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Facility-Status Data Display Unit; and a Demonstration at the International Conference
on Geologic Repositories.
A multidisciplinary team worked together to implement these. Principal team partners
included Sandia National Laboratories, the Westinghouse Waste Isolation Division, the
DOE Carlsbad Area Office, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The success of the
demonstrations was only possible through a strong spirit of cooperation, much ingenuity,
and personal dedication of the many individuals and organizations involved in the design
and implementation in this project.
There are two complementary papers presented in other sessions that describe in detail
the transparency technologies used. Please see Schoeneman, B., et al, and Schoeneman,
J., et al, in the Poster Session 31 papers.
INTRODUCTION
All nuclear weapons and nuclear energy cycles eventually require long-term management
of fissile materials in some form of repository, whether for permanent geologic disposal
or for long-term interim storage. With the growth of nuclear energy in Asia and other
developing nations, the amount of material at the back-end of the nuclear fuel cycle is
growing at an ever-increasing rate. The result of these developments is a growing
quantity of back-end materials that has surpassed the development of back-end
disposition options. Assuring the "grave" in the "cradle-to-grave" management of
nuclear materials is a big challenge faced by many nations and has strong international
interest and concern.
Although, geologic disposal of back-end nuclear materials has many advantages in
providing permanent, safe, and proliferation-resistant disposition of nuclear materials, the
international, political, and technical acceptance of geological disposal is a major issue.
A key tool in developing confidence and acceptance is transparency. Transparency is a
combination of technologies and processes that provide information to outside parties for
independent assessments of safety, and materials control.
Transparency applies to all aspects of the development of the repository system: site
selection, characterization, transportation systems, operations, environmental safety, and
materials control. At local and national levels, transparency facilitates the domestic
acceptance of the facility and associated operations. On an international level,
transparency is a critical mechanism for assuring that requirements of disarmament and
non-proliferation agreements are satisfied.
From both a safeguard and an environmental safety perspective, a major challenge is
developing and adapting transparency technologies and processes to the unique
environment posed by geological repositories. In some situations existing technology can
be adapted, while in others, new technology must be developed. In addition to adaptation
and development, demonstration of effectiveness must be performed to develop the high-
WM00 Abstract #487; Betsill, et al 2- -':-'.--~.--
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Betsill, J. David; Elkins, Ned Z.; Wu, Chuan-Fu; Mewhinney, James D. & Aamodt, Paul. Nuclear waste repository transparency technology test bed demonstrations at WIPP, article, January 27, 2000; Albuquerque, New Mexico. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc705733/m1/4/: accessed July 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.