A demonstration of dose modeling at Yucca Mountain

The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency is currently revising the regulatory guidance for high-level nuclear waste disposal. In its draft form, the guidelines contain dose limits. Since this is likely to be the case in the final regulations, it is essential that the US Department of Energy be prepared to calculate site-specific doses for any potential repository location. This year, Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) has made a first attempt to estimate doses for the potential geologic repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada as part of a preliminary total-systems performance assessment. A set of transport scenarios was defined to assess the cumulative release of radionuclides over 10,000 years under undisturbed and disturbed conditions at Yucca Mountain. Dose estimates were provided for several of the transport scenarios modeled. The exposure scenarios used to estimate dose in this total-systems exercise should not, however, be considered a definitive set of scenarios for determining the risk of the potential repository. Exposure scenarios were defined for waterborne and surface contamination that result from both undisturbed and disturbed performance of the potential repository. The exposure scenarios used for this analysis were designed for the Hanford Site in Washington. The undisturbed performance scenarios for which exposures were modeled are gas-phase release of {sup 14}C to the surface and natural breakdown of the waste containers with waterborne release. The disturbed performance scenario for which doses were estimated is exploratory drilling. Both surface and waterborne contamination were considered for the drilling intrusion scenario

Thermal analysis of Yucca Mountain commercial high-level waste packages

The thermal performance of commercial high-level waste packages was evaluated on a preliminary basis for the candidate Yucca Mountain repository site. The purpose of this study is to provide an estimate for waste package component temperatures as a function of isolation time in tuff. Several recommendations are made concerning the additional information and modeling needed to evaluate the thermal performance of the Yucca Mountain repository system

Benchmarking studies for the descartes and cider codes hanford environmental dose reconstruction project

The Hanford Envirorunental Dose Reconstruction (HEDR) project is developing several computer codes to model the airborne release, transport, and envirormental accumulation of radionuclides resulting from Hanford operations from 1944 through 1972. In order to calculate the dose of radiation a person may have received in any given location, the geographic area addressed by the HEDR Project will be divided into a grid. The grid size suggested by the draft requirements contains 2091 units called nodes. Two of the codes being developed are DESCARTES and CIDER. The DESCARTES code will be used to estimate the concentration of radionuclides in environmental pathways from the output of the air transport code RATCHET. The CIDER code will use information provided by DESCARTES to estimate the dose received by an individual. The requirements that Battelle (BNW) set for these two codes were released to the HEDR Technical Steering Panel (TSP) in a draft document on November 10, 1992. This document reports on the preliminary work performed by the code development team to determine if the requirements could be met. Document type: Repor

Preliminary design studies for the descartes and cider codes hanford environmental dose reconstruction project

The Hanford Environmental Dose Reconstruction (HEDR) project is developing several computer codes to model the release and transport of radionuclides into the environment. This preliminary design addresses two of these codes: Dynamic Estimates of Concentrations and Radionuclides in Terrestrial Environments (DESCARTES) and Calculation of Individual Doses from Environmental Radionuclides (CIDER). The DESCARTES code will be used to estimate the concentration of radionuclides in environmental pathways, given the output of the air transport code HATCHET. The CIDER code will use information provided by DESCARTES to estimate the dose received by an individual. This document reports on preliminary design work performed by the code development team to determine if the requirements could be met for Descartes and CIDER. The document contains three major sections: (i) a data flow diagram and discussion for DESCARTES, (ii) a data flow diagram and discussion for CIDER, and (iii) a series of brief statements regarding the design approach required to address each code requirement. Document type: Repor

Preliminary design studies for the descartes and cider codes

The Hanford Environmental Dose Reconstruction (HEDR) project is developing several computer codes to model the release and transport of radionuclides into the environment. This preliminary design addresses two of these codes: Dynamic Estimates of Concentrations and Radionuclides in Terrestrial Environments (DESCARTES) and Calculation of Individual Doses from Environmental Radionuclides (CIDER). The DESCARTES code will be used to estimate the concentration of radionuclides in environmental pathways, given the output of the air transport code HATCHET. The CIDER code will use information provided by DESCARTES to estimate the dose received by an individual. This document reports on preliminary design work performed by the code development team to determine if the requirements could be met for Descartes and CIDER. The document contains three major sections: (i) a data flow diagram and discussion for DESCARTES, (ii) a data flow diagram and discussion for CIDER, and (iii) a series of brief statements regarding the design approach required to address each code requirement. Document type: Repor

CDFTBL: A statistical program for generating cumulative distribution functions from data

This document describes the theory underlying the CDFTBL code and gives details for using the code. The CDFTBL code provides an automated tool for generating a statistical cumulative distribution function that describes a set of field data. The cumulative distribution function is written in the form of a table of probabilities, which can be used in a Monte Carlo computer code. A a specific application, CDFTBL can be used to analyze field data collected for parameters required by the PORMC computer code. Section 2.0 discusses the mathematical basis of the code. Section 3.0 discusses the code structure. Section 4.0 describes the free-format input command language, while Section 5.0 describes in detail the commands to run the program. Section 6.0 provides example program runs, and Section 7.0 provides references. The Appendix provides a program source listing. 11 refs., 2 figs., 19 tabs

PORPST: A statistical postprocessor for the PORMC computer code

This report describes the theory underlying the PORPST code and gives details for using the code. The PORPST code is designed to do statistical postprocessing on files written by the PORMC computer code. The data written by PORMC are summarized in terms of means, variances, standard deviations, or statistical distributions. In addition, the PORPST code provides for plotting of the results, either internal to the code or through use of the CONTOUR3 postprocessor. Section 2.0 discusses the mathematical basis of the code, and Section 3.0 discusses the code structure. Section 4.0 describes the free-format point command language. Section 5.0 describes in detail the commands to run the program. Section 6.0 provides an example program run, and Section 7.0 provides the references. 11 refs., 1 fig., 17 tabs

International challenge to predict the impact of radioxenon releases from medical isotope production on a comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty sampling station

International audienceThe International Monitoring System (IMS) is part of the verification regime for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban-Treaty Organization (CTBTO). At entry-into-force, half of the 80 radionuclide stations will be able to measure concentrations of several radioactive xenon isotopes produced in nuclear explosions, and then the full network may be populated with xenon monitoring afterward. An understanding of natural and man-made radionuclide backgrounds can be used in accordance with the provisions of the treaty (such as event screening criteria in Annex 2 to the Protocol of the Treaty) for the effective implementation of the verification regime.Fission-based production of 99Mo for medical purposes also generates nuisance radioxenon isotopes that are usually vented to the atmosphere. One of the ways to account for the effect emissions from medical isotope production has on radionuclide samples from the IMS is to use stack monitoring data, if they are available, and atmospheric transport modeling. Recently, individuals from seven nations participated in a challenge exercise that used atmospheric transport modeling to predict the time-history of 133Xe concentration measurements at the IMS radionuclide station in Germany using stack monitoring data from a medical isotope production facility in Belgium. Participants received only stack monitoring data and used the atmospheric transport model and meteorological data of their choice.Some of the models predicted the highest measured concentrations quite well. A model comparison rank and ensemble analysis suggests that combining multiple models may provide more accurate predicted concentrations than any single model. None of the submissions based only on the stack monitoring data predicted the small measured concentrations very well. Modeling of sources by other nuclear facilities with smaller releases than medical isotope production facilities may be important in understanding how to discriminate those releases from releases from a nuclear explosion. © 2016