Improving operations and long-term safety of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant : final report / Committee on the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, Board on Radioactive Waste Management, Division on Earth and Life Sciences, National Research Council.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.

Series:

Compass series (Washington, D.C.)

Compass series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (N.M.)--Safety measures.

Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (N.M.).

Radioactive waste repositories--New Mexico--Carlsbad Region--Safety measures.

Radioactive waste repositories.

Radioactive waste disposal in the ground--New Mexico--Carlsbad Region--Safety measures.

Radioactive waste disposal in the ground.

Alpha-bearing wastes--New Mexico--Carlsbad Region--Management--Safety measures.

Alpha-bearing wastes.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (156 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Washington, D.C. : National Academy Press, c2001.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is a deep underground mined facility for the disposal of transuranic waste resulting from the nation's defense program. Transuranic waste is defined as waste contaminated with transuranic radionuclides with half-life greater than 20 years and activity greater than 100 nanocuries per gram. The waste mainly consists of contaminated protective clothing, rags, old tools and equipment, pieces of dismantled buildings, chemical residues, and scrap materials. The total activity of the waste expected to be disposed at the WIPP is estimated to be approximately 7 million curies, including 12,900 kilograms of plutonium distributed throughout the waste in very dilute form. The WIPP is located near the community of Carlsbad, in southeastern New Mexico. The geological setting is a 600-meter thick, 250 million-year-old saltbed, the Salado Formation, lying 660 meters below the surface. The National Research Council (NRC) has been providing the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) scientific and technical evaluations of the WIPP since 1978. The committee's task is twofold: (1) to identify technical issues that can be addressed to enhance confidence in the safe and long-term performance of the repository and (2) to identify opportunities for improving the National Transuranic (TRU) Program for waste management, especially with regard to the safety of workers and the public. This is the first full NRC report issued following the certification of the facility by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on May 18, 1998. An interim report was issued by the committee in April 2000 and is reproduced in this report. The main findings and recommendations from the interim report have been incorporated into the body of this report. The overarching finding and recommendation of this report is that the activity that would best enhance confidence in the safe and long-term performance of the repository is to monitor critical performance parameters during the long pre-closure phase of repository operations (35 to possibly 100 years). Indeed, in the first 50 to 100 years the rates of important processes such as salt creep, brine inflow (if any), and microbial activity are predicted to be the highest and will be less significant later. The committee recommends that the results of the on-site monitoring program be used to improve the performance assessment for recertification purposes. These results will determine whether the need for a new performance assessment is warranted. For the National TRU Program, the committee finds that the DOE is implementing many of the recommendations of its interim report. It is important that the DOE continue its efforts to improve the packaging, characterization, and transportation of the transuranic waste.

Contents:

""Improving Operations AND Long-Term Safety OF THE Waste Isolation Pilot Plant""; ""Copyright""; ""Acknowledgements""; ""List of Reviewers""; ""Preface""; ""Contents""; ""Executive Summary""; ""SITE PERFORMANCE""; ""SITE CHARACTERIZATION""; ""THE NATIONAL TRU PROGRAM""; ""Waste Characterization and Packaging""; ""Waste Transportation""; ""1 Introduction""; ""SITE PERFORMANCE AND CHARACTERIZATION""; ""THE NATIONAL TRANSURANIC PROGRAM""; ""2 Repository Performance Confirmation""; ""REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS FOR MONITORING""; ""SITE PERFORMANCE ISSUES""

""Brine Migration and Moisture Access to the Repository""""Gas Generation in the Repository""; ""Magnesium Oxide Backfill""; ""Salt Healing and Disturbed Rock Zone Integrity""; ""SITE CHARACTERIZATION ISSUES""; ""Geohydrological Characterization of the Rustler Formation""; ""Oil, Gas, and Mineral Production""; ""Drilling Activities""; ""Mining Activities""; ""Baseline Radiogenic Analysis of Subsurface Fluids""; ""3 National Transuranic Waste Management Program""; ""WASTE CHARACTERIZATION AND PACKAGING""; ""Waste Characterization and Packaging Requirements""

""Total Inventory of Organic Material in the Repository""""WASTE TRANSPORTATION""; ""DOE's Communication and Notification Program""; ""DOE's Emergency Response Program""; ""Rail as a Transportation Option for Certain TRU Waste""; ""Gas Generation Safety Analysis for TRUPACT-II Containers""; ""4 Summary""; ""OVERARCHING FINDING""; ""OVERARCHING RECOMMENDATION""; ""References""; ""APPENDIXES""; ""Appendix A1 Interim Report""; ""IMPROVING OPERATIONS AND LONG-TERM SAFETY OF THE WASTE ISOLATION PILOT PLANT""; ""Copyright""; ""Committee on the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant""

""Board on Radioactive Waste Management Liaison""""Staff""; ""Board on Radioactive Waste Management""; ""Staff""; ""Commission on Geosciences, Environment, and Resources""; ""Staff""; ""Acknowledgments""; ""Preface""; ""Contents""; ""Summary""; ""Research to Enhance Confidence in Long-Term Repository Performance""; ""Improvements to the National TRU Program""; ""Waste Characterization and Packaging Requirements""; ""Gas Generation""; ""Transportation Communication and Notification""; ""Transportation Emergency Response""; ""Introduction""; ""Baseline Radiogenic Analysis of Subsurface Fluids""

""Transuranic Waste Management Program""""Waste Characterization and Packaging Requirements""; ""Gas Generation""; ""Transportation""; ""DOE's Communication and Notification Program""; ""DOE's Emergency Response Program""; ""Committee Perspective on National TRU Program Requirements""; ""References""; ""Appendix A Background Information""; ""Assessment of Long-Term Performance""; ""DOE Management of TRU Waste""; ""Waste Characterization Activities""; ""Truck Transportation to WIPP""; ""Appendix B Joint USNRC and EPA Guidance on Mixed Waste""

""Appendix C Biographical Sketches of Committee Members""

Notes:

"Support for this study was provided by the U.S. Department of Energy under cooperative agreement numbers DE-FC01-94EW54069 and DE-FC01-99EW59049"--T.p. verso.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 139-142).

ISBN:

0-309-18313-8

1-280-18480-9

9786610184804

0-309-57014-X

OCLC:

923269693