Risk and Decisions About Disposition of Transuranic and High-Level Radioactive Waste (2005) / Chapter Skim
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1 Introduction and Background
1 Introduction and Background
Pages 13-36
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From page 13... ...
Deep geologic disposal is the only disposition path contemplated for some of them,1 but DOE has sought alternative disposition paths for others. 1 The committee uses the term "disposal" to mean the emplacement of waste in a facility without the intention of retrieval.
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From page 14... ...
To this end, the study will explicitly address the following issues: · key elements of a risk-based approach; · criteria for risk assessment; · potential alternatives to geologic disposal for disposition of low hazard waste; · compatibility with current regulatory regimes; · knowledge and technology gaps for implementation; and · broader implications, if any, for disposition of other DOE wastes. The study also will examine the application of risk-based approaches to selected DOE waste streams to assess their practical usefulness.
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From page 15... ...
are considered separately, except to the extent that they affect estimated human health risk. This report focuses on human health risk because it is of concern for all of the waste streams and because it has traditionally been studied in risk analysis.
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From page 16... ...
In Chapter 2, the committee argues that the cost of permanent geologic disposal may be disproportionate to the risks actually posed by some HLW and TRU waste. Chapter 2 also describes the types of wastes that are candidates for seeking alternative disposition paths, potential alternatives to deep geologic disposal for disposition of low-hazard waste,3 and compatibility with current regulatory regimes.
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in January 2004, and the Hanford Site in March 2004. Through these meetings and its review of documents, the committee gathered information on DOE's waste streams and disposition options; how risk assessment is done at the different sites (by DOE and others)
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· Disposition alternatives. What alternatives for management, treatment, and disposal of radioactive waste have been exam ined?
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· Documents. The committee requested that DOE provide the fol lowing types of documents for HLW tanks and their residual con tents and for buried TRU: (1)
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From page 20... ...
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 con tains fission products in sufficient concentrations; and (B) other highly radioac 5 For a solvent extraction separation process, this liquid remainder is called the raffinate; thus, the term "first-cycle raffinate" appears in some documents.
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From page 21... ...
Deep geologic disposal has the advantage of isolating radioactive waste in an environment that is designed to require little ongoing active maintenance. Because some radioactive waste will remain hazardous for millennia, it is important to dispose of it in a way that protects future generations from harm in the event that institutional knowledge of its whereabouts and hazards is lost.
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From page 22... ...
. The NWPA codified the source-based definition of HLW and officially adopted the deep geologic repository concept as the nation's long-term strategy for HLW disposal.10 Yucca Mountain in Nevada was designated by the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1987 as the only site to undergo characterization to determine its suitability to host a repository for commercial spent nuclear fuel and defense high-level waste.
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The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Land Withdrawal Act (Public Law 102-579) provides the current definition: Transuranic Waste is waste containing more than 100 nanocuries of alpha emitting transuranic isotopes [atomic number greater than 92]
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As noted above, a site near Carlsbad, New Mexico, was under investigation as a potential deep geologic repository. The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP)
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, or applicable state statutes because it is an uncontrolled release of hazardous substances into the environment. DOE currently manages buried TRU on a site-by-site basis with local regulatory authority, like it does environmental restoration issues at the sites.
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, and disposition in a deep geologic repository remains the preferred option for disposing of longlived radioactive waste14 produced by defense facilities, nuclear power plants and other sources (NRC, 1990, 2001b)
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15 This volume of HLW would occupy nearly 9400 standard tanker trucks, or about one and one-half large oil tanker ships. 16 These numbers do not include spent nuclear fuel, which is outside the scope of this study.
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From page 28... ...
DOE has been evaluating alternative disposition approaches for a diverse set of waste streams including lower-activity waste streams from processing HLW (e.g., sodium-bearing waste at INEEL, lower-activity saltcake at SRS, and low-activity waste and supplemental treatment waste at Hanford) , "heels" (liquids from tank washing and some original waste solids remaining in tanks after substantial retrieval)
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From page 29... ...
, DOE developed plans to chemically process or treat HLW to 19 SRS operates under a wastewater permit from the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Quality. 20 "Since it was first approved on May 15, 1989 there have been 428 change requests approved to the Hanford Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (Tri-Party Agreement)
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From page 30... ...
.21 As low-level waste, the material could be disposed of in a near-surface facility onsite at the DOE facilities where the wastes were generated. The first official document referring to waste incidental to reprocessing appears to be a 1969 Atomic Energy Commission Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on regulations for nuclear fuel reprocessing plants.
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From page 31... ...
Will be managed to meet safety requirements comparable to the per formance objectives set out in 10 CFR Part 61, Subpart C, Performance Objectives; and 3. Are to be managed, pursuant to DOE's authority under the Atomic En ergy Act of 1954, as amended, and in accordance with the provisions of Chapter IV of this Manual, provided the waste will be incorporated in a solid physical form at a concentration that does not exceed the applica ble concentration limits for Class C low-level waste as set out in 10 CFR 61.55, Waste Classification; or will meet alternative II-14 DOE G 435.1 1 7-09-99 Chapter II High-Level Waste Requirements for waste classifi cation and characterization as DOE may authorize.
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From page 32... ...
Sidebar 1.4 contains the text of that section. In summary, the legislation qualifies the definition of HLW by stating that reprocessing waste that meets certain criteria (i.e., has had highly radioactive radionuclides removed to the maximum extent practical; does not require permanent isolation in a deep geologic repository; and performance objectives for low-level waste)
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From page 33... ...
IN GENERAL -- Notwithstanding the provisions of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, the requirements of section 202 of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, and other laws that define classes of radioactive waste, with respect to material stored at a Department of Energy site at which activities are regulated by a covered State pursuant to approved closure plans or permits issued by the State, the term "high-level radioactive waste" does not include radioactive waste resulting from the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel that the Secretary of Energy (in this section referred to as the "Secretary")
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MONITORING BY NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION.- (1) The Commission shall, in coordination with the covered State, monitor dis posal actions taken by the Department of Energy pursuant to subparagraphs (A)
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From page 35... ...
(3) Nothing in this section amends the definition of "transuranic waste" or regu lations for repository disposal of transuranic waste pursuant to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Land Withdrawal Act or part 191 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations.
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