proposal范本

AProposaltoResearchtheStorageFacilityforSpentNuclearFuelatYuccaMountainRogerBloomOctober1997IntroductionNuclearpowerplantsproducemorethan20percentoftheelectricityusedintheUnitedStates[Murray,1989].Unfortunately,nuclearfission,theprocessusedtocreatethislargeamountenergy,createssignificantamountsofhighlevelradioactivewaste.Morethan30,000metrictonsofnuclearwastehavearisenfromU.S.commercialreactorsaswellashighlevelnuclearweaponswaste,suchasuraniumandplutonium[Roush,1995].Becauseofthebuild-upofthiswaste,somepowerplantswillbeforcedtoshutdown.Toavoidlosinganimportantsourceofenergy,asafeandeconomicalplacetokeepthiswasteisnecessary.ThisdocumentproposesaliteraturereviewofwhetherYuccaMountainisasuitablesiteforanuclearwasterepository.Theproposedreviewwilldiscusstheeconomicalandenvironmentalaspectsofanationalstoragefacility.Thisproposalincludesmymethodsforgatheringinformation,ascheduleforcompletingthereview,andmyqualifications.StatementofProblemOnJanuary1,1998,theDepartmentofEnergy(DOE)mustacceptspentnuclearfuelfromcommercialplantsforpermanentstorage[Clark,1997].However,theDOEisundecidedonwheretoputthishighlevelradioactivewaste.YuccaMountain,locatedinNevada,isaproposedsite.TherearemanyquestionsregardingthesafetyoftheYuccaMountainwasterepository.ResearchersatLosAlamosNationalLaboratorydisagreeoverthelong-termsafetyoftheproposedhighlevelnuclearwastesitelocatedinNevada.In1994,CharlesBowman,aresearcheratLosAlamos,developedatheoryclaimingthatyearsofstoringwasteinthemountainmayactuallystartanuclearchainreactionandexplode,similartoanatomicbomb[Taubes,1995].ThestircausedbytheorysuggeststhatresearchershavenotexploredallsidesofthesafetyissueconcerningpotentiallyhazardoussituationsatYuccaMountain.Bowman'stheorythatYuccaMountaincouldexplodeisbasedupontheideathatenoughwastewilleventuallydispersethroughtherocktocreateacriticalmass.Acriticalmassisanamountoffissilematerial,suchasplutonium,containingenoughmasstostartaneutronchainreaction[Murray,1989].Bowmanarguesthatifthischainreactionwerestartedunderground,therocksinthegroundwouldhelpkeepthesystemcompressedandspeedupthechainreaction[Taubes,1995].Achainreactionformedundergroundcouldthengeneratehugeamountsofenergyinafractionofasecond,resultinginanuclearblast.Anuclearexplosionofthismagnitudewouldemitlargeamountsofradioactivityintotheairandgroundwater.AnothersafetyconcernisthepossibilityofavolcaniceruptioninYuccaMountain.Thelong-termnuclearwastestoragefacilityneedstoremainstableforatleast10,000yearstoallowtheradioactiveisotopestodecaytonaturallevels[Clark,1997].Thereareatleastadozenyoungvolcanoeswithin40kilometersoftheproposedYuccaMountainwastesite[Weiss,1996].TheproximityofYuccaMountaintothesevolcanoesmakesitpossibletohaveavolcaniceruptionpassthroughthespentfuelwasterepository.Suchavolcaniceruptioncouldreleasedamagingamountsofradioactivitytotheenvironment.ObjectivesIproposetoreviewtheavailableliteratureaboutusingYuccaMountainasapossiblerepositoryforspentnuclearfuel.InthisreviewIwillachievethefollowingtwogoals:(1)explainthecriteriaforasuitablerepositoryofhigh-levelradioactivewaste;and(2)determinewhetherYuccaMountainmeetsthesecriteria.AccordingtotheDepartmentofEnergy(DOE),arepositoryforhigh-levelradioactivewastemustmeetseveralcriteriaincludingsafety,location,andeconomics[Roush,1995].Safetyincludesnotonlytheeffectoftherepositoryonpeoplenearthesite,butalsopeoplealongthetransportationroutestothesite.InmyresearchIwillconsiderbothgroupsofpeople.Asfaraslocation,awastesitecannotbeinanareawithalargepopulationornearagroundwatersupply.Also,becauseoneofthemostsignificantfactorsindeterminingthelifespanofapossiblerepositoryishowlongthewastestoragecanisterswillremainintact,thewastesitemustbelocatedinadryclimatetoeliminatethemoisturethatcancausethewastecanisterstocorrode.Theeconomicsinvolvedinselectingasiteisanothercriterion.Atpresent,theDepartmentofEnergy(DOE)hasspentmorethan1.7billiondollarsontheYuccaMountainproject[Taubes,1995].Forthatreason,muchpressureexiststoselectYuccaMountainasarepositorysite;otherwise,thismoneywouldhavebeenwasted.Othercosts,though,havetobeconsidered.Forinstance,howeconomicalisittotransportradioactivewasteacrossseveralstatestoasinglenationalsite?Iwilltrytoaccountforasmanyoftheseothercostsaspossible.Afterexplainingthecriteria,IwillassesshowwellYuccaMountainmeetsthosecriteria.Inthisassessment,Iwillnotassignanumericalscoreforeachcriterion.Rather,IwilldiscussqualitativelyhowwellYuccaMountainmeetseachcriterion.Insomesituations,disagreementexistsamongexpertsastohowwellYuccaMountainmeetsacriterion.Insuchcases,Iwillpresentbothsides.Inthisassessment,onlyYuccaMountainwillbeconsideredasapossiblesite.AlthoughmanysitesintheUnitedStatescouldmeettheDOE'sestablishedcriteria,IwillconsideronlyYuccaMountainbecausetheDOEisconsideringonlyYuccaMountain[Taube,1995].PlanofActionThissectionpresentsmyplanforobtainingtheobjectivesdiscussedintheprevioussection.TherehasbeenanincreaseofinterestinthenuclearindustryconcerningtheYuccaMountainsitebecauseoftheJanuary1,1998,deadlinefortheDOE.Severaljournalarticlesan