Optimal Design of Buffer Material in the Geological Disposal of Radioactive Wastes Using the Satisficing Trade‐off Method and a Self‐Organizing Map

SUMMARY In this paper, we consider the use of a multi‐objective optimization method in order to obtain a preferred solution for the buffer material optimal design problem in the high‐level geological disposal of radioactive waste. The buffer material optimal design problem is formulated as a constrained multi‐objective optimization problem. Its Pareto optimal solutions are distributed evenly over the entire feasible region. Hence, we develop a search method to find a preferred solution easily for a decision maker from the Pareto optimal solutions, which are distributed evenly and broadly. In the preferred solution search method, a technique for visualization of a Pareto optimal solution set using a self‐organizing map is introduced into the satisficing trade‐off method, which is an interactive method for obtaining a Pareto optimal solution that satisfies a decision maker. We confirm the effectiveness of the preferred solution search method in the buffer material optimal design problem. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 187(2): 17–32, 2014; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.22634