Accelerating the disposition of transuranic waste from LANL - 9495
Conference
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OSTI ID:956512
- Los Alamos National Laboratory
- U.S DOE
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) was established during World War II with a single mission -- to design and build an atomic bomb. In the 65 years since, nuclear weapons physics, design and engineering have been the Laboratory's primary and sustaining mission. Experimental and process operations -- and associated cleanout and upgrade activities -- have generated a significant inventory of transuranic (TRU) waste that is stored at LANL's Technical Area 54, Material Disposal Area G (MDA G). When the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) opened its doors in 1999, LANL's TRU inventory totaled about 10,200 m{sup 3}, with a plutonium 239-equivalent curie (PE Ci) content of approximately 250,000 curies. By December 2008, a total of about 2,300 m3 (61,000 PE Ci) had been shipped to WIPP from LANL. This has resulted in a net reduction of about 1,000 m{sup 3} of TRU inventory over that time frame. This paper presents progress in dispositioning legacy and newly-generated transuranic waste (TRU) from ongoing missions at the LANL. The plans for, and lessons learned, in dispositioning several hundred high-activity TRU waste drums are reviewed. This waste population was one of the highest risks at LANL. Technical challenges in disposition of the high-activity drums are presented. These provide a preview of challenges to be addressed in dispositioning the remaining 6,800 m{sup 3} of TRU stored above ground and 2,400 m{sup 3} of TRU waste that is 'retrievably' stored below-grade. LANL is using subcontractors for much of this work and has formed a strong partnership with WIPP and its contractor to address this cleanup challenge.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- DOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC52-06NA25396
- OSTI ID:
- 956512
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-09-00255; LA-UR-09-255
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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