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Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Program Status

Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Program Status. National Governors’ Association Meeting May 17, 2002 Alton D. Harris, III. Discussion Topics. Waste Shipment Status Regulatory Strategy Transportation/Packaging Strategy. Waste Shipment Status.

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Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Program Status

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  1. Waste Isolation Pilot PlantProgram Status National Governors’ Association Meeting May 17, 2002 Alton D. Harris, III

  2. Discussion Topics • Waste Shipment Status • Regulatory Strategy • Transportation/Packaging Strategy

  3. Waste Shipment Status • Since March 1999, over 5,000 m3 of contact-handled TRU waste shipped and disposed at WIPP. • Over 800 truck shipments from 5 sites to date. • A single rail car shipment from Mound to Savannah River Site supporting site closure.

  4. Hanford Idaho National (INEEL) 10 271 Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site (RFETS) 499 Savannah River Site (SRS) 813 Shipments Received as of May 13 Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) 25 8 (~24,000 drums equivalent) Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Waste Shipment Status

  5. TRU Waste Shipping Priorities • Highest Priority • Rocky Flats closure by the end of FY 2006 • Meeting Idaho Settlement Agreement • Second Priority • Waste shipments from Savannah River Site to WIPP to allow remaining Mound waste transfer to SRS • Third Priority • As resources are available meet needs of Los Alamos, Hanford, and small quantity sites

  6. Small Quantity Site Strategy • Using mobile modular vendors under WIPP control (Central Characterization Project) • Savannah River Site CCP audit complete, regulatory approval to begin shipments granted; first CCP shipment from SRS received at WIPP on April 6, 2002. • Proposed Savannah River Site CCP shipments support additional OHOX railcar shipments from Mound to SRS in FY 2002 • CCP mobile vendors at ANL-E and NTS preparing for audits, anticipate regulatory approval to begin shipments in late FY 2002 and into 2003 • As mobile modular vendors finish at one site, they will be made available to other sites, e.g., LLNL

  7. Anticipated* Remaining FY 2002 Shipments May 02 - Sept 02 *Dependent upon regulatory approvals, budget, packaging and transportation resources, etc.

  8. RCRA Regulatory Strategy: Current Status • NMED is processing several permit modification requests required to maintain current operations • Confirmation of waste characterization at WIPP site (expect NMED Notice of Deficiency soon) • Drum age criteria (expect final NMED decision by Fall 2002) • DOE considering submitting permit modifications semi-annually to facilitate processing • RH Waste Analysis Plan & RH Facility (submittal expected Summer 2002)

  9. More details on the RH-TRU Program • NAS independent review of RH-TRU essentially complete • Requires a modification to WIPP’s RCRA permit • Requires EPA approval because of change to compliance certification - DOE will submit a 40 CFR 194.4 change notification to EPA at same time it submits the RCRA permit modification • First RH-72B RH-TRU transport cask under acceptance review; 11 more in production with delivery complete in FY 2002

  10. Transportation/Packaging Status • Coordination with State and local agencies on shipments continues • 2 carriers under contract with 16 tractors and over 25 drivers • 35 trailers and 59 TRUPACT-IIs currently in the fleet • Contracts in place for a total of 67 TRUPACT-IIs and 15 HalfPACTs by April 2003 (delivery rate about 2 per month) • Specifications being developed for intermodal large box shipping container, TRUPACT-III to supplement TRUPACT-II • 5 ft x 5 ft x 8 ft payload would allow 97% of boxed waste to be shippable avoiding large repackaging cost • Design, production, testing, and certification will require several years before first package is available • Consideration being given to using rail shipments to supplement truck shipments when economically viable

  11. NRC Certification of Packaging • Working with NRC on multiple transportation packaging certification requests • LANL High Activity CH-TRU Waste • Future TRUPACT-II SARP revisions are being contemplated to make more waste shippable, e.g., use of hydrogen getter and bag breaching technology; TRUPACT-III will require NRC certification

  12. Conclusion • Good progress on moving waste to WIPP for disposal, focusing on both large and small sites • Aggressive goals are in place for future shipments • Significant efforts to implement changes to site characterization requirements and transportation packaging to make the system more efficient and less costly • Need continued NGA support to make all this happen

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