Waste Forms Technology and Performance Final Report (2011) / Chapter Skim
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2 Background and Study Task
2 Background and Study Task
Pages 15-28
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The complete study task is shown in Box 2.1. The DOE-EM cleanup program is successfully processing waste and producing waste forms at several sites.
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. 2.1 BACKGROUND ON WASTE FORMS The term waste form is defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency (2003)
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A wide range of materials are potentially usable as waste forms; these include amorphous materials (e.g., glass) , crystalline materials (e.g., ceramics, mineral analogues, metals, cements)
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The study will identify and describe: • Essential characteristics of waste forms that will govern their performance within relevant disposal systems. This study will focus on disposal sys tems associated with high-cost waste streams such as high-level tank waste and calcine but include some consideration of low-level and trans uranic waste disposal.
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These wastes were managed using practices analogous to those for other process industries of the era, including disposal of solid waste in landfills, disposal of liquid wastes in ponds and through underground injection, and temporary storage. Some highly radioactive liquid wastes have been in temporary storage at DOE sites for more than six decades.
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, which contains information on spent fuel, radioactive waste, facilities, and contaminated media being managed at current and former production facilities. The principal waste streams that are being managed by DOE-EM are shown in Table 2.1.6 As can be seen in this table, the volumes of waste being managed are varied and substantial, although it is important to note that not all waste has been well characterized or inventoried.
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Depleted uranium 737,000 MT Uranium oxide Shallow disposal Plutonium and uranium 108 MT MOX fuel Deep disposal (Federal residues Glass repository) Excess facilitiesf 5,200 As is for Shallow disposal for decommissioning LLW; WIPP for TRU waste waste Orphan waste streams 5 m3 TBDg Cs and Sr capsules TBD Other various TBD TBD NOTES: HAW = high-activity waste; LAW = low-activity waste; LLW = low-level radioactive waste; MT = metric tonnes; MTHM = metric tonnes of heavy metal; TBD = to be determined; TRU = transuranic; WIPP = Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.
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High-level radioactive waste (HLW) is defined by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act as the highly radioactive waste material resulting from the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel, including liquid waste produced directly in reprocessing and any solid material derived from such liquid waste that contains fission products in sufficient concentrations; and other highly radioactive material that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, consistent with existing law, determines by rule to require permanent isolation.
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Decommissioning of the facilities will generate TRU waste, LLW, and nonhazardous debris. • There are a number of orphan waste streams that lack clear dispo sition pathways, either because they are not HLW, TRU waste, or LLW, or because they do not meet waste acceptance criteria (see Chapter 8)
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HLW cleanup is the largest lifecycle cost element of the cleanup program, with lifecycle costs estimated to be between $87 billion and $117 billion. The Hanford Site, Idaho Site, and Savannah River Site are responsible for the majority of past and projected lifecycle cleanup costs, totaling almost $200 billion (Figure 2.3)
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The committee visited the Hanford Site, Idaho Site, Savannah River Site, and their associated national laboratories (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, and Savannah River National Laboratory, respectively) to observe DOE's waste processing and waste form production programs and to hold technical discussions with site and laboratory staff.
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. At present, tank waste retrieval and closure are limited by schedules for treating and immobilizing HLW in the Defense Waste Processing Facility, which is currently operating at the Savannah River Site; the Waste Treatment Plant, which is under construction at the Hanford Site; and a facility to be designed and constructed for immobilizing calcine HLW at the Idaho Site.
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2001. Summary Data on the Radioactive Waste, Spent Nuclear Fuel, and Contaminated Media Managed by the U.S.
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1999. The State of Development of Waste Forms for Mixed Wastes, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C.
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