used fuel disposition r&d campaign - inmm fuel...borehole casing or liner would assure...

Used Fuel Disposition R&D Campaign

Evaluating the Feasibility of Deep

Borehole Disposal

Peter Swift

Sandia National Laboratories

National Technical Director

DOE Office of Nuclear Energy

Used Fuel Disposition R&D Campaign

31st Spent Fuel Management Seminar

Institute for Nuclear Materials Management

Washington DC, January 13, 2016

Sandia National Laboratories is a multiprogram laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin

Corporation, for the United States Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000. SAND2016-0072C

Used

Fuel

Disposition

Outline

Deep Borehole Disposal Concept

Deep Borehole Field Test

Swift INMM 31st Spent Fuel Management Seminar 13 January 2016 2

Used

Fuel

Disposition

DOE’s R&D Program for

Used Nuclear Fuel and High-Level

Radioactive Waste Disposal

Provide a sound

technical basis for

multiple viable

disposal options in

the US

Increase confidence

in the robustness of

generic disposal

concepts

Develop the science

and engineering tools

needed to support

disposal concept

implementation


Used

Fuel

Disposition


Deep borehole disposal of high-

level radioactive waste has been

considered in the U.S. and

elsewhere since the 1950s and has

been periodically studied since the

1970s

Disposal concept consists of

drilling a borehole or an array of

boreholes into crystalline

basement rock to about 5,000 m

depth

Waste canisters/packages would

be emplaced in the lower 2,000

meters of the borehole

Upper borehole would be sealed

with compacted bentonite clay,

cement plugs, and cemented

backfill


Used

Fuel

Disposition


Several factors suggest that the disposal concept may provide a

technically feasible and cost-effective alternative for safe disposal of some

DOE-managed waste forms:

Crystalline basement rocks are common in many stable continental

regions

Existing drilling technology should permit dependable construction

at acceptable cost

Low permeability and long residence time of high-salinity

groundwater in deep continental crystalline basement at many

locations suggests very limited interaction with shallow fresh

groundwater resources

Geochemically reducing conditions at depth limit the solubility and

enhance the sorption of many radionuclides in the waste

Density stratification of saline groundwater underlying fresh

groundwater would oppose thermally induced groundwater

convection


Used

Fuel

Disposition

Deep Borehole Disposal Concept Aspects of Borehole Siting

from Perry et al. (2014) Regional Geology: A GIS Database for Alternative Host

Rocks and Potential Siting Guidelines, FCRD-UFD-2014-000068

Depth to Crystalline Basement

Site selection guidelines indicate that large areas with

favorable geological characteristics exist in the U.S.


Used

Fuel

Disposition

Deep Borehole Disposal Concept Potential Wastes for Deep Borehole Disposal

Several DOE-managed small

waste forms are potential

candidates for deep

borehole disposal (SNL

2014)

– Cesium and strontium

capsules: 1,936 cesium and

strontium capsules stored at

the Hanford Site

– Untreated calcine high-level

radioactive waste currently

stored at the Idaho National

Laboratory (INL)

– Salt wastes from future

electrometallurgical treatment

of sodium-bonded fuels

– Some DOE-managed SNF

currently stored in pools at INL

and the Savannah River Site

DOE 2014, figure 2


Larger waste forms are not

candidates for borehole disposal

Used

Fuel

Disposition

Reference Design and Operations

Borehole Reference Design

Borehole casing or liner would

assure unrestricted

emplacement of waste

canisters

A liner casing would be in

place for the emplacement of

waste canisters and facilitate

potential retrieval (until the

liner is pulled and seals set)

The perforated liner would be

left in place in the disposal

zone, but will be removed in

the seal zone, along with most

of the intermediate casing


Used

Fuel

Disposition

Reference Design and Operations Waste Package Reference Design

Waste packages consist of carbon steel tubing

with welded plugs and threaded connections

Packages are designed to withstand projected

hydrostatic pressure and mechanical load of

overlying packages

Waste packages would retain their integrity until

after the borehole is loaded and sealed


Used

Fuel

Disposition

Reference Design and Operations Waste Canister/Package Emplacement

Engineering feasibility has been

demonstrated for surface handling

and borehole emplacement of waste

canisters with the Spent Fuel Test –

Climax at the Nevada Test Site (NTS)

(Patrick, 1986)

Spent fuel assemblies were

transported to NTS, packaged in

canisters, lowered down a 420-m

borehole, emplaced in the

underground granite thermal test

facility for 3 years, and removed to

the surface via the borehole

Waste handling and emplacement

operations were conducted within

operational safety requirements and

without incident from Patrick (1986)


Used

Fuel

Disposition

Deep Borehole Field Test

The Deep Borehole Field Test will not use radioactive waste

Construct two 5-km boreholes

– Characterization borehole: 21.6 cm [8.5”] bottom hole diameter

– Field test borehole: 43.2 cm [17”] bottom hole diameter

Test ability to:

– Drill deep, wide & straight in crystalline rocks

– Characterize bedrock via geophysics

– In situ tests in basement ≤150oC & 50 MPa

– Geochemical profiles

– Emplace/retrieve test waste packages

Finger and Blankenship 2010, Figure 4


Used

Fuel

Disposition

Deep Borehole Field Test Acquisition of Site and Services

Request for Information solicited input

and interest from States, local

communities, individuals, private groups,

academia, or any other stakeholders who

were willing to host a Deep Borehole

Field Test • Posted to via Federal Business Opportunities

(FedBizOps, www.fbo.gov) on October 24, 2014

• Responses received on December 8, 2014 (45

days)

Sources Sought and Draft Request For

Proposal (RFP) • Posted on FedBizOps on April 7, 2015

• Feedback received on May 5, 2015

Final RFP (Solicitation Number DE-SOL-

0008071) • Pre-solicitation notice posted on June 22, 2015

• Final RFP posted on FedBizOps on July 9, 2015

• Proposals due and received September 23, 2015

• Contract award anticipated by early 2016


Used

Fuel

Disposition

FY15 FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19

Site & Characterization Borehole – Issue Draft RFP

Field Test – Award Engineering Services Task Order

Site & Characterization Borehole – Issue Final RFP

Documentation – Borehole and Field Test Design

Site & Characterization Borehole – Proposals Due

Site & Characterization Borehole – Award Site, Management, and Drilling Services Contract

Characterization Borehole – Start Drilling

Field Test Borehole – Award Management and Drilling Services Contract

Characterization Borehole – Complete

Field Test Borehole – Start Drilling

Field Test Borehole – Complete

Field Test – Start Emplacement Demonstration

Field Test – Complete Emplacement Demonstration

Documentation – Field Test Analyses and Evaluation

04/07/15

06/22/15

09/23/15

07/09/15

09/15/15

01/29/16

09/01/16

02/27/17

01/13/17

07/07/17

01/07/18

01/17/18

01/17/19

09/30/19

Deep Borehole Field Test Schedule


Used

Fuel

Disposition

Deep Borehole Disposal R&D Conclusions

Multiple factors indicate that the deep borehole disposal concept could

provide an alternative for safe disposal of radioactive waste for widely

available locations with favorable geological and hydrological

characteristics

Implementation of deep borehole disposal with a simple reference

design and operations could be feasible, cost effective, and have

sufficient capacity to accommodate smaller DOE managed wastes

A deep borehole field test (without emplacement of radioactive wastes)

is the next logical step in evaluating this waste disposal option

Economic and scientific benefits of a deep borehole field test for local,

state, and regional stakeholders could be valuable

DOE is moving forward with the deep borehole field test


Used

Fuel

Disposition

DOE (U.S. Department of Energy) 2014. Assessment of Disposal Options for DOE-Managed High-Level Radioactive Waste and

Spent Nuclear Fuel, October 2014

DOE (U.S. Department of Energy) 2015. Draft Request for Proposal (RFP) – Deep Borehole Field Test: Site and Characterization

Borehole Investigations. Solicitation Number DE-SOL-0008071, US Department of Energy Idaho Operations Office, Idaho Falls, ID.

https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=84a858356a1c20531a1b23beadf74d67&tab=core&_cview=0

DOE (U.S. Department of Energy) 2014. Request for Information (RFI) – Deep Borehole Field Test. Solicitation Number DE-SOL-

0007705, US Department of Energy Idaho Operations Office, Idaho Falls, ID.

https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=d3ff93b06490ac4383e0ba41509dc46a&tab=core&_cview=0

DOE (U.S. DOE (U.S. Department of Energy) 2015. Presolicitation Notice – Deep Borehole Field Test. Solicitation Number: DE-SOL-

0008071, US Department of Energy Idaho Operations Office, Idaho Falls, ID.

https://www.fbo.gov/?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=a530c281c15d1c191336a681e69eefe5&tab=core&_cview=0

Finger, J., and Blankenship, D. 2010. Handbook of Best Practices for Geothermal Drilling. Sand2010-6048, Albuquerque, New

Mexico, Sandia National Laboratories.

Patrick , W.C., 1986. Spent-Fuel Test—Climax: An Evaluation of the Technical Feasibility of Geologic Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel

in Granite. LLNL (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory).

Perry, F., Kelley, R., Houseworth, J., and Dobson, P., 2015. A GIS Database to Support the Application of Technical Siting

Guidelines to a Deep Borehole Field Test. FCRD-UFD-2015-000603. LA-UR-15-22397. Los Alamos , NM: US Department of Energy

Used Fuel Disposition Campaign.

SNL (Sandia National Laboratories) 2014. Evaluation of Options for Permanent Geologic Disposal of Used Nuclear Fuel and High-

Level Radioactive Waste Inventory in Support of a Comprehensive National Nuclear Fuel Cycle Strategy. FCRD-UFD-2013-000371.

SAND2014-0187P; SAND2014-0189P. Revision 1. Albuquerque, New Mexico: Sandia National Laboratories.

References












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