[ RadSafe ] High Level Waste to WIPP

Tue May 22 09:37:19 CDT 2012

Hi Roy:

No problem!  Tongue and cheek works!

I'm not sure how many in the group have actually participated in a major
Performance Assessment (PA) project.  The work at WIPP was fairly
straightforward since the geology / hydrology is reasonably easy to model
given the conditions of the Delaware Basin.  But that is an important
characteristic of any future repository: the ability to easily
and convincingly model the features, events and processes (FEPs) to the
satisfaction of the NRC and other licensing bodies.

Because a salt repository has been licensed & in use and the work behind
the PA process well vetted & understood, perhaps the shorter course of
action for a national HLW repository would be a salt repository since Yucca
Mountain seems to be off the table at this point.

Best,

Dan ii

On Mon, May 21, 2012 at 11:16 PM, ROY HERREN <royherren2005 at yahoo.com>wrote:

> Dan,
>
>     I sincerely apologize for my tongue and cheek attempt at humor
> regarding
> this issue and I want to thank you for your insightful information about
> WIPP.
>  Roy Herren
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Dan McCarn <hotgreenchile at gmail.com>
> To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List
> <radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu>
> Sent: Mon, May 21, 2012 8:25:11 PM
> Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] High Level Waste to WIPP
>
> Dear Roy:
>
> As a former member of the Performance Assessment team for WIPP, I see no
> TECHNICAL reason that high-level waste cannot be stored at the WIPP. As in
> Yucca Mountain, there would be significantly more heat dissipated, but I
> believe that the essential performance would be excellent and relatively
> easy to model.
>
> Dan ii
>
> Dan W McCarn, Geologist
> 108 Sherwood Blvd
> Los Alamos, NM 87544-3425
> +1-505-672-2014 (Home – New Mexico)
> +1-505-670-8123 (Mobile - New Mexico)
> HotGreenChile at gmail.com (Private email) HotGreenChile at gmail dot com
>
>
> On Mon, May 21, 2012 at 3:28 PM, ROY HERREN <royherren2005 at yahoo.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Dan,
> >
> >    It pains me to write this, but you wrote "I personally see no reason
> > that
> > WIPP could not manage
> > high-level waste".  What is your best Bill Clinton type of a definition
> of
> > the
> > word "no"?  Did you mean "no" legitimate reason, or perhaps "no"
> scientific
> > reason?  Certainly you didn't mean to exclude "political - Not In My
> > Backyard
> > (NIMBY) reasons....  It could be argued that the half life of NIMBY, at
> > least
> > in the minds of those who are dead set against anything remotely having
> to
> > do
> > with Nuclear Power, exceeds the length of the half life for all known
> > radioactive isotopes combined.  ;-)  The NIMBY Luddites are perfectly
> > content
> > with the current status quo that is slowly killing the Nuclear Industry.
> >  Roy Herren
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ________________________________
> > From: Dan McCarn <hotgreenchile at gmail.com>
> > To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List
> > <radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu>
> > Sent: Wed, May 16, 2012 10:06:06 AM
> > Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] High Level Waste to WIPP
> >
> > Dear Christopher:
> >
> > Having been heavily involved over 4 years in the Performance Assessment
> > group for the WIPP, I personally see no reason that WIPP could not manage
> > high-level waste.  I was involved with the development of the GRASPINV
> > inverse groundwater modeling code written to model / calibrate the
> > transmissivities with measured heads for the the Culebra Dolomite - the
> > pathway to the accessible environment.
> >
> > --
> > Dan ii
> >
> > Dan W McCarn, Geologist
> > 108 Sherwood Blvd
> > Los Alamos, NM 87544-3425
> > +1-505-672-2014 (Home – New Mexico)
> > +1-505-670-8123 (Mobile - New Mexico)
> > HotGreenChile at gmail.com (Private email) HotGreenChile at gmail dot com
> >
> > On Tue, May 15, 2012 at 9:59 AM, <Cmtimmpe at aol.com> wrote:
> >
> > > The article presented in this URL:
> > >
> > > _
> > >
> >
> http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/aiken/2012-05-10/srs-nuke-waste-if-not-yu
> > > cca-mountain-what-about-new-mexico?v=1336691258_
> > > (
> > >
> >
> http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/aiken/2012-05-10/srs-nuke-waste-if-not-yucca-mountain-what-about-new
> >w
> > >w
> > > -mexico?v=1336691258)
> > > is  interesting more because of the comments than the content.  The
> > > commenter's  all harp on the fact that putting HLW in WIPP is illegal.
> > >  Somehow,
> > > they  seem to forget that laws are changed all the time to respond to
> > > various
> > > changes  in our worlds.  I'd like to see more of the nuclear community
> > > respond to  such negativism.
> > >
> > > Christopher  M. Timm, PE
> > > Vice President/Senior Project Manager
> > > PECOS Management  Services, Inc.
> > > 505-323-8355 - phone
> > > 505-323-2028 - fax
> > > 505-238-8174 -  mobile
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > _______________________________________________
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-- 
Dan ii

Dan W McCarn, Geologist
108 Sherwood Blvd
Los Alamos, NM 87544-3425
+1-505-672-2014 (Home – New Mexico)
+1-505-670-8123 (Mobile - New Mexico)
HotGreenChile at gmail.com (Private email) HotGreenChile at gmail dot com