Transuranic radioactive (TRU) waste management in the USA
- USDOE Carlsbad Area Office, NM (United States)
In the United States of America (USA), the US Department of Energy (DOE) is responsible for the safe management and disposal of all transuranic radioactive (TRU) waste. Based on the promising characteristics of the 225-million-year-old stable sequence of evaporitic rocks (mainly rock salt) at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) site, an underground test facility was developed in the early 1980s at a depth of approximately 655 meters in the candidate host salt formation. In 1994, after more than 20 years of characterizing and evaluating the WIPP site, the DOE concluded that available data and long-term performance assessments (PAs) strongly indicated the WIPP site exhibits very suitable natural characteristics for hosting a deep geologic disposal facility (repository) for TRU waste. In April 1994, the DOE Carlsbad Area Office (CAO) presented a new strategy and an accelerated schedule targeting June 1998 for the opening of a TRU waste repository at the WIPP site. The main objectives of this strategy are to: resolve regulatory compliance and technical issues; characterize the waste; address transportation and safety issues; and involve stakeholders (interested parties) in the regulatory compliance process.
- OSTI ID:
- 220994
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-950917--; ISBN 0-7918-1219-7
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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