Improving Operations and Long-Term Safety of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Final Report (2001) / Chapter Skim
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Appendix A1: Interim Report
Appendix A1: Interim Report
Pages 49-108
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Appendix Al Interim Report 51
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APPENDIX Al: INTERIM REPORT IMPROVING OPERATIONS AND LON~-TERM SAFElY OF THE WA T~ . PILOT PLANT ELATION INTERIM REPORT Commiltee on the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Board on Raclioactive Waste Management Commission on Geosciences, Environment, and Resources National Research Council NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS Washington, D.C.
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54 IMPROVING OPERATIONS AND LONG-TERAI SAFETY OF THE WASTE ISOLATION PILOT PLANT NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this interim 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.
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APPENDIX Al: INTERIM REPORT National Academy of Sciences National Academy of Engineering Institute of Medicine National Research Council The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, selfperpetuating 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 makers.
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YEW, The University of Texas (retired) , Austin Board on Radioactive Waste Management Liaison DARLEANE C
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APPENDIXA1: INTERIM REPORT Board on Radioactive Waste Management JOHN F AHEARNE, Chair, Sigma Xi and Duke University, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina CHARLES MCCOMBlE, Vc - Chair, Consultant, Gipf-Oberfrick, Svv~zehand ROBERT M
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58 IMPROVING OPERATIONS AND LONG-TERM SAFETY OF THE WASTE ISOLATION PILOT PLANT Commission on Geosciences, Environment, and Resources GEORGE M HORNBERGER (Chair) , University of Virginia, CharIodesville RICHARD A CONWAY, Union Carbide Corporation (Retired)
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We wish to thank the following individuals for their participation in the review of this report: Tom Borak, Colorado State University Edith Boyden, Volpe National Transportation Systems Center Robert Bu~nitz, Future Resources Associates, Inc. Allen Glazner, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Lawrence Johnson, National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste Joseph Leary, Independent Consultant Solomon Levy, Levy & Associates Hank Mevzelaar, University of Utah Randall Senght, New Mexico Institute of Technology Although the individuals listed above have provided 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 Us release.
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. The first NRC Committee on the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP)
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identifying technical options for improvements to the National TRU Program (i.e., the engineering system that defines TRU waste handling operations that are needed for these wastes to go from their current storage locations to the final repository destination) without compromising safety.
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Joint USNRC and EPA Guidance on Mixed Waste, 37 C Biographical Sketches of Committee Members, 39 D
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on the operation of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) , a geologic repository for disposal of defense transuranic (TRW)
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That is, some waste chara~enzation specifications have no basis in law, the safe conduct of operations to emplace waste in WIPP, or long-term performance requirements. The National TRU Program waste characterization procedures involve significant resources (e.g., expenditures of several billion dollars)
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Recommendations: 1. DOE should derive a more realistic radiolytic gas generation model, validate it through confrrnatory testing, use the results to recalculate gas generation limits, and seek regulatory approval to implement them.
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The WIPP emergency response program has not assessed suffciently whether adequate and timely emergency response coverage for a transportation incident exists along the full extent of each WIPP route. No formal system presently exists to identity areas where coverage may be inadequate Recommendations: The committee recommends that DOE explore with states and other interested parties how to develop processes and tools for maintaining up-to-date spatial information on the location, capabilities, and contact information of responders, medical facilities, recovery equipment, regional response teams, and other resources that might be needed to respond to a WIPP transportation incident.
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In time, the salt heals so as to be essentially impermeable, isolating the waste-filled rooms from the rest of the environment. WIPP is the first deep geological repository that has been designed and engineered for radioactive waste disposal and approved by an external regulatory authority.
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104°15' 104°0O' 103°45' 32° So, 32°15'_ 32°00'ma Loving ~< TWO WIPP Site ~ ~ r 1` j O S 10 m I I ~ ~ i A Index Map ~ i / I New Mexico\ ~ Eddy County ;/ Culberson Counly Texas ~ ~3;3^ Loving Countj7, _ l Reeves County ~' ~ ~'~ ted Bluff Reservoir/ l 5 10 ml r ~ ~ ~ 5 10 15 km FIGURE 1 Location of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. Inset shows the approximate location of the map area in New Mexico.
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Recommendation: The committee recommends that DOE should develop and implement a plan to sample oil-field brines, petroleum, and solids associated with current hydrocarbon production to assess the magnitude and variability of naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) in the vicinity of the WIPP site.
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, rather than analytical data on the radionuclide constituents. Such analytical data on the radioactivity of oil-field brines and petroleum resources at the WIPP site have not been made available to the committee and may not exist.
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-A 1 . C. · ·¢ ; .> Ha ~ ;~o ~ | con ~ FIGURE 2 Petroleum wells in the vicinity of the WIPP site.
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no major hydrocarbon-producing basin in Texas is exempt from high levels of radioactivity.n The major hydrocarbon-producing basins in Texas described by Fisher include the Delaware Basin, which contain producing formations near the WIPP site, and the adjacent Central Basin Platform (Hill, ~996, p.
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For the reasons given above, the committee supports the collection of NORM data on deep subsurface fluids, even though the isotopic signatures of NORM and TRU waste radioactivity are expected to ~ ffer and therefore to be readily distinguishable. In the commidee's view, DOE would be better served to possess these NORM data prior to any reported discovery of significant radioactivity in the region; hence, in its recommendation the committee proposes that this survey to sample deep subsurface fluids be conducted in the near term.
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These topics are cliscussed in the following subsections. Waste Characterization and Packaging Requirements Finding: The committee found inadequate legal or safety bases for some of the National TRU Program requirements and specifications.
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Such reductions may require modifications to existing perunits granted by extemal regulating authorities such as the EPA and New Mexico Environment Department. Rationale: The National TRU Program has developed waste restrictions, as descnbed in the waste acceptance criteria (DOE, 1996a.
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In the committee's view, this sampling and analysis applied only to homogeneous waste is unnecessary: If acceptable knowledge documentation 9A more comprehensive list of TRY waste characterization procedures and their origin is found in DOE (1999c)
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Visual examination is done on a fraction of the waste containers to confimn the real-time radiography and acceptable knowledge waste characterization information (Nelson, 1999a, p.
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3. DOE should consider technical approaches for reducing hazards from hydrogen generation, such as filling the headspace of the waste containers or the shipping containers with an inert gas to displace air and thereby reduce the flammability hazard.
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determine whether or not a waste container may be transported to WIPP without repackaging. The gas generation model, and the wattage limits derived from it, specify the terms of operation that are contained in the DOE safely analysis report for the TRUPACT-~' transportation package.
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is a major technical restriction of the National TRU Program. Recent information (DOE, 1999b; Gregory, 1999)
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, the committee has identified two issues DOE's communication and notification system (TRANSCoM47) and DOE's emergency response program~hat warrant immediate attention.
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that the TRANSCOM system has failed to give its users confidence in its reliability, ease of use, and the timeliness with which accurate information can be accessed. The committee regards these features as important for engendenng public confidence and trust in WIPP's transportation program, especially for inciclents in which some sort of emergency response is required.
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At present, the National TRU Program is one of many DOE users of the TRANSCOM system that is managed by another DOE program unit, the DOE transportation center in Albuquerque, New Mexico; other DOE transportation users include shippers of low-level waste and spent nuclear fuel. If the DOE transportation program that maintains TRANSCOM cannot provide sufficient improvements to fully implement the above recommendations, another approach would be for the National TRU Program to adapt a commercially available tracking system for use on WIPP shipments only.
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DOE's emergency response program relies heavily on WIPP corridor states to conduct emergency responder training and develop response plans in the event of a transportation incident. DOE also maintains its own specialized response capabilities that can be deployed on an as-needed basis.
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Committee Perspective on National TRU Program Requirements A reasonable goal for the National TRU Program is to send DOE TRU waste to WIPP at a minimum risk (from all sources of risk, including radiological exposure and highway accidents) and cost.
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For example, the current National TRU Program has many procedures to control certain program elements. Over time, the most effective of such controls could be identified and retained.
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Presentation to the Committee on the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. Albuquerque, New Mex.
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for TRUPACT-~. Presentation to the Committee on the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.
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Interpretation of the term "Atomic Energy Defense Activities" as used in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Land Withdrawal Act. September 9.
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~ 9996. Waste Acceptance Criteria for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.
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Assessment of ·ong-Terrn Performance The ability of WIPP to isolate radioactive waste from the accessible environment has been studied and modeled in a performance assessment calculation. The performance assessment organizes inforrnation relevant to fong-term (i.e., over a 10,000-year period)
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These activities are conducted under the auspices of the National TRU Program administered by the DOE CarIsbad Area Office. DOE sites sending waste to WIPP must meet the waste characterization and transpodation specifications that are contained in the WIPP waste acceptance criteria.
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Most of the TRU waste is heterogeneous in nature and requires no further characterization beyond acceptable knowledge to satisfy the regulatory requirements of RCRA. For homogeneous waste, a fraction of the waste containers (e.g., 55-gallon drums or standard waste boxes)
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that is loaded with waste containers for transport by truck to WIPP. Repackaging of Waste to Meet Wattage Limits imposed by a Radiolytic Gas Generation Mode/.
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Truck Transportation to WISP At the DOE sites containing TRU waste, the certified TRU waste containers are loaded inside TRUPACT-~' shipping containers that are then sealed with a vacuum-tight seal. The TRUPACT-~' is classified and regulated as a Type B" package for fissile materials.5 To ensure that the waste contents are safely contained during normal shipment conditions and accident scenarios, this transportation package must meet design features such as double containment (i.e., it must have an inner and outer container)
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System. The TRUPACT-~Is are inspected at the WIPP site end their consents (waste-filed drums or boxes)
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Flexibility exists in the hazardous waste regulations for generators; operators of treatment, storage, and disposal facilities; and mixed waste permit writers to tailor mixed waste sampling and analysis programs to address radiation hazards. For example, upon the request of a generator, a person preparing a RCRA pennit for such ~ facility has the flexibility to minimize the frequency of mixed waste testing by specifying a tow testing frequency in a facility's waste analysis plan.
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~~ o~ 4~ [~-~ ^~ ~ ~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ and quaky 2ssumnce p~gmm pan document and In the RC~ PaM B permit for the 1esdng of mixed waste seem at odds with the Amp (as law as reasonably schievabIe) pdnclple.
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He has been a member of the Committee on the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant since ~ 989. Mark Abkowi~e, professor of civil engineering at Vanderbilt University and director of the Center for Environmental Management Studies, has many years of experience in hazardous materials transport.
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Dr. Kaplan is the recipient of several awards and honors, including the Society for Risk Analysis Distinguished Achievement Award in 1996.
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Werner F Puree, professor of chemical and nuclear engineering at the University of New Mexico and director of the UNM Center for Radioactive Waste Management (CeRaM)
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He is a past chairman of the North Carolina Radiation Protection Commission and currently chairs the commission's Committee on Low-Leve' Radioactive Waste Management. Ching H
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APPENDIX Al: INTERIM REPORT Engineers.
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Nuclear Regulatory Commission WIPP Waste Isolation Pilot Plant 44
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