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Title: Expert System for Building TRU Waste Payloads - 13554

Conference ·
OSTI ID:22225121
;  [1]
  1. Information Systems Laboratories, 2235 East 25th Street, Suite 100, Idaho Falls, ID 83404 (United States)

The process for grouping TRU waste drums into payloads for shipment to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) for disposal is a very complex process. Transportation and regulatory requirements must be met, along with striving for the goals of shipment efficiency: maximize the number of waste drums in a shipment and minimize the use of empty drums which take up precious underground storage space. The restrictions on payloads range from weight restrictions, to limitations on flammable gas in the headspace, to minimum TRU alpha activity concentration requirements. The Overpack and Payload Assistant Tool (OPAT) has been developed as a mixed-initiative intelligent system within the WIPP Waste Data System (WDS) to guide the construction of multiple acceptable payloads. OPAT saves the user time while at the same time maximizes the efficiency of shipments for the given drum population. The tool provides the user with the flexibility to tune critical factors that guide OPAT's operation based on real-time feedback concerning the results of the execution. This feedback complements the user's external knowledge of the drum population (such as location of drums, known challenges, internal shipment goals). This work demonstrates how software can be utilized to complement the unique domain knowledge of the users. The mixed-initiative approach combines the insight and intuition of the human expert with the proficiency of automated computational algorithms. The result is the ability to thoroughly and efficiently explore the search space of possible solutions and derive the best waste management decision. (authors)

Research Organization:
WM Symposia, 1628 E. Southern Avenue, Suite 9-332, Tempe, AZ 85282 (United States)
OSTI ID:
22225121
Report Number(s):
INIS-US-13-WM-13554; TRN: US14V0700046076
Resource Relation:
Conference: WM2013: Waste Management Conference: International collaboration and continuous improvement, Phoenix, AZ (United States), 24-28 Feb 2013; Other Information: Country of input: France; 15 refs.
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English