Evaluation of West Valley High-Level Waste Tank Lay-up Strategies
The primary objective of this task was to demonstrate a methodology for evaluating alternative strategies for preclosure lay-up of the two high-level waste (HLW) storage tanks at the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP). Lay-up is defined as the period between operational use of tanks for waste storage and final closure. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is planning to separate the environmental impact statement (EIS) for completion of closure of the WVDP into two separate EISs. The first EIS will cover only waste management and decontamination. DOE expects to complete this EIS in about 18 months. The second EIS will cover final decommissioning and closure, and may take up to five years to complete. This approach has been proposed to expedite continued management of the waste and decontamination activities in advance of the final EIS and Record of Decision on final site closure. Final closure of the WVDP site may take 10 to 15 years. Therefore, the tanks need to be placed in a safe, stable condition with minimum surveillance during an extended lay-up period. The methodology developed for ranking the potential strategies for lay-up of the WVDP tanks can be used to provide a basis for a decision on the preferred path forward. The methodology is also applicable to determining preferred lay-up approaches at other DOE sites. Some of the alternative strategies identified for West Valley should also be considered for implementation at the other sites. Each site has unique characteristics that would require unique considerations for lay-up.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab., Richland, WA (US)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- US Department of Energy (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 15010036
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-35989; EY4049110; TRN: US200502%%424
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Waste management 2002 : proceedings of the Symposium on Waste Management, Conference location not supplied, Conference dates not supplied; Other Information: PBD: 28 Jun 2002
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Decision Plan for West Valley High-Level Waste Tank Lay-Up
West Valley High-Level Waste Tank Lay-Up Strategies