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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.
Scott W. White, Gerald L. Kulcinski
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 34 | Number 3 | November 1998 | Pages 358-363
Fusion Economics and Reactor Studies | doi.org/10.13182/FST98-A11963640
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The amount of electrical energy produced over the lifetime of the ARIES-RS and UWMAK-I DT-fusion power plants is compared to the total amount of energy required to procure the fuel, build, operate, and decommission the power plants. The energy payback ratio varies slightly for the two power plants; 23 for ARIES-RS and 26 for UWMAK-I. By knowing the magnitude of the energy investment and the source of the various energy inputs, a CO2 emission factor is calculated. This number is similar for both fusion power plants with ≈8 tonnes of CO2 per GWeh for UWMAK-I and ≈9 tonnes of CO2 per GWeh for ARIES-RS. These fusion plants are compared to other existing electrical producing power plants.
