 |
 |
|
|
|
|
The primary man-made features of the repository include the emplacement
tunnels, waste packages, drip shields, and TAD canisters. (click the image to enlarge).
|
|
|
|
|
|
Based on years
of scientific study, project engineers
have designed a safe, secure storage
area that would work specifically
with Yucca Mountain’s natural environment
to isolate nuclear waste and protect
people and the environment.
The Department of Energy’s
Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste
Management is using a “multiple” barrier
approach to isolate the waste. This
approach addresses the primary safety
issues of:
- preventing water from reaching the waste canisters,
- limiting the rate that canisters and waste could be dissolved by water, and
- slowing or filtering out radioactive particles as they move away from the repository.
This multiple barrier approach
uses natural barriers and engineered – or
man-made – barriers to ensure
the radioactive materials stay inside
the repository, located about 1,000
feet below the earth’s surface
and about 1,000 feet above the nearest
water table.
Natural barriers are just that – natural. They are the mountain, the soil, the rock, and other natural features of the mountain that prevent or limit water from reaching waste packages deep underground in the repository. Natural barriers also prevent, filter out, or limit the amount of dissolved waste that could reach the environment where people might live.
Engineered barriers are the man-made components of the repository designed to help the site’s natural features protect the waste packages from water. Engineered barriers include the waste container, the repository design and construction, and additional equipment to cover and protect the waste package from damage.
The repository will also include several surface facilities outside of the mountain. These robust, specially designed and constructed buildings will contain advanced equipment and radiation-shielding features for receiving and preparing the waste for disposal.
The repository design allows for future generations to close and seal the repository or to keep it open and monitor it for up to 300 years before decommissioning and closing the site. The design allows for removal of the waste from the repository in case future technologies provide a better disposal solution or a use for the nuclear materials.
In the Repository Engineering and Design section, you will learn more about:
This cutway image shows the repository tunnels inside Yucca Mountain, as well as two entrance ramps.
Last reviewed 03/08
|
