HIGH-LEVEL WASTE
DOE takes new steps in applying high-level waste interpretation
ECA Staff | 8/6/2020
The Department of Energy (DOE) is taking yet another step forward in applying its high-level radioactive waste (HLW) interpretation, issuing a Final Environmental Assessment for the Commercial Disposal of Defense Waste Processing Facility Recycle Wastewater from the Savannah River Site (Final EA) and a Finding of No Significant Impact for the Commercial Disposal of
Defense Waste Processing Facility Wastewater from the Savannah River Site (FONSI).
The announcement supports DOE’s conclusion that based on radiological content – rather than the origin of the waste – recycle wastewater from the Savannah River Site (SRS) Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) meets the criteria for disposal as low-level radioactive waste (LLW) outside the state of South Carolina at a facility licensed either by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) or an Agreement State under 10 CFR Part 61.
The Proposed Action and alternatives evaluated in the Final EA considered disposal of up to 10,000 gallons of stabilized (grouted) DWPF recycle wastewater from the H-Tank Farm at SRS. Three Action alternatives and a No Action alternative were considered and five resource areas in detail: (1) air quality, (2) human health (normal operations), (3) human health (accidents and intentional destructive acts), (4) waste management, and (5) transportation. All analyses demonstrated minimal
risk to human health or to the quality of the environment
According to DOE’s Press Release, “Within the next 12 months, DOE intends to ship a small quantity [of up to 8 gallons] of SRS DWPF recycle wastewater to Waste Control Specialists, LLC, in Texas for treatment and disposal as Class B LLW. This facility has safely and routinely received material from around the country for years. This small quantity of DWPF wastewater is an achievable quantity to stabilize, ship and dispose of within a year, and will show first-hand the beneficial
application of DOE’s High-Level Waste interpretation. The Department has determined that disposal of this low-level waste at WCS meets the facility’s waste acceptance criteria and is fully protective of public health, safety and the environment.”
The Final EA and the FONSI can be found on DOE’s Office of Environmental Management’s webpage on the High-Level Radioactive Waste Interpretation here.
ECA has been and continues to support DOE efforts to consider safe, risk-based alternative disposal paths for waste based on actual radiological characteristics and risk to human health arising from the waste, rather than artificial former policy standards that base waste classification on origin.
ECA expects that the HLW interpretation, if implemented, could ultimately:
- Reduce years of DOE operations and risks to current host communities;
- Accelerate Hanford, Idaho, and Savannah River tank retrievals and closures – thus decreasing risk to the people in those communities;
- Decrease the number, size and duration of storage facilities pending availability of a permanent deep geologic HLW repository; and
- Save taxpayers an estimated $40 billion or more on DOE’s Office of Environmental Management program’s remaining lifecycle costs.
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Read about DOE's High Level Waste Interpretation
Have questions about DOE’s recent high-level waste (HLW) interpretation? Download ECA’s Key Points and FAQs on the issue to better understand what ECA believes are the potential benefits of implementation.
Interested in learning more? Read the ECA report “Making Informed Decisions on DOE's Proposed High Level Waste Definition” at www.energyca.org/publications
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