Following this introduction, Chapter 2 contains updated information on life cycle, status, and inventories of RH-TRU waste at selected generator sites. Chapter 3 describes the regulatory context for the disposal of RH-TRU waste. DOE’s proposed characterization plan for RH-TRU waste is described in Chapter 4. Chapter 5 provides the committee’s assessment of DOE’s proposed characterization plan. In December 2001, the committee released an interim report with initial findings and recommendations relevant to the July 2001 draft. These findings and recommendations can be found in Appendix C. DOE’s response to the committee’s interim report is reproduced in Appendix D.