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Performance Assessment for Waste Disposal and DecommissioningIn the context of disposal of radioactive waste, a performance assessment is a quantitative evaluation of potential releases of radioactivity from a disposal facility into the environment, and assessment of the resultant radiological doses. The term performance assessment can refer to the process, model, or collection of models used to estimate future doses to human receptors. Typically, a performance assessment is conducted to demonstrate whether a disposal facility has met its performance objectives. In general, a performance assessment considers the following factors:
Because it is not possible for computer models to precisely replicate all conditions of a realistic disposal facility, the staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) uses abstraction to simplify the information to be considered in a performance assessment. The degree of abstraction normally reflects the need to improve reliability and reduce uncertainty, balanced with other practical considerations (such as making the model and its results easy for people to understand). Nonetheless, it is important for the model to be sufficiently detailed to ensure that it yields valid results for the performance assessment. Also, while traditional deterministic methods have been sufficient to ensure adequate safety, performance assessments can be more explicitly quantified through probabilistic approaches. In particular, a probabilistic performance assessment considers the risk triplet: "What can go wrong?" "How likely is it?" and "What are the consequences?" Use of performance assessment tools and methodologies aids the NRC in applying a risk-informed and performance-based approach to regulatory decision-making. Related InformationFor a better understanding of how the NRC staff applies performance assessment tools and methodologies in the area of waste disposal, see the following pages:
In addition, the following pages address related concepts: |
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