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At least 721 records · Page 40
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Performance Assessment for the Disposal of Low-Level Waste in the 200 West Area Burial Grounds (Annual Summary Report - FY 23)

This annual review provides the projected dose estimates of radionuclide inventories disposed in the 200 West Area Low-Level Waste Burial Grounds (LLBGs) since September 26, 1988. All the trenches in these burial grounds except two have remained inactive since 2005. The only active trenches that continue to receive low-level and mixed low-level waste are Trenches 31 and 34 that are located in the southern portion of the 218-W-5 Burial Ground. During this reporting period (fiscal year 2023, from October 1, 2022, through September 30, 2023), waste was disposed in these two trenches.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2024

International Collaboration Activities in Geologic Disposal Research (FY24 Progress Report)

This report describes the FY24 status of international collaboration regarding geologic disposal research in the Office of Spent Fuel and Waste Science and Technology (SFWST) in the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy (NE). The mission of SFWST is to provide confidence in the safe long-term management of the nation’s spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste by reducing uncertainty and advancing technology for extended storage, transportation, and geologic disposal.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2025

Processes in Salt Repositories for Radioactive Waste Disposal

This document summarizes the key processes (thermal, hydrological, mechanical, and chemical; THMC) impacting the features of a deep geological repository for radioactive waste in salt. Some processes are natural and on-going whether the repository is there or not, and other processes are driven by the perturbation associated with the repository. The features considered here include both engineered and natural components of the repository system. The engineered barrier system (EBS) in a salt repository is quite different from those implemented for a repository in clay or crystalline rocks, because it is comprised mostly of granular salt and salt-compatible cements, rather than bentonite. When compared to other rocks (i.e., silicates), salt has unique properties that make it an excellent potential host rock. Openings and fractures in salt creep closed readily. Salt has high thermal conductivity, which can reduce peak temperatures. Additionally, far away from the excavations the porosity of salt is unconnected, which leads to essentially zero advective or diffusive transport. The small amount of hypersaline brine occurring in salt minimizes microbial activity, reduces colloid-assisted transport, and eliminates in-package criticality (i.e., chloride is a neutron poison). At the end of the report, we present a brief outline for a potential salt repository, including considerations avoided in previous repository disposal concepts. We propose considering higher-temperature processes in future disposal concepts, rather than trying to minimize the thermal perturbation of the repository. Since hot salt is drier, a dry repository would limit corrosion, gas generation, and solute transport. Openings and fractures creep shut faster in hot salt. Therefore, higher temperatures could be seen as beneficial, rather than something to minimize, through increased spacing between waste packages (increasing repository costs).

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2025

U.S. Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management 2024 Annual Site Inspection and Monitoring Report for Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act Title I Disposal Sites

This report, in fulfillment of a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) license requirement, presents the results of long-term surveillance and maintenance activities conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Legacy Management (LM) in 2024. These activities occurred at the 19 uranium mill tailings disposal sites established under Title I of the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA) and verify that the UMTRCA Title I disposal sites remain in compliance with license requirements and Long-Term Surveillance Plans (LTSPs). Individual chapters for each site are available on the LM public website at https://energy.gov/lm/sites/lm-sites.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2026

Annual Summary Report (FY 2025) Performance Assessment for the Disposal of Low-Level Waste in the 200 West Area Burial Grounds

This annual review provides the projected dose estimates of radionuclide inventories disposed in the 200 West Area Low-Level Waste Burial Grounds (LLBGs) since September 26, 1988. All the trenches in these burial grounds except two have remained inactive since July 2004. The only active trenches that continue to receive low-level and mixed low-level waste are Trenches 31 and 34 that are located in the southern portion of the 218-W-5 Burial Ground. During this reporting period (fiscal year 2025, from October 1, 2024, through September 30, 2025), waste was disposed in Trench 31 only.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2026

Annual Summary Report (FY 2025) Composite Analysis for Low-Level Waste Disposal in the Central Plateau of the Hanford Site

In accordance with DOE M 435.1-1, Radioactive Waste Management Manual, requirements, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Hanford Field Office (HFO) prepared this Annual Summary Report (ASR) for fiscal year (FY) 2025 for the Hanford Site Composite Analysis (CA) reported in DOE/RL-2019-52, Composite Analysis for Low-Level Waste Disposal in the Hanford Site Central Plateau (FY 2020) (hereinafter referred to as the Hanford Site Composite Analysis). The preparation of this ASR follows the technical specifications provided in DOE-STD-5002-2017, Disposal Authorization Statement and Tank Closure Documentation.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2019

Post-Closure Performance Assessment for Deep Borehole Disposal of Cs/Sr Capsules

Post-closure performance assessment (PA) calculations suggest that deep borehole disposal of cesium (Cs)/strontium (Sr) capsules, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) waste form (WF), is safe, resulting in no releases to the biosphere over 10,000,000 years when the waste is placed in a 3–5 km deep waste disposal zone. The same is true when a hypothetical breach of a stuck waste package (WP) is assumed to occur at much shallower depths penetrated by through-going fractures. Cs and Sr retardation in the host rock is a key control over movement. Calculated borehole performance would be even stronger if credit was taken for the presence of the WP.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Policy-Driven Sustainable Saline Drainage Disposal and Forage Production in the Western San Joaquin Valley of California

Environmental policies to address water quality impairments in the San Joaquin River of California have focused on the reduction of salinity and selenium-contaminated subsurface agricultural drainage loads from westside sources. On 31 December 2019, all of the agricultural drainage from a 44,000 ha subarea on the western side of the San Joaquin River basin was curtailed. This policy requires the on-site disposal of all of the agricultural drainage water in perpetuity, except during flooding events, when emergency drainage to the River is sanctioned. The reuse of this saline agricultural drainage water to irrigate forage crops, such as ‘Jose’ tall wheatgrass and alfalfa, in a 2428 ha reuse facility provides an economic return on this pollutant disposal option. Irrigation with brackish water requires careful management to prevent salt accumulation in the crop root zone, which can impact forage yields. The objective of this study was to optimize the sustainability of this reuse facility by maximizing the evaporation potential while achieving cost recovery. This was achieved by assessing the spatial and temporal distribution of the root zone salinity in selected fields of ‘Jose’ tall wheatgrass and alfalfa in the drainage reuse facility, some of which have been irrigated with brackish subsurface drainage water for over fifteen years. Electromagnetic soil surveys using an EM-38 instrument were used to measure the spatial variability of the salinity in the soil profile. The tall wheatgrass fields were irrigated with higher salinity water (1.2–9.3 dS m -1 ) compared to the fields of alfalfa (0.5–6.5 dS m -1 ). Correspondingly, the soil salinity in the tall wheatgrass fields was higher (12.5 dS m -1 –19.3 dS m -1 ) compared to the alfalfa fields (8.97 dS mm -1 –14.4 dS mm -1 ) for the years 2016 and 2017. Better leaching of salts was observed in the fields with a subsurface drainage system installed (13–1 and 13–2). The depth-averaged root zone salinity data sets are being used for the calibration of the transient hydro-salinity computer model CSUID-ID (a one-dimensional version of the Colorado State University Irrigation Drainage Model). This user-friendly decision support tool currently provides a useful framework for the data collection needed to make credible, field-scale salinity budgets. In time, it will provide guidance for appropriate leaching requirements and potential blending decisions for sustainable forage production. This paper shows the tie between environmental drainage policy and the role of local governance in the development of sustainable irrigation practices, and how well-directed collaborative field research can guide future resource management.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Data and code from: Multivariate bayesian regression model for predicting disposed ash composition at U.S. coal fired power stations

This dataset contains the code and data files needed for implementation of a Multivariate Bayesian Regression model, described in Jin et al. (2025), for the historical prediction of the chemical composition of disposed coal ash at U.S. coal fired power plants as a function of annualized coal purchase data. The integrated coal supply data file (CoalSupplyDataset.csv) represents a compilation of monthly fuel purchase records for the period 1973-2022 at major U.S. power stations. These records were obtained from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The CSV file also contains, for each coal purchase record, the coal region of the mine as defined by the U.S. Geological Survey. Data entry errors and data gaps in the EIA records were corrected as described in Jin et al. This CSV file represents the integrated coal supply data after corrections were made. The model structure and fitting parameters are encoded in pickle file format (Bayesian.pkl). The model was developed with the coal supply data and coal ash composition data, apportioned according to the Stratified Shuffle Split for training and testing subsets. The model was built using Python and the PyMC library. Reference Publication: Jin, Z.; Huang, J.; Hower, J.C.; Hsu-Kim, H.(2025). Predictive Assessment of the Chemical Composition of Coal Ash in Reserve at U.S. Disposal Sites. Environmental Science & Technology.

Coal ash composition↗
NASA NTRS1973

Space transportation and destination considerations for extraterrestrial disposal of radioactive waste

A feasibility study is summarized of extraterrestrial (space) disposal of radioactive waste. The initial work on the evaluation and comparison of possible space destinations and launch vehicles is reported. Only current or planned space transportation systems were considered. The currently planned space shuttle was found to be more cost effective than current expendable launch vehicles, by about a factor of two. The space shuttle will require a third stage to perform the disposal missions. Depending on the particular mission this could be either a reusable space tug or an expendable stage such as a Centaur. Of the destinations considered, high earth orbits (between geostationary and lunar orbit altitudes), solar orbits (such as a 0.90 AU circular solar orbit) or a direct injection to solar system escape appear to be the best candidates. Both earth orbits and solar orbits have uncertainties regarding orbit stability and waste package integrity for times on the order of a million years.

Zimmerman, A. V.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Summary of the study of disposal of nuclear waste into space

The space shuttle together with expendable and nonexpendable orbital stages such as the space tug or Centaur can safely dispose of waste material by ejecting it from the solar system. The safety problems associated with all phases of launching and operation (normal, emergency, and accident) of such a system are being examined. It appears that solutions can be found that should make the risks acceptable when compared to the benefits to be obtained from the disposal of the nuclear waste. The techniques proposed to make such a system acceptable need to be carefully verified by further study and experiment.

Rom, F. E.↗
NASA NTRS1973

An evaluation of some special techniques for nuclear waste disposal in space

A preliminary examination is reported of several special ways for space disposal of nuclear waste material which utilize the radioactive heat in the waste to assist in the propulsion for deep space trajectories. These include use of the wastes in a thermoelectric generator (RTG) which operates an electric propulsion device and a radioisotope - thermal thruster which uses hydrogen or ammonia as the propellant. These propulsive devices are compared to the space tug and the space tug/solar electric propulsion combination for disposal of waste on a solar system escape trajectory. Such comparisons indicate that the waste-RTG approach has considerable potential provided the combined specific mass of the waste container - RTG system does not exceed approximately 150 kg/kw sub e. Several exploratory numerical calculations have been made for high earth orbit and Earth escape destinations.

Mackay, J. S.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Effects of ascent trajectory mode and tank disposal method on shuttle payload accommodation

The effects of external tank disposal by retrorocket versus passive tank drop, and targeting the main engine burn for high apogee versus the baseline parking orbit ascent method on shuttle payload accommodation capability were investigated. Missions launched from Eastern Test Range were investigated over a range of orbit altitudes to determine tank disposal requirements including footprint dispersions and alternate impact locations, performance, and orbital maneuvering system requirements. Passive tank drop also proved to be advantageous from a payload accommodation standpoint. Direct insertion was shown to be a means of accommodating long payloads at higher altitudes than permitted by the baseline ascent method.

Blair, J. C.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Feasibility of space disposal of radioactive nuclear waste. 2: Technical summary

The feasibility of transporting radioactive waste produced in the process of generating electricity in nuclear powerplants into space for ultimate disposal was investigated at the request of the AEC as a NASA in-house effort. The investigation is part of a broad AEC study of methods for long-term storage or disposal of radioactive waste. The results of the study indicate that transporting specific radioactive wastes, particularly the actinides with very long half-lives, into space using the space shuttle/tug as the launch system, appears feasible from the engineering and safety viewpoints. The space transportation costs for ejecting the actinides out of the solar system would represent less than a 5-percent increase in the average consumer's electric bill.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1976

Modular disposable can (MODCAN) crash cushion: A concept investigation

A conceptual design investigation of an improved highway crash cushion system is presented. The system is referred to as a modular disposable can (MODCAN) crash system. It is composed of a modular arrangement of disposable metal beverage cans configured to serve as an effective highway impact attenuation system. Experimental data, design considerations, and engineering calculations supporting the design development are presented. Design performance is compared to that of a conventional steel drum system. It is shown that the MODCAN concepts offers the potential for smoother and safer occupant deceleration for a larger class of vehicle impact weights than the steel drum device.

Knoell, A.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Nuclear waste disposal in space

Work on nuclear waste disposal in space conducted by the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and contractors are reported. From the aggregate studies, it is concluded that space disposal of nuclear waste is technically feasible.

Burns, R. E.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Disposal of radioactive iodine in space

The possibility of space disposal of iodine waste from nuclear power reactors is investigated. The space transportation system utilized relies upon the space shuttle, a liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen orbit transfer vehicle, and a solid propellant final stage. The iodine is assumed to be in the form of either an iodide or an iodate, and calculations assume that the final destination is either solar orbit or solar system escape. It is concluded that space disposal of iodine is feasible.

Burns, R. E.↗
NASA NTRS1978

The disposal of nuclear waste in space

The important problem of disposal of nuclear waste in space is addressed. A prior study proposed carrying only actinide wastes to space, but the present study assumes that all actinides and all fission products are to be carried to space. It is shown that nuclear waste in the calcine (oxide) form can be packaged in a container designed to provide thermal control, radiation shielding, mechanical containment, and an abort reentry thermal protection system. This package can be transported to orbit via the Space Shuttle. A second Space Shuttle delivers an oxygen-hydrogen orbit transfer vehicle to a rendezvous compatible orbit and the mated OTV and waste package are sent to the preferred destination. Preferred locations are either a lunar crater or a solar orbit. Shuttle traffic densities (which vary in time) are given and the safety of space disposal of wastes discussed.

Burns, R. E.↗