Review of the analysis of supplemental treatment approaches of low-activity waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation : review #1

Author / Creator

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (U.S.). Committee on Supplemental Treatment of Low-Activity Waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation

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Summary

DOE's current plan for treating the nearly 56 million gallons of radioactive and heterogeneous waste in 177 large tanks is to separate it into two waste streams: a high-level waste (HLW) stream tha...

DOE's current plan for treating the nearly 56 million gallons of radioactive and heterogeneous waste in 177 large tanks is to separate it into two waste streams: a high-level waste (HLW) stream that will have less than 10 percent of the volume but more than 90 percent of the radioactivity and a low-activity waste (LAW) stream that will have more than 90 percent of the volume but less than 10 percent of the radioactivity. Once the under-construction Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) becomes operational, it will vitrify the HLW stream and at least one-third to perhaps one-half of the LAW stream. The excess LAW that still needs to be treated is called supplemental low-activity waste (SLAW). DOE, the Washington State Department of Ecology, and the Environmental Protection Agency--the three parties under the legally binding 1989 Tri-Party Agreement--have yet to agree on the SLAW treatment method.--Preface.

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