Review and discussion of code linkage and data flow in nuclear waste compliance assessments

Abstract

This report presents a review and discussion of data flow in a compliance assessment for high-level and transuranic waste, primarily the Containment Requirement of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations, 40 CFR 191, Environmental Standards for the Management and Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel, High-Level, and Transuranic Radioactive Wastes. Two major points concerning data flow are presented. First, assuring the quality of a compliance assessment requires that the flow of data and linkage of computer codes be well defined and precisely controlled during execution. Second, the need to analyze many different scenarios using different computer codes requires a flexible data linkage. The manner of linking codes to simultaneously provide quality assurance and flexibility is emphasized, rather than specific computer codes used. Thus, this report is not a user's guide, but a description of how a compliance assessment system was implemented in accordance with EPA regulatory guidance. Although the methods described are general, all examples pertain to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant project, which prompted development of the concepts. 86 refs., 40 figs., 1 tab.