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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.
Jaroslav Stoklasa, Jan Hrbek, Lucie Karásková Nenadálová, Bence Mészáros, Mykhaylo Paukov
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 80 | Number 3 | April-May 2024 | Pages 311-320
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2023.2259227
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This study evaluates the types of waste generated by tritium during nuclear fusion. Some methods of reprocessing and decontaminating solid waste using thermal processes are evaluated, and the advantages and disadvantages of different methods are compared. The high-temperature technology selected for this study is intended for use in the EU DEMO project in the area where waste from nuclear fusion reactions is processed. Safety and environmental concerns around the technology are evaluated. The potential for detritiation of solid wastes of various sizes are investigated. The study’s focus is on wastes comprising mostly tungsten dust grains of various sizes. The possibilities and rationale for the use of high-temperature technologies are investigated. Tests conducted focus primarily on tungsten waste in powder form in various atmospheres. Problems related to the induction heating and melting of metals and nonmetals are addressed.