Title: Proposed method for assigning metric tons of heavy metal values to defense high-level waste forms to be disposed of in a geologic repository
Abstract: has been reprocessed to produce the inventory of HLW, the amount of radioactive waste generated per metric ton of DOE fuel is only a few percent of that in a metric ton of commercial fuel. This study compares the results of four methods for determining the MTHM equivalence of DOE HLW. These methods include (1) using the actual weight of heavy metal in reprocessed DOE fuel, (2) assuming the historical equivalence of 0.5 MTHM/canister of vitrified DOE HLW, (3) comparing the total radioactivity in DOE HLW to the radioactivity of commercial SNF, and (4) comparing the total radiotoxicity of DOE HLW, as defined for those radionuclides identified in 10 CFR 20, with SNF at 1,000 and 10,000 years. This study concludes that either of the last two options would meet Congress’s stated purposes of the NWPA, which are to (1) provide "reasonable assurance that the public and the environment will be adequately protected from the hazards posed by high-level radioactive waste and such spent nuclear fuel as may be disposed of in a repository", and (2) to "define Federal policy for the disposal of such waste and spent fuel".