Hazards associated with retrieval and storage of legacy waste at the Transuranic Waste Inspectable Storage Project
Approximately 17,000 containers of solid transuranic and hazardous waste have been stored beneath earthen cover for nearly twenty years at Technical Area 4 of the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The mission of the Transuranic Waste Inspectable Storage Project (TWISP) is to retrieve, vent, and place these containers into an inspectable storage configuration in compliance with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, prior to final disposition at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. Significant hazards currently identified with TWISP activities include: (1) the pressurization of drums; (2) volatilization of organic compounds (VOCs) within the drums; and (3) the generation of elevated hydrogen levels by certain waste streams. Based on the retrieval of 15% of the waste containers, the following preliminary conclusions are presented to better protect personnel and the environment: (1) the likelihood of unvented drums becoming pressurized increases when environmental conditions change; (2) pressurized drums must be vented before they become bulging drums; (3) vented drums present the potential for VOC emissions and personnel exposure; (4) the vapor pressure and boiling points of waste stream constituents may be an indication of the likelihood of VOC emissions from stored hazardous waste containers; (5) large numbers of co-located vented drums may present the potential of increased hydrogen and VOC concentrations within unventilated storage domes; (6) monitoring and sampling vented drum storage domes is necessary to ensure that the levels of risk to drum handlers and inspection personnel are acceptable; (7) identifying, tagging, and segregating special case drums is necessary to prevent personnel overexposures and preclude environmental contamination; (8) applying rust inhibitor prolongs the useful life of waste containers stored under earthen cover; (9) acoustic drum pressure detection may be a viable tool in assessing elevated drum pressures.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Environmental Restoration and Waste Management, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-36
- OSTI ID:
- 645557
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-97-4616; CONF-980307-; ON: DE98002928; TRN: 98:009957
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Waste management `98, Tucson, AZ (United States), 1-5 Mar 1998; Other Information: PBD: Mar 1998
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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