Transuranic (TRU) Waste Phase I Retrieval Plan
Phase I retrieval of post-1970 TRU wastes from burial ground 218-W-4C can be done in a safe, efficient, and cost-effective manner. Initiating TRU retrieval by retrieving uncovered drums from Trenches 1, 20, and 29, will allow retrieval to begin under the current SWBG safety authorization basis. The retrieval of buried drums from Trenches 1, 4, 20, and 29, which will require excavation, will commence once the uncovered drum are retrieved. This phased approach allows safety analysis for drum venting and drum module excavation to be completed and approved before the excavation proceeds. In addition, the lessons learned and the operational experience gained from the retrieval of uncovered drums can be applied to the more complicated retrieval of the buried drums. Precedents that have been set at SRS and LANL to perform retrieval without a trench cover, in the open air, should be followed. Open-air retrieval will result in significant cost savings over the original plans for Phase I retrieval (Project W-113). Based on LANL and SRS experience, open-air retrieval will have no adverse impacts to the environment or to the health and safety of workers or the public. Assaying the waste in the SWBG using a mobile assay system, will result in additional cost savings. It is expected that up to 50% of the suspect-TRU wastes will assay as LLW, allowing those waste to remain disposed of in the SWBG. Further processing, with its associated costs, will only occur to the portion of the waste that is verified to be TRU. Retrieval should be done, to the extent possible, under the current SWBG safety authorization basis as a normal part of SWBG operations. The use of existing personnel and existing procedures should be optimized. By working retrieval campaigns, typically during the slow months, it is easier to coordinate the availability of necessary operations personnel, and it is easier to coordinate the availability of a mobile assay vendor.
- Research Organization:
- WMH (US)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC06-96RL13200
- OSTI ID:
- 797730
- Report Number(s):
- HNF-4781, Rev.0; TRN: US0204956
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: 27 Aug 1999
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Unvented Drum Handling Plan
Excavation and Repackaging of Retrievably-Stored, Remote-Handled Transuranic Waste at Oak Ridge National Laboratory