Estimating radionuclide inventories for spent nuclear fuels

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Spent Nuclear Fuel Program is responsible for developing a defensible methodology for determining the radionuclide inventory for the DOE spent nuclear fuel (SNF) to be dispositioned at the proposed Monitored Geologic Repository at the Yucca Mountain Site. SNF owned by DOE includes diverse fuels from various experimental, research, and production reactors. These fuels currently reside at several DOE sites, universities, and foreign research reactor sites. Safe storage, transportation, and ultimate disposal of these fuels will require radiological source terms as inputs to safety analyses that support design and licensing of the necessary equipment and facilities. This paper summarizes the methodology developed for estimating radionuclide inventories associated with DOE-owned SNF. The results will support development of design and administrative controls to manage radiological risks and may later be used to demonstrate conformance with repository acceptance criteria.