A Little Here, A Little There, A Fairly Big Problem Everywhere: Small Quantity Site Transuranic Waste Disposition Alternatives
Small quantities of transuranic (TRU) waste represent a significant challenge to the waste disposition and facility closure plans of several sites in the Department of Energy (DOE) complex. This paper presents the results of a series of evaluations, using a systems engineering approach, to identify the preferred alternative for dispositioning TRU waste from small quantity sites (SQSs). The TRU waste disposition alternatives evaluation used semi-quantitative data provided by the SQSs, potential receiving sites, and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) to select and recommend candidate sites for waste receipt, interim storage, processing, and preparation for final disposition of contact-handled (CH) and remote-handled (RH) TRU waste. The evaluations of only four of these SQSs resulted in potential savings to the taxpayer of $33 million to $81 million, depending on whether mobile systems could be used to characterize, package, and certify the waste or whether each site would be required to perform this work. Small quantity shipping sites included in the evaluation included the Battelle Columbus Laboratory (BCL), University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR), Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC), and Mound. Candidate receiving sites included the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL), the Savannah River Site (SRS), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Oak Ridge (OR), and Hanford. At least 14 additional DOE sites having TRU waste may be able to save significant money if cost savings are similar to the four evaluated thus far.
- Research Organization:
- Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC07-99ID-13727
- OSTI ID:
- 911348
- Report Number(s):
- INEEL/CON-00-00111; TRN: US0704529
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Waste Management 2000,Tucson, AZ,02/27/2000,03/03/2000
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
54 - ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ALPHA-BEARING WASTES
BATTELLE COLUMBUS LABORATORY
CLOSURES
EVALUATION
INEEL
LANL
PROCESSING
RESEARCH REACTORS
SAVANNAH RIVER PLANT
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE STORAGE
WASTES
WIPP
Integration
Site Closures
Transuranic EM Analysis
Waste Consolidation
Small Quantity Sites