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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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Deep Space: The new frontier of radiation controls
In commercial nuclear power, there has always been a deliberate tension between the regulator and the utility owner. The regulator fundamentally exists to protect the worker, and the utility, to make a profit. It is a win-win balance.
From the U.S. nuclear industry has emerged a brilliantly successful occupational nuclear safety record—largely the result of an ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable) process that has driven exposure rates down to what only a decade ago would have been considered unthinkable. In the U.S. nuclear industry, the system has accomplished an excellent, nearly seamless process that succeeds to the benefit of both employee and utility owner.
Gregory Mathieu, Amélie de Hoyos, (Inst de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire), Sitakanta Mohanty, Stuart Stothoff, Michael Muller (CNWRA)
Proceedings | 16th International High-Level Radioactive Waste Management Conference (IHLRWM 2017) | Charlotte, NC, April 9-13, 2017 | Pages 380-388
Simulations that combine flow modeling with radionuclide transport modeling provide insights into the performance of a hypothetical geologic repository for radioactive waste. Key parameters driving performance can be identified and quantified using probabilistic sampling of the model parameters. This paper presents a probabilistic framework, referred to as the MC-MELODIE hydrologic flow and contaminant transport model, for analyzing flow and transport behavior in the context of intermediate level long-lived (ILLLW) and high-level (HLW) disposal in a deep geological formation at the Meuse/Haute-Marne (MHM) site in France. The flow and transport framework includes nested, but separate, simulations with common parameters in order to consider small-scale features (detailed drift and shaft configurations) within the repository formation while also considering large-scale (regional) release. Specific analyses use one-million-year simulations with a conservative tracer and assuming instantaneous failures and steady flow to examine the effect of repository layout on radionuclide transfer to the surrounding aquifers through the host formation and engineered features, and to illustrate how uncertainties in far-field conditions and potential future human activities may affect the fate of released radionuclides.