STUDY ON SAFETY OF TRU-CONTAINING WASTE DISPOSAL IN JAPAN

This paper describes the present status of TRU-containing waste disposal in Japan from the safety standpoint. Because of large amounts of such waste generated and the variety of its characteristics, TRU-containing waste should be classified into categories according to radioactivity and disposed of within different types of disposal concepts. For the time being, three disposal alternatives have been proposed in Japan. They are shallow land disposal within concrete pits, mid-depth disposal and deep geological disposal. Focusing upon the deep geological disposal of some TRU-containing waste, radionuclides migration analysis and dose evaluation have been conducted under base scenarios and perturbation scenarios. It has been found that safety for geological disposal of TRU-containing waste could be ensured under assumed hypothetical conditions.