National Academies: Disposing of surplus plutonium at WIPP viableRadwaste SolutionsWaste ManagementMay 4, 2020, 8:53AM|Radwaste Solutions StaffThe National Nuclear Security Administration’s early-stage plan to dilute and dispose of 34 metric tons of surplus plutonium in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is technically viable, according to an April 30 release from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.Background: In 2014, the Department of Energy produced early-stage plans to disposition diluted surplus plutonium transuranic (DSP-TRU) waste by diluting it at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, then transporting it to WIPP in New Mexico for disposal. This “dilute-and-dispose” plan carries an estimated cost of $18.2 billion over more than 30 years.A National Academies report, "Review of the Department of Energy’s Plans for Disposal of Surplus Plutonium in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant" (review report), finds that nearly all of the plan’s individual processes and steps have been demonstrated successfully in the past by the DOE. The plan utilizes shared equipment and resources from other DOE efforts, employs well-established transportation programs, and references previous successful emplacements of similar waste in WIPP.Environmental impacts: According to the National Academies, disposing of DSP-TRU waste at WIPP would fundamentally change the nature of the geologic repository, which raises social, environmental, and technical questions. If unanswered, these questions translate to vulnerabilities that would need to be resolved for the plan to be viable. The review report recommends that the DOE implement a new programmatic environmental impact statement to consider the full environmental effect of National Nuclear Security Administration’s plan on WIPP. It also recommends that the Environmental Protection Agency, the DOE, and New Mexico develop a mutual strategy for vetting the effects of the plan, in addition to reinstating the Environmental Evaluation Group, an independent technical group overseeing the protection of public health and the environment on behalf of New Mexico and its citizens.Security plans: Still under development. The review report says that periodic reviews of the plan’s security arrangements by a team of independent technical experts should be required until its classified aspects are completed and implemented, adding that DSP-TRU waste is not like other transuranic nuclear waste streams at WIPP, and standard operating procedures may not be adequate for securing the waste. “With sufficient mining expertise (which is becoming more common) and resources, non-state or third-state actors could retrieve emplaced DSP-TRU waste during the post-closure period with its absence left undetected,” the review report states. The review report also recommends that the DOE periodically update its security assessments, given the long duration of the program.Program execution challenges: While none threaten the plan’s technical viability, execution challenges to the dilute-and-dispose approach could be addressed through improved project plans and consistent funding from Congress. Challenges include scaling up current operations to a system that can generate, transport, and dispose of DSP-TRU waste on schedule, or maintaining infrastructure and a workforce that can last the 30-year span of the project. These could lead to extended timelines and increased costs, the National Academies said. The review report notes that the NNSA’s plan also spans multiple DOE sites, offices, and functions without clear crosscutting leadership.International agreements: The review report recommends that the DOE clarify its intent for International Atomic Energy Agency monitoring and inspections prior to the placement of waste at WIPP. Under the Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PMDA) between the United States and Russia, the surplus plutonium was to be converted to mixed oxide nuclear fuel. The DOE’s dilute-and-dispose approach, however, is not recognized by PMDA, which also requires international monitoring and verification. Yet the DOE’s plans allow for monitoring and verification to remain under development.WIPP capacity: Emplacing the full amount of DSP-TRU waste in WIPP will test its physical and statutory capacity, according to the National Academies. WIPP is the nation’s only operational deep geologic repository for nuclear waste, and the review report says that capacity at WIPP should be treated as a valuable and limited resource by the DOE. The National Academies recommends that the NNSA administrator, in consultation with the DOE assistant secretary for environmental management, reserve capacity in WIPP for the full amount of DSP-TRU waste.The full review report, released on April 30, can be found on the National Academies Press website.Tags:dilute and disposediluted surplus plutonium transuranic wastedoedsp-tru wastennsasecuritywaste managementwippShare:LinkedInTwitterFacebook
More from UWC 2020: Round 2This year’s Utility Working Conference had a dynamic opening plenary and a packed roster of informative sessions. Following are recaps of some of the 2:00 p.m. (EDT) sessions that took place.Don't miss Newswire's coverage of the opening plenary and the sessions at 12:00 pm.Go to Article
Webinar on Oak Ridge National LaboratoryANS and the Young Members Group are offering the next installment of the “Spotlight on the National Labs” webinar series, featuring Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The webinar takes place on August 12, starting at 1:30 p.m. (EDT).Registration for the webinar is required.Go to Article
DOE to ship Savannah River waste to Texas under new HLW interpretationThe Department of Energy’s demonstration case of how it applies its interpretation of high-level radioactive waste is set to go forward, as the department issued an environmental assessment (EA) report, 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 (FONSI) for the disposal of the waste at an off-site facility.Based on the final EA, the DOE intends to ship up to 8 gallons of recycle wastewater from the Savannah River Site’s Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) to the Waste Control Specialists disposal facility in Andrews County, Texas, starting within the next 12 months. Under the final EA, up to 10,000 gallons DWPF recycle wastewater may be disposed of at a licensed facility outside of South Carolina.Go to Article
U.K.’s RWM launches geological disposal research officeRWM’s new research office will study geological disposal of nuclear waste in the U.K.Radioactive Waste Management (RWM), the U.K. government organization tasked with planning for a geological disposal facility (GDF) for radioactive waste in the United Kingdom, announced on August 4 that, in partnership with the University of Manchester and the University of Sheffield, it has established the Research Support Office (RSO) to “harness the U.K.’s vast array of research capabilities in geo-disposal science and technology.”The new office is to provide RWM with independent research to help guide the organization in designing and building a U.K. deep geological facility for the permanent disposal of high- and intermediate-level waste.Go to Article
Two cross-lab teams get funding for computing innovationsOn August 4, the Department of Energy announced it will provide $57.5 million over five years to establish two multidisciplinary teams to take advantage of DOE supercomputing facilities at Argonne National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The goal is to spur advances in the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Funds of $11.5 million have been made available for Fiscal Year 2020, with future funding contingent on congressional appropriations.On August 4, the Department of Energy announced it will provide $57.5 million over five years to establish two multidisciplinary teams to take advantage of DOE supercomputing facilities at Argonne National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The goal is to spur advances in the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Funds of $11.5 million have been made available for Fiscal Year 2020, with future funding contingent on congressional appropriations.Go to Article
ARPA-E Energy Briefs highlight innovations and programsThe Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) is at work developing and demonstrating novel energy technologies and connecting those technologies with private-sector investors. The researchers and innovators behind ARPA-E want to tell you all about it in a series of “Energy Briefs” available through the agency’s YouTube channel.Go to Article
The art of the 10,000-year warningHow to warn future generations to the location of buried long-lived radioactive waste has been debated for decades. Everything from massive obelisks inscribed with ominous warnings and fields of concrete “thorns,” to “atomic priesthoods” and cats that change color when exposed to ionizing radiation—all are real ideas that have been proposed. Others argue, rather convincingly, whether any such warning is needed at all. The multifaceted issue of nuclear semiotics is the subject of a recent article in the web magazine BBC Future. Go to Article
The race for outage efficiencyWorking in INL’s Human Systems Simulation Laboratory, senior R&D scientist Ahmed Al Rashdan co-developed the Advanced Remote Monitoring project for the LWRS Program.There are numerous similarities between auto racing pit crews and the people in the nuclear power industry who get us through outages: Pace. Efficiency. Diagnostics. Teamwork. Skill. And safety above all else.To Paul Hunton, a research scientist at Idaho National Laboratory, the keys to successfully navigating a nuclear plant outage are planning and preparation. “When you go into an outage, you are ready,” Hunton said. “You need to manage outage time. You want to avoid adding delays to the scheduled outage work because if you do, it can add a couple million dollars to the cost.”Hunton was the principal investigator for the September 2019 report Addressing Nuclear Instrumentation and Control (I&C) Modernization Through Application of Techniques Employed in Other Industries, produced for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program, led by INL. Hunton drew on his experience outside the nuclear industry, including a decade at Newport News Shipbuilding.Go to Article
The National Atomic Testing Museum presents Distinguished Lecture Series webinarBrent Park, NNSA deputy administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation. Photo: NNSAThe National Atomic Testing Museum is hosting a free webinar on July 30 at 9 p.m. (EDT) featuring Brent Park, the National Nuclear Security Administration's deputy administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation. Registration is required.The webinar is part of the museum’s Distinguished Lecture Series.Park, a nuclear physicist with 30 years of experience at Department of Energy national laboratories, currently leads the NNSA's efforts to prevent nuclear weapons proliferation and reduce the threat of nuclear and radiological terrorism around the world.Go to Article
Demolition under way on last remaining building at ETTP in Oak RidgeDemolition begins on Building K-1600 at ETTP. The 42,000-square-foot structure was formerly used as a test and demonstration facility for uranium enrichment centrifuges. Graphics: OREMDemolition has begun on Building K-1600 at the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP), in Oak Ridge, Tenn., the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) reported on July 28. The work is being done by OREM and its contractor UCOR.Go to Article
