Development of transportation systems for US transuranic waste - a historical perspective

Conference · Wed Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1992 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States)

OSTI ID:6679005

Banjac, V; Heger, A S ^[1]

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1. Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque (United States)

Radioactive waste constitutes the largest portion of radioactive material by mass and by volume. The waste, classified in four waste forms, low-level waste, transuranic (TRU) waste, high-level waste, and spent fuel, will ultimately have to be shipped to a repository for permanent disposal. The only repository built and awaiting operational status in the United States is the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in southeastern New Mexico, built by the US Department of Energy (DOE) for the permanent disposal of defense TRU waste. The majority of TRU waste has been generated in DOE facilities, where it was packaged in drums and boxes and stored o-site. On-site storage involved limited transportation of the waste and, until 1970, direct on-site burial. Since 1974, TRU waste in the United States has been placed in retrievable on-site storage, involving little or no transportation, pending the startup of the WIPP repository. For TRU transportation to the WIPP, the DOE commenced the Transuranic Package Transporter-TRUPACT program in 1983. Emphasis was placed on contact handled (CH) TRU waste, which represents 98% of the total TRU waste inventory.

• OSTI ID: 6679005
• Report Number(s): CONF-921102--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States) Journal Volume: 66
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

050900* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Transport
Handling
& Storage
052000 -- Nuclear Fuels-- Waste Management
056000 -- Nuclear Fuels-- Legislation & Regulations-- (1987-)
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
ALPHA-BEARING WASTES
CASKS
CONTAINERS
FUNCTIONAL MODELS
HISTORICAL ASPECTS
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NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
PILOT PLANTS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE FACILITIES
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
SAFETY ANALYSIS
SPENT FUEL CASKS
TRANSPORT
TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS
UNDERGROUND FACILITIES
US DOE
US ORGANIZATIONS
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE TRANSPORTATION
WASTES
WIPP