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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2000. Alternatives for High-Level Waste Salt Processing at the Savannah River Site. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9959.
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ALTERNATIVES FOR HIGH-LEVEL WASTE SALT PROCESSING AT THE SAVANNAH RIVER SITE

Committee on Cesium Processing Alternatives for High-Level Waste at the Savannah River Site

Board on Radioactive Waste Management

Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology

National Research Council

NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
Washington, D.C.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2000. Alternatives for High-Level Waste Salt Processing at the Savannah River Site. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9959.
×

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.

Support for this study was provided by the U.S. Department of Energy under Grant No.DE-FC01-99EW59049. All opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Energy.

International Standard Book Number 0-309-07194-1

Additional copies of this report are available from:
National Academy Press
2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W. Box 285 Washington, DC20055800-624-6242202-334-3313 (in the Washington Metropolitan Area) http://www.nap.edu

Copyright 2000 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2000. Alternatives for High-Level Waste Salt Processing at the Savannah River Site. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9959.
×

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

National Academy of Sciences

National Academy of Engineering

Institute of Medicine

National Research Council

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. William A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering.

The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth I. Shine is president of the Institute of Medicine.

The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. William A. Wulf are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2000. Alternatives for High-Level Waste Salt Processing at the Savannah River Site. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9959.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2000. Alternatives for High-Level Waste Salt Processing at the Savannah River Site. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9959.
×

COMMITTEE ON CESIUM PROCESSING ALTERNATIVES FOR HIGH-LEVEL WASTE AT THE SAVANNAH RIVER SITE

MILTON LEVENSON, Chair,

Bechtel International (retired), Menlo Park, California

GREGORY R. CHOPPIN, Vice Chair,

Florida State University, Tallahassee

JOHN BERCAW,

California Institute of Technology, Pasadena

DARYLE H. BUSCH,

University of Kansas, Lawrence

TERESA FRYBERGER,

Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York

GEORGE E. KELLER II,

Union Carbide Corporation (retired), South Charleston, West Virginia

MATTHEW KOZAK,

Monitor Scientific, LLC, Denver, Colorado

ALFRED P. SATTELBERGER,

Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico

BARRY E. SCHEETZ,

The Pennsylvania State University, University Park

MARTIN J. STEINDLER,

Argonne National Laboratory (retired), Downers Grove, Illinois

Staff

ROBERT S. ANDREWS, Senior Staff Officer,

Board on Radioactive Waste Management

KEVIN D. CROWLEY, Director,

Board on Radioactive Waste Management

DOUGLAS J. RABER, Director,

Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology

JOHN R. WILEY, Senior Staff Officer,

Board on Radioactive Waste Management

LATRICIA C. BAILEY, Senior Project Assistant

MATTHEW BAXTER-PARROTT, Project Assistant

SUZANNE STACKHOUSE, Project Assistant

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2000. Alternatives for High-Level Waste Salt Processing at the Savannah River Site. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9959.
×

BOARD ON RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT

JOHN F. AHEARNE, Chair,

Sigma Xi and Duke University, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina

CHARLES MCCOMBIE, Vice Chair,

Gipf-Oberfrick, Switzerland

ROBERT M. BERNERO,

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (retired), Bethesda, Maryland

ROBERT J. BUDNITZ,

Future Resources Associates, Inc., Berkeley, California

GREGORY R. CHOPPIN,

Florida State University, Tallahassee

JAMES H. JOHNSON, JR.,

Howard University, Washington, D.C.

ROGER E. KASPERSON,

Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts

JAMES O. LECKIE,

Stanford University, Stanford, California

JANE C. S. LONG,

Mackay School of Mines, University of Nevada, Reno

ALEXANDER MACLACHLAN,

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company (retired), Wilmington, Delaware

WILLIAM A. MILLS,

Oak Ridge Associated Universities (retired), Olney, Maryland

MARTIN J. STEINDLER,

Argonne National Laboratory (retired), Downers Grove, Illinois

ATSUYUKI SUZUKI,

University of Tokyo, Japan

JOHN J. TAYLOR,

Electric Power Research Institute (retired), Palo Alto, California

VICTORIA J. TSCHINKEL,

Landers and Parsons, Tallahassee, Florida

MARY LOU ZOBACK,

U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California

Staff

KEVIN D. CROWLEY, Director

ROBERT S. ANDREWS, Senior Staff Officer

BARBARA PASTINA, Staff Officer

GREGORY H. SYMMES, Senior Staff Officer

JOHN R. WILEY, Senior Staff Officer

SUSAN B. MOCKLER, Research Associate

TONI GREENLEAF, Administrative Associate

LATRICIA C. BAILEY, Senior Project Assistant

MATTHEW BAXTER-PARROTT, Project Assistant

LAURA D. LLANOS, Senior Project Assistant

SUZANNE STACKHOUSE, Project Assistant

ANGELA R. TAYLOR, Senior Project Assistant

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2000. Alternatives for High-Level Waste Salt Processing at the Savannah River Site. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9959.
×

BOARD ON CHEMICAL SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY

JOHN L. ANDERSON, Co-Chair,

Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

LARRY E. OVERMAN, Co-Chair,

University of California, Irvine

BARBARA J. GARRISON,

Pennsylvania State University, University Park

ALICE P. GAST,

Stanford University

LOUIS C. GLASGOW,

DuPont Fluoroproducts, Wilmington, Delaware

KEITH E. GUBBINS,

North Carolina State University, Raleigh

NANCY B. JACKSON,

Sandia National Laboratory, Albuquerque, New Mexico

JIRI JONAS,

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

GEORGE E. KELLER,

Union Carbide Company (retired), South Charleston, West Virginia

RICHARD A. LERNER,

Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California

GREGORY A. PETSKO,

Rosenstiel Basic Medical Sciences Research Center, Waltham, Massachusetts

WAYNE H. PITCHER, JR.,

Genencor International, Inc., Palo Alto, California

KENNETH N. RAYMOND,

University of California, Berkeley

PAUL J. REIDER,

Merck Research Laboratories, Rahway, New Jersey

LYNN F. SCHNEEMEYER,

Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, New Jersey

MARTIN B. SHERWIN,

ChemVen Group, Inc., Boca Raton, Florida

JEFFREY J. SIIROLA,

Chemical Process Research Laboratory, Kingsport, Tennessee

CHRISTINE S. SLOANE,

General Motors, Troy, Michigan

PETER J. STANG,

University of Utah, Salt Lake City

JOHN T. YATES, JR.,

University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

STEVEN W. YATES,

University of Kentucky, Lexington

Staff

DOUGLAS J. RABER, Director

RUTH MCDIARMID, Program Officer

SUSAN MORRISSEY, Intern

CHRISTOPHER MURPHY, Program Officer

SYBIL A. PAIGE, Administrative Associate

MARIA P. JONES, Senior Project Assistant

Page viii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2000. Alternatives for High-Level Waste Salt Processing at the Savannah River Site. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9959.
×

Acknowledgements

This fast-track study could not have been completed without the assistance of many individuals and organizations. The committee especially wishes to acknowledge and thank Steve Piccolo (Westinghouse Savannah River Company [WSRC]), Roy Schepens (U.S. Department of Energy [DOE]), Kurt Fisher (DOE), and Kenneth Lang (DOE), who served as liaisons to the committee from Savannah River and DOE Headquarters and provided information and briefings during the course of this study; Robert Jones (WSRC), who served as the committee's main point of contact to the salt processing project at Savannah River and kept track of the committee's sometimes insatiable requests for information; and the other individuals listed in Appendix C, who provided briefings to the committee, in some cases on very short notice, during its two open meetings in Augusta, Georgia.

The committee also wishes to thank the following staff of the National Research Council's Board on Radioactive Waste Management and Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology for a strong team effort to support this project: Robert Andrews, Kevin Crowley, Doug Raber, and John Wiley for organizing the project and assisting with the preparation of the committee's reports; and Latricia Bailey, Matthew Baxter-Parrott, and Suzanne Stackhouse for assistance with research and logistics.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2000. Alternatives for High-Level Waste Salt Processing at the Savannah River Site. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9959.
×

List of Report Reviewers

This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council (NRC) Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making the published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The content of the review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their participation in the review of this report:

Robert M. Bernero, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (retired)

Mary L. Good, Venture Capitol Investors

Edward Lahoda, Westinghouse Science and Technology Department

Dade W. Moeller, Dade Moeller & Associates, Inc.

Kenneth N. Raymond, University of California, Berkeley

Vincent Van Brunt, University of South Carolina

Stephen Yates, University of Kentucky

Edwin L. Zebroski, Elgis Consulting

Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations, nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by E-an Zen, appointed by the Commission on Geosciences, Environment, and Resources, and Royce W. Murray, appointed by the Report Review Committee, who were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with NRC procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the NRC.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2000. Alternatives for High-Level Waste Salt Processing at the Savannah River Site. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9959.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2000. Alternatives for High-Level Waste Salt Processing at the Savannah River Site. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9959.
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The Second World War introduced the world to nuclear weapons and their consequences. Behind the scene of these nuclear weapons and an aspect of their consequences is radioactive waste. Radioactive waste has varying degrees of harmfulness and poses a problem when it comes to storage and disposal. Radioactive waste is usually kept below ground in varying containers, which depend on how radioactive the waste it. High-level radioactive waste (HLW) can be stored in underground carbon-steel tanks. However, radioactive waste must also be further immobilized to ensure our safety.

There are several sites in the United States where high-level radioactive waste (HLW) are stored; including the Savannah River Site (SRS), established in 1950 to produce plutonium and tritium isotopes for defense purposes. In order to further immobilize the radioactive waste at this site an in-tank precipitation (ITP) process is utilized. Through this method, the sludge portion of the tank wastes is being removed and immobilized in borosilicate glass for eventual disposal in a geological repository. As a result, a highly alkaline salt, present in both liquid and solid forms, is produced. The salt contains cesium, strontium, actinides such as plutonium and neptunium, and other radionuclides. But is this the best method?

The National Research Council (NRC) has empanelled a committee, at the request of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), to provide an independent technical review of alternatives to the discontinued in-tank precipitation (ITP) process for treating the HLW stored in tanks at the SRS. Alternatives for High-Level Waste Salt Processing at the Savannah RIver Site summarizes the finding of the committee which sought to answer 4 questions including: "Was an appropriately comprehensive set of cesium partitioning alternatives identified and are there other alternatives that should be explored?" and "Are there significant barriers to the implementation of any of the preferred alternatives, taking into account their state of development and their ability to be integrated into the existing SRS HLW system?"

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