Euradwaste '08 - EU Bookshop - Europa

10 nuclear nations (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, Japan, Korea, South Africa, Switzerland,
UK and US) and Euratom (European Union) are working together to develop advanced reactor
technologies for commercial deployment in the 2015 to 2030 timeframe.
The main objective of the Red-Impact project was to evaluate the impact of the introduction of advanced
fuel cycles for electricity generation on radioactive waste management, and, more specifically,
on geological disposal. The project started in March 2004 and ended in September 2007. The
project was divided into 6 work packages: (1) waste management and transmutation strategies, (2)
industrial deployment scenarios, (3) assessment of waste streams, (4) waste management and disposal,
(5) economic, environmental and societal assessment, and (6) synthesis and dissemination of
results. The results obtained in the Red-Impact project are summarised in a synthesis report [9]. The
outcomes of work packages 1 to 3 are presented at this conference by E. González [10]. The current
paper gives an overview of the main results obtained within work package 4, which considered
waste disposal in two hard rock formations, two clay formations and one salt formation. However,
complete impact analyses were only done for one repository in granite (hard rock) and for one repository
in clay. Therefore, this paper focuses on results obtained for those two repositories.
1.1 Considered fuel cycles
During the first months of the Red-Impact project, work package 1 identified five representative
fuel cycles, which were considered in equilibrium. These fuel cycles are:
fuel cycle A1: the reference fuel cycle, which is the "once through" cycle based on pressurised
water reactor (PWR) plants with uranium oxide fuel;
fuel cycle A2: fuel cycle based on PWR plants with uranium oxide fuel, the generated Pu is recycled
once as mixed oxide (MOX) fuel;
fuel cycle A3: fuel cycle based on a sodium cooled fast neutron reactor with MOX fuels, in
which Pu is multi-recycled;
fuel cycle B1: fuel cycle based on a sodium cooled fast neutron reactor with MOX fuels, in
which all the actinides are recycled;
fuel cycle B2: fuel cycle based on PWR plants with uranium oxide fuel, the generated Pu is recycled
once as MOX fuel, the minor actinides and the Pu in the spent MOX fuel are recycled in
a fast neutron ADS.
1.2 Considered repository systems
Repository designs for disposal in granite and clay formations developed by Spanish (Enresa) and
Belgian (ONDRAF/NIRAS) national radioactive waste management agencies for today's waste
types were used as reference concepts.
The repository design considered for disposal in granite is a horizontal in-gallery disposal concept,
which is shown in Fig. 1. The repository is assumed to be excavated in a generic granitic formation
somewhere in Spain.
The repository design considered for disposal in clay is described in detail in the SAFIR 2 report
[11]. This reference repository is assumed to be excavated in the Boom Clay formation at the Mol
site. At that site the host formation is about 100 m thick, of which an 80 m thick central zone is very
homogeneous clay. The repository will have a central access facility consisting of at least two vertical
shafts and two transport galleries. The disposal galleries will be excavated perpendicular upon
the transport galleries. The high-level waste (HLW) and spent fuel (SF) canisters will be placed one
after the other or with some spacing between two canisters (to respect temperature limitations) in
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