Incentives for partitioning high-level waste

The incentives for separating and eliminating various elements (but particularly the transuranics) from radioactive waste prior to final geologic storage were investigated. Exposure pathways to man were defined, and potential radiation doses to an individual living within the region of influence of the underground storage site were calculated. The accumulated high-level waste (i.e., the fission product waste produced by reprocessing spent fuel) from the U. S. nuclear power economy through the Year 2000 was the assumed radionuclide source, and western U. S. desert subsoil was the assumed geologic medium. The results of the study showed that for reasonable storage conditions the potential incremental radiation doses would be of the same order as, or less than, doses from natural sources. It was therefore concluded that for the situations investigated the incentives for special effort to remove any elements, including the transuranics, from high-level waste are vanishingly small. The study results also showed that incentives exist for converting high-level calcine into glass