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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.
Derek R. Gaston, Benoit Forget, Kord S. Smith, Logan H. Harbour, Gavin K. Ridley, Guillaume G. Giudicelli
Nuclear Technology | Volume 207 | Number 7 | July 2021 | Pages 931-953
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2021.1871995
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A myriad of nuclear reactor designs are currently being considered for next-generation power production. These designs utilize unique geometries and materials and can rely on multiphysics effects for safety and operation. This work develops a neutron transport tool, MOCkingbird, capable of three-dimensional (3D), full-core reactor simulation for previously intractable geometries. The solver is based on the method of characteristics, utilizing unstructured mesh for the geometric description. MOCkingbird is built using the MOOSE multiphysics framework, allowing for straightforward linking to other physics in the future. A description of the algorithms and implementation is given, and solutions are computed for two-dimensional/3D C5G7 and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology BEAVRS benchmark. The final result shows the application of MOCkingbird to a 3D, full-core simulation utilizing 1.4 billion elements and solved using 12 000 processors.