RADIOACTIVE WASTE:Less Geology in the Geological Disposal of Nuclear Waste

New rules and standards substantially decrease the role of geologic barriers in nuclear waste repositories. The reliance on probabilistic performance assessment to provide the sole quantitative criterion for compliance, in conjunction with the elimination of performance standards for individual barriers, the geologically short compliance period, and the extended distance to the point of compliance, reduce substantially the role of the geologic properties of the repository in the waste containment strategy.