Risk assessment for waste emplacement at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant

Conference · Tue Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1996

OSTI ID:469786

Farrell, R F ^[1]

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1. Dept. of Energy, Carlsbad, NM (United States)

Administered by the Carlsbad Area Office, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is designed to permanently dispose of transuranic waste left from US nuclear weapons research and production. Project facilities, located 26 miles east of Carlsbad, New Mexico, include disposal rooms mined 2,150 feet beneath the earth`s surface in a stable, ancient salt formation. The US Department of Energy has established and analyzed the safety basis for handling and emplacement of contact-handled transuranic waste for disposal at the WIPP. The safety basis consists of management, design, construction, operation, and engineering characteristics necessary to protect the public, workers, and environment from the safety and health hazards posed by waste handling and emplacement operations. An assessment of hazards and the associated risk to safety was included in the effort. The hazard assessment technique used at the WIPP is a creative systematic interaction of a multi-disciplinary team that could be applied to other waste management activities. The qualitative assessment approach, which ranks hazards by likelihood and significance of consequence, would be useful for a wide range of risk analysis efforts. Hazards were systematically identified and assessed to evaluate the potential internal, external, and natural phenomena events that can cause the identified hazards to develop into accidents. The hazard assessment employed at the WIPP identified deviations from the intended design and operation of the waste handling system, analyzed potential accident consequences to the public and workers, estimated likelihood of occurrence, and evaluated associated preventative and mitigative features. It was concluded from the assessment that proposed WIPP waste emplacement operations and design are sufficient to ensure safety of the public, workers, and environment.

• OSTI ID: 469786
• Report Number(s): CONF-960804--Vol.1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

05 NUCLEAR FUELS
RISK ASSESSMENT
SAFETY ANALYSIS
WIPP