In August, the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science and Technology convened an independent peer review panel to assess OST's progress in developing integrated thermal treatment systems, or ITTS, and integrated nonthermal treatment systems, or INTS. The panel compared the two treatment systems for their capability to effectively and efficiently treat mixed low-level radioactive waste, or MLLW. The panel had the opportunity to hear comments from the ITTS/INTS Technical Support Group, the Tribal and Stakeholders Working Group, and an internal DOE users' panel. The panelists also evaluated OST-published reports on the two treatment systems. As a result of the peer review, the panel did the following.

• Recommended a comprehensive risk assessment of storing MLLW until treatment technologies are developed.
• Recommended DOE implement a thermal treatment system, finding it a safe and effective way to treat MLLW. They were unable to identify emerging technologies that would outperform ITTS without unacceptable delays (approximately 10 years).
• Concluded that the recent INTS study offered a detailed systems engineering analysis of alternative technologies.
• Supported future research on both thermal and nonthermal treatment technologies.
• Identified one advantage of INTS: It can batch-process waste material in a closed-loop configuration. However, the panel identified substantial technical and regulatory hurdles facing INTS.
• Found potentially critical flaws with nonthermal technologies. INTS might produce more products of incomplete reaction than higher temperature reactions would, raising disposal issues. Therefore, they advised vitrification of both INTS and ITTS products.
• Recommended further modification of acid digestion and grouting, two methods of preparing waste products for disposal.
• Identified two crosscutting technologies worthy of future attention because of their applicability to both INTS and ITTS: batch processing of gaseous effluents and characterization of the products of incomplete reaction.
• Supported, with some suggested revisions, the research and development studies proposed in the ITTS/INTS Comparison Report.