Characterization of Remote-Handled Transuranic Waste for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Final Report (2002) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
2 Remote-Handled Transuranic Waste
2 Remote-Handled Transuranic Waste
Pages 15-26
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 15... ...
Alpha radiation cannot penetrate human skin but poses a potential health hazard if particles containing alpha-emihing radionuctides are inhaled or ingested. Contact-handIed TRU waste typically emits relatively little gamma radiation; therefore, when properly packaged, it can be handled directly by workers.
|
From page 16... ...
waste generation or recovery from its current storage location; processing; characterization; packaging or repackaging;3 storage on site or off site prior to shipment to WIPP; road transportation to WIPP; receipt, handling, surface interim storage; and Remote-handIed waste is generated during deactivation and decommissioning activities of DOE sites or it is already stored at generator sites and must be recovered for shipment to WIPP. Recovery activities can be complex if containers are difficult to access, if their integrity has been compromised with time, or if storage records are not available.
|
From page 17... ...
Debris waste consists of debris from hot cells and glove boxes packaged in shielded concrete casks. This wet sludge and debris waste contains significant sources of neutrons, due to the spontaneous fission of californium-252 and from (alpha, n)
|
From page 18... ...
Because this waste has yet to be generated and packaged, the Hanford Site has less detailed knowledge of its RH-TRU waste inventory than the other major generator sites. At the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, the stored RHTRU waste consists mostly of solids generated during the destructive examination of irradiated experimental fuel pins in a hot cell.
|
From page 19... ...
Remote-Handled Tra, Uranic V/a ste a)
|
From page 20... ...
_ _ _ _ . _ ~ Battelle Columbus Laboratories began RH-TRU waste characterization activities in October 2001 following a characterization program similar to that used for CH-TRU waste.
|
From page 21... ...
One element of this program is a proposal to transform the Hanford Site into a TRU waste-processing center for small generator sites, including Battelle Columbus Laboratories. 2.3.1 Remote-Handled Transuranic Waste Volume Inventory Table 2.1 shows that the projected tote' volume inventory of RH-TRU waste in WIPP is 3,821 cubic meters, of which 2,197 cubic meters are currently stored at DOE sites and 1,625 cubic meters are yet to be generated (see the column "Projected"~.
|
From page 22... ...
22 Characterization of Remote-Handled TRU Waste for the WIPP
|
From page 23... ...
. For comparison, the total activity to be emplaced in WIPP from CH- and RH-TRU waste is estimated to be 7.4 million curies, of which 6.4 million come from CH-TRU waste (DOE-CAO, 1996c; Appendix BIR)
|
From page 24... ...
The committee's interim report discussed the RH-TRU waste inventory using DOE's initial distinction between "Retrievably Stored Waste" and "Newly Generated Waste" 4°Short-lived radionuclides in RH-TRU waste are included in the calculation of the regulatory release limits. The scenario that would mostly affect release limits from RH-TRU waste is a drilling intrusion in WIPP occurring less than 300 years after closure.
|
From page 25... ...
That same year the Atomic Energy Commission determined that all TRU waste generated after 1970 must be segregated from low-level waste and placed in retrievable storage pending shipment to, and disposal in, an approved geological repository. Transuranic waste produced in support of the nuclear weapons program from the 1940s through 1970 was disposed of by shallow land burial and other techniques at a number of sites owned and operated by the federal government.
|
From page 26... ...
At Los Alamos, waste is stored in 17 canisters, of which 16 were generated during program activities and ~ from hot cell cleanup after the work was completed. Though these canisters are packaged, they are not ready for shipment to WIPP because they have not been characterized in accordance with the current characterization requirements in the EPA Certification and RCRA Permit.42 Nevertheless, thorough records of process knowledge, visual examination, and prohibited items determination (see Chapter 3, Section 3.3)
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.