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WIPP: Lessons in transportation safety
As part of a future consent-based approach by the federal government to site new deep geologic repositories for nuclear waste, local communities and states that are considering hosting such facilities are sure to have many questions. Currently, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico is the only example of such a repository in operation, and it offers the opportunity for state and local officials to visit and judge for themselves the risks and benefits of hosting a similar facility. But its history can also provide lessons for these officials, particularly the political process leading up to the opening of WIPP, the safety of WIPP operations and transportation of waste from generator facilities to the site, and the economic impacts the project has had on the local area of Carlsbad, as well as the rest of the state of New Mexico.
Sümer Sahin, Ralph W. Moir, Abdulmuttalip ŞAHINASLAN, Haci Mehmet ŞAHIN
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 30 | Number 3 | December 1996 | Pages 1027-1035
Fusion Blanket and Shield Technology | doi.org/10.13182/FST96-A11963072
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Material damage through displacements per atom (DPA) and helium gas production, as well as the tritium breeding and energy absorption in an IFE (Inertial Fusion Energy) reactor chamber have been investigated with variable coolant zone thickness using different liquids. Examples are given for HYLIFE-II (an IFE reactor design) energy conversion chambers using Flibe (Li2BeF4), natural lithium and Li17Pb83 cutectic as both coolant and wall protection. To achieve a useful energy density for energy conversion purposes with sufficient tritium breeding (TBR= 1.1), material protection (DPA < 100 and He < 500 appm in 30 years of operation) and shallow burial criteria, coolant zone thickness values are found to be 56 cm for Flibe, 160 cm for natural lithium and 170 cm for Li17Pb83 with SS-304 as structural material.
Material damage investigations are extended to structural materials made of SiC and graphite for the same blanket. DPA values and He production rates in graphite turn out to be comparable to those in SS-304. However, they are higher in SiC, as compared to SS-304 and graphite.
