RE: Fw: Russian Waste Repository

["Franta, Jaroslav" <frantaj@AECL.CA>]

 Franz Schoenhofer wrote :



What I know, is, that extensive studies have been made on the Barent Sea

disposal site of Sovjet submarines with their reactors on board or the

reactors alone. The IAEA was much involved and I am sure you can find

information on their web-site. Even a conference was held on that subject

recently.

<><><><><><><><>



Yes -- and there were also good reports in the publication IAEA Bulletin. As

I recall, the disposal appears fairly safe -- in the rare (two ?) cases

where fuel was left in the (fast) reactor (along with inserted shutdown

rods, of course), it was filled with solid (ie. frozen) lead-bismuth metal

and the rest of the submarine outside the reactor was flooded with molten

phenolic (which solidified) and then sunk (ie. it doesn't matter if the

steel or titanium hull corrodes away before the hulk is entombed in

sediment....). 

On top of that, the cold water in that area seems to result in reduced

corrosion rates.



Ruth -- I don't know which SNF ocean disposal scheme you're talking about,

but I think there is (was, proposed) at least one that is very attractive

from both economic & safety point of view:  it involves fission products

ONLY (ie. from reprocessing SNF) mixed with glass, which are sealed in heavy

metal cylinders shaped like slender missiles. These accelerate by gravity to

very high speed when "dropped overboard," and upon hitting the deep ocean

floor, penetrate dozens of feet into the sediment there. Sounds like a

one-way trip, for sure !!

Was this one of the options you were studying ? ...what were the problems

with this -- other than political incorrectness ?



Thanks,



Jaro

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