist in defining the term ''as low as practicable'' in relation to limiting the release of radioactive materials from nuclear facilities. The base case model mills are representative of mills which will process a major fraction of the ore in the next 20 years. Each mill processes 2,000 short tons of ore per day. Additional radwaste treatment techniques are applied to the base case mill and the waste tailings area in a series of case studies to decrease the amounts of radioactive materials released and to reduce the radiological dose commitment to the population in the surrounding area. The cost for the added waste treatment operations and the corresponding dose commitment are calculated for each case. In the final analysis, radiological dose is plotted vs the annual cost for treatment of the radwastes. The status of the radwaste treatment methods used in the case studies is discussed. Much of the technology used in the advanced cases will require development and demonstration and is not suitable for immediate use. The methodology used in estimating the costs, detailed calculations, and tabulations are presented in ORNL-TM-4903, Volume 2. The methodology and assumptions for the radiological doses are found in ORNL-4992. (U.S.)