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2026 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
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Groundwater data pave the way for Environmental Management Disposal Facility at Oak Ridge
Results of a two-year study of groundwater levels at the site of the planned Environmental Management Disposal Facility (EMDF) in Oak Ridge, Tenn., have been released, revealing that the levels fell at a slower-than-expected rate. The collection of data on groundwater levels during two wet seasons, conducted by the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management and the contractor United Cleanup Oak Ridge, formed the core of a groundwater field demonstration study which will help inform the final design of the EMDF landfill.
Abiodun Adeniyi, Bret van den Akker (ORNL), Halim Alsaed (Enviro Nuclear Services), Jim Blink (Beckman & Assoc), Joe Carter, Tom Severynse, Bob Jones (SRNL)
Proceedings | 16th International High-Level Radioactive Waste Management Conference (IHLRWM 2017) | Charlotte, NC, April 9-13, 2017 | Pages 395-401
Spent nuclear fuel (SNF) assemblies are stored in pools or dry casks at commercial reactor sites awaiting transfer to an interim storage facility (ISF) or a geologic repository for disposal. To meet acceptance criteria for repository waste package loading, fuel in dry storage may require repackaging into smaller canisters. A modular packaging facility design has been developed to receive and package 1,500 metric tons of uranium (MTU) of fuel annually. This fuel may arrive in welded canisters previously stored at reactor sites or in bolted lid bare fuel transportation casks (TCs) that would typically be shipped directly from spent fuel pools at reactor sites. Three outgoing sizes of storage, transportation, aging, and disposal (STAD) canisters were evaluated against 8 possible inflows of SNF canisters and casks to determine the effect on facility throughput. Cost estimates have been developed for the packaging facility, and operating costs have been determined for packaging 1,500 MTU of SNF per year. Transfer of SNF from (TCs) or dual-purpose canisters (DPCs) would be performed in a dry hot cell environment. When compared to a wet packaging method, a dry packaging method could improve throughput by eliminating the need for quenching the fuel prior to immersion in the pool, and the time required for drying canisters in preparation for shipment. The dry packaging process could also reduce the contamination levels on the outer surface of the transfer cask for DPC system or the outer surface of the TC depending on the scenario, resulting in lower personnel exposure and reduced waste treatment costs for cask decontamination.