Scheduling the disposal of nuclear waste material in a geologic repository using the transportation model

An optimal disposal schedule for the burial of spent nuclear fuel from boiling-water and pressurized-water power reactors in a geologic repository has been developed using the classical transporation model from linear programming. Optimization is achieved by minimizing the total area required to absorb and dissipate the dynamic, yet highly predictable, quantity of heat produced by the nuclear waste. Costs associated with burying the spent power-reactor fuel can be measured in terms of the ‘area required per ton of waste material’. This thermal cost is a time-varying quantity governed by the principles of radioactive decay. The resultant schedule provides for equivalent thermomechanical effects over the entire repository region following adjustments for the type and burnup level of the spent fuel while accommodating predetermined capacity specifications.