Waste-Incidental-to-Reprocessing Evaluation for the West Valley Demonstration Project Vitrification Melter - 12167
- consultant - USA (United States)
- U.S. Department of Energy (United States)
The Department of Energy (DOE) has determined that the vitrification melter used in the West Valley Demonstration Project can be disposed of as low-level waste (LLW) after completion of a waste-incidental-to-reprocessing evaluation performed in accordance with the evaluation process of DOE Manual 435.1-1, Radioactive Waste Management Manual. The vitrification melter - which consists of a ceramic lined, electrically heated box structure - was operated for more than 5 years melting and fusing high-level waste (HLW) slurry and glass formers and pouring the molten glass into 275 stainless steel canisters. Prior to shutdown, the melter was decontaminated by processing low-activity decontamination flush solutions and by extracting molten glass from the melter cavity. Because it could not be completely emptied, residual radioactivity conservatively estimated at approximately 170 TBq (4,600 Ci) remained in the vitrification melter. To establish whether the melter was incidental to reprocessing, DOE prepared an evaluation to demonstrate that the vitrification melter: (1) had been processed to remove key radionuclides to the maximum extent technically and economically practical; (2) would be managed to meet safety requirements comparable to the performance objectives for LLW established by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC); and (3) would be managed by DOE in accordance with DOE's requirements for LLW after it had been incorporated in a solid physical form with radionuclide concentrations that do not exceed the NRC concentration limits for Class C LLW. DOE consulted with the NRC on the draft evaluation and gave other stakeholders an opportunity to submit comments before the determination was made. The NRC submitted a request for additional information in connection with staff review of the draft evaluation; DOE provided the additional information and made improvements to the evaluation, which was issued in January 2012. DOE considered the NRC Technical Evaluation Report as well as comments received from other stakeholders prior to making its determination that the vitrification melter is not HLW, does not require permanent isolation in a geologic repository, and can be disposed of as LLW. (authors)
- Research Organization:
- WM Symposia, 1628 E. Southern Avenue, Suite 9-332, Tempe, AZ 85282 (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 22293468
- Report Number(s):
- INIS-US-14-WM-12167; TRN: US14V1122114992
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: WM2012: Waste Management 2012 conference on improving the future in waste management, Phoenix, AZ (United States), 26 Feb - 1 Mar 2012; Other Information: Country of input: France; 12 refs.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
42 ENGINEERING
CERAMICS
DECONTAMINATION
GLASS
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
RADIOACTIVITY
RADIOISOTOPES
REPROCESSING
SAFETY
STAINLESS STEELS
VITRIFICATION