Public acceptance as a driver for repository design

McKinley, I. G.*; Masuda, Sumio*; Hardie, S. M. L.*; Umeki, Hiroyuki*; Naito, Morimasa; Takase, Hiroyasu*

Journal of Energy, 2018, p.7546158_1 - 7546158_8, 2018/07

https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/7546158

The Japanese geological disposal programme for radioactive waste is based on a volunteering approach to siting, which places particular emphasis on the need for public acceptance. This emphasises the development of a repository project as a partnership with local communities and involves stakeholders in important decisions associated with key milestones in the selection of repository sites and subsequent construction, operation and closure. To date, however, repository concept development has proceeded in a more traditional manner, focusing particularly on ease of developing a post-closure safety case. In the current project, we have attempted to go further by assessing what requirements stakeholders would place on a repository and assessing how these could be used to re-think repository designs so that they meet the desires of the public without compromising critical operational or long-term safety.

Use of knowledge and experience gained from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident to establish the technical basis for strategic off-site response

Miyahara, Kaname; McKinley, I. G.*; Saito, Kimiaki; Hardie, S. M. L.*; Iijima, Kazuki

JAEA-Review 2015-001, 90 Pages, 2015/03

JAEA-Review-2015-001.pdf:9.63MB

This report provides a concise overview of knowledge and experience gained from the activities for environmental remediation after the Fukushima Dai-ichi accident. It is specifically tailored for international use to establish or refine the technical basis for strategic, off-site response to nuclear incidents. It is produced by JAEA, reflecting JAEA's key role in the research associated with both remediation of contaminated areas and the natural processes influencing contamination migration in non-remediated areas, working together with a number of Japanese and international organisations and research institutes. The report also provides a perspective on the future actions required to remediate all areas outside the 1F site.

Use of natural analogues to develop and test models of radionuclide release and transport in uplift / erosion scenarios

Klein, L.*; Hardie, S.*; McKinley, I.*; Tachi, Yukio; Shibata, Masahiro; Amano, Yuki; Takase, Hiroyasu*

no journal, , 

The uplift / erosion is treated as a special perturbation scenario for the safety assessment of the geological disposal, due to the Japanese tectonic setting, the impact of uplift must be considered as part of "likely" repository evolution. In an initial study, a simple uplift and erosion scenario was assessed with resultant changes in solubility and sorption of key radionuclides. A special challenge here is development of models and associated databases to quantify the impact of rock mechanical, hydrogeological and bio-geochemical changes on radionuclide migration both in the EBS and in the geosphere. There are great uncertainties with any laboratory studies to investigate the processes involved and therefore natural analogues have great potential here. The paper will list and discuss the key safety-relevant processes and potential analogue studies by considering both data mining of existing knowledge bases and also new projects that are specifically focused on this application.