Expected near-field thermal environments in a sequentially loaded spent-fuel or high-level waste repository in salt

This report describes the effect of realistic waste emplacement schedules on repository thermal environments. Virtually all estimates to date have been based on instantaneous loading of wastes having uniform properties throughout the repository. However, more realistic scenarios involving sequential emplacement of wastes reflect the gradual filling of the repository over its lifetime. These cases provide temperatures that can be less extreme than with the simple approximation. At isolated locations in the repository, the temperatures approach the instantaneous-loading limit. However, for most of the repository, temperature rises in the near-field are 10 to 40 years behind the conservative estimates depending on the waste type and the location in the repository. Results are presented for both spent-fuel and high-level reprocessing waste repositories in salt, for a regional repository concept, and for a single national repository concept. The national repository is filled sooner and therefore more closely approximates the instantaneously loaded repository. However, temperatures in the near-field are still 20/sup 0/C or more below the values in the simple model for 40 years after startup of repository emplacement operations. The results suggest that current repository design concepts based on the instantaneous-loading predictions are very conservative. Therefore, experiments to monitor temperatures in a testmore » and evaluation facility, for example, will need to take into account the reduced temperatures in order to provide data used in predicting repository performance.« less