on the TRU and Mixed Waste Focus Area

Transuranic and mixed waste are reflected in renamed focus area
The Mixed Waste Focus Area is now known as the Transuranic (TRU) and Mixed Waste Focus Area (TMFA) to reflect a growing emphasis among DOE sites on readying their TRU waste for shipment to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant—DOE’s TRU waste repository near Carlsbad, New Mexico. While the focus area’s mission continues to be to define technical and engineering solutions for DOE TRU and/or mixed waste problems, the TMFA program will focus more intensely on developing work packages of particular interest to the TRU community. As always, the focus area will seek strong participation from its end users, of which the TRU community is an important part. TMFA has named two field lead comanagers: Bill Owca at the Idaho Operations Office remains at the helm and is joined by Roger Nelson from the Carlsbad Field Office.

DOE incinerations out?
Incineration may be phased out as a viable treatment option for DOE mixed waste. Pressure on incinerators has come from public interest groups concerned about the risk of toxins’ being released into the environment and from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which has promulgated stricter treatment and monitoring requirements for air emissions. The Office of Inspector General has also weighed in with evidence that DOE’s incinerators are inefficient and costly due to their use at much less than full capacity.

The elimination of incineration as a treatment option would orphan tons of existing and projected organic-based mixed wastes that have traditionally been incinerated and leave sites scrambling for alternative treatments. In November 2000, DOE’s Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) moved in this direction by closing the Waste Experimental Reduction Facility incinerator. To avoid disrupting sites’ major cleanup goals, TMFA is devising a strategy for accelerating the development and deployment of alternative, low-emission technologies.

In spring 2000, Energy Secretary Bill Richardson established a blue-ribbon panel to investigate alternatives to incineration as part of an out-of-court settlement with public interest groups who filed a lawsuit to stop DOE’s plan to build a mixed-waste incinerator at INEEL (http://environment.inel.gov/wm/jackson_settlement.htm). While the panel’s conclusions weren’t available when this publication went to press, DOE foresees the need to accelerate and expand the development of alternatives to incineration as soon as possible.

OST has experience in fostering the development of alternatives to incineration. For more than five years, OST has sponsored R&D projects to meet site needs for destruction of mixed waste containing transuranics, mercury, or explosives—classes of mixed waste that aren’t amenable to incineration. TMFA leads OST’s alternatives development team, charged with providing fully integrated nonflame treatment systems (either thermal or nonthermal) for destruction of organic matter in mixed and transuranic wastes. Other members of the development team are the Western Environmental Technology Office in Butte, Montana; the Diagnostic Instrumentation and Analysis Laboratory at Mississippi State University; Florida International University; and the crosscutting organizations: Robotics; Efficient Separations and Processing; and Characterization, Monitoring, and Sensor Technology.

Research and development activities over the next two years are crucial to the successful development of alternatives to incineration. These R&D efforts range from basic science research to full-scale integrated demonstrations and deployments. The team plans to gather performance data on alternative technologies in four categories of maturity:

• near ready-to-start operation at a commercial site,
  
• ready for scale-up to treat real wastes at a commercial or DOE site,
  
• inadequate performance data to assess suitability as an alternative, and
  
• promising treatment concept.

Three general categories of emerging alternative incineration technologies will be investigated: thermal, aqueous-based chemical oxidation, and separations. Side-by-side comparisons are planned to evaluate performance of different technology categories and also to evaluate performance within categories. Comparisons will be made on the bases of feed rate, residence time, pre- and post-treatment requirements, and robustness. Along with its technical approach, the team plans to work with the National Technical Workgroup on Incineration and citizen advisory boards throughout the DOE complex to build public and regulatory acceptance of the emerging technologies. OST also intends to coordinate this initiative with similar efforts, such as the Department of Defense's development of alternative chemical disposal technologies.

Helping HANDSS-55 at Savannah River Site
Since FY98, TMFA and its partners have been developing a modular, remotely operated system to repackage 10,000 drums of TRU and TRU mixed waste at DOE’s Savannah River Site (SRS) and prepare it for transport to WIPP. Development of the Handling and Segregating System for 55-Gallon Drums (HANDSS-55) is aimed toward a hot deployment at SRS in FY03. HANDSS-55 (Tech ID 2336 and 2337) modules are being designed to open drums and liners, remove noncompliant items, and repackage waste into WIPP-approved containers. Since each module is designed for operating individually or in integration with the other modules, this waste repackaging system will help satisfy the unique and varying needs of each waste generator, resulting in significant life-cycle cost savings. The biggest advantage of this remotely operated system is that personnel are removed from the hazardous environment.

HANDSS-55 has five modules:

• Automated Drum and Liner Opener opens a 55-gallon drum and the rigid polyethylene liner that contains waste. This module was demonstrated in spring 1999.
• Waste Sorting Station will enable visual identification and removal of items that do not comply with WIPP-acceptance criteria. The remaining compliant waste is then repackaged into WIPP-approved containers. A demonstration is scheduled for spring 2001.
• Process Waste Reduction Module uses a mechanical shredder to reduce the volume of the old drum and liners into small shards. The shards, along with the waste, are repackaged into WIPP-compatible containers. This module will be fabricated in spring 2001.
• TRU Waste Repackaging Port uses a split-plug bagless transfer system to repackage WIPP-compliant waste into a polyethylene canister. A sphincter seal and hollow plug provide contamination control. A demonstration is planned for spring 2001.
• System Integration and Control Station will integrate the HANDSS-55 modules to operate as one unified system. Its functions will include collision avoidance, task prioritization, mobilization of the equipment, and overall system control. A cold demonstration is planned for summer 2002.

A team effort
TMFA, the Robotics Crosscutting Program, and the Savannah River Site are cofunding the development of HANDSS-55. Development duties are shared among members of a multisite team from INEEL, the Savannah River Technology Center, and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in collaboration with private industry and academia.

Helping sites close by filling the pipeline to WIPP
In addition to its support of the HANDSS-55 development, TMFA is finding other ways to help sites safely and cost-effectively prepare their TRU waste for WIPP—a necessary step before sites can close and DOE can return properties to the public.

The Matrix Depletion Program—Continuous alpha-particle irradiation significantly depletes or exhausts the radioactive waste matrix and, as a consequence, reduces the amount of hydrogen gas that can be generated. The Matrix Depletion Program has investigated this phenomenon and established a more realistic set of hydrogen “G” values—a measurement of the number of molecules of hydrogen formed per 100 electron volts of emitted ionizing radiation. The program’s efforts have resulted in a revision of the current TRUPACT-II wattage limits, which the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is currently reviewing (Application for Revision 19 of the TRUPACT-II Safety and Analysis Report for Packaging). Approval by NRC will allow DOE’s 23 TRU storage sites to increase the amount of TRU waste that can be shipped to WIPP in a TRUPACT-II. Approval is expected in early 2001.

Waste Inspection Tomography—WIT is a trailer for the nondestructive evaluation and assay of waste drums based on radiographic, tomographic, and spectroscopic principles. (Two methods for characterization are contained in one mobile unit.) WIT safely and cost-effectively identifies contents, provides two- and three-dimensional information about contents, locates isotope emissions, and identifies the emitting isotope species. Characterizing transuranic waste at small generator/storage sites using mobile waste characterization technology will result in cost savings by requiring fewer waste characterization facilities to be built. Small-quantity sites, particularly closure sites, will be able to meet their milestones. In addition, mobile waste characterization systems can also supplement characterization activities at the large generator/storage sites. The WIT nondestructive assay (NDA) was recently awarded an R&D 100 Award from R&D Magazine (see article). The award describes WIT NDA as a “technologically significant product” for 2000.

Waste Elimination Team to target unique wastes

TMFA is forming a Waste Elimination Team to break down barriers to treatment of unique wastes (small quantities of waste at each site): resistance of the commercial sector to deploying technologies for which it sees only a marginal market, difficulties in sharing information on successful methods of waste treatment, and high costs of treating and disposing of those wastes for which commercial treatment capability exists. The team will conduct treatment campaigns in an effort to more effectively deploy previously developed and demonstrated technologies for unique wastes.

An important component of the team will be waste management personnel from sites with unique wastes. These site representatives will guide the process by informing the team of unique waste problems at their sites that the team can help resolve. Site team members who are knowledgeable about their sites’ treatment milestones and budget for unique wastes will work with principal investigators and other members of the team to develop overall waste profiles and schedules for treatment and disposal. In addition to site representatives, the team will be composed of subject matter experts for the specific wastes to be addressed, principal investigators charged with dealing with a selected waste type, and TMFA technical and regulatory personnel. Vendors for deployed technologies will be consulted for schedule and waste acceptance criteria information.

TMFA held a kickoff meeting for the team to discuss projects scheduled for this year and solicit input for setting priorities for next year's projects. Projects for fiscal year 2001 include

• a treatment campaign to eliminate elemental mercury waste inventories throughout the DOE complex using the Broad Spectrum Liquids contract with Allied Technology Group,
• a treatment campaign to eliminate <260-ppm mercury sludge and soil using the Broad Spectrum Materials and Energy Corporation (M&EC) contracts,
• a national initiative to treat gas cylinders,
• a national initiative to stabilize uranium chips,
• cooperative activity for multiple deployments of macroencapsulation technologies, and
• a treatment campaign to stabilize organic liquids, including those with RCRA metals.

While funding is in place for the above projects, sites representatives are being sought to work directly with principal investigators on projects for which their sites have an interest. Site representatives will also be obligated to participate in occasional full-team conference calls to select deployment projects for the next fiscal year. Budgets for the next few years are planned to be approximately $1.5 million for these deployment efforts. Among the problems the Waste Elimination Team may tackle in the future are waste with classified configurations, oversized boxes of TRU waste, batteries, lead with TRU contamination, and sealed sources.

In FY01, the TMFA Unique Waste Work Package will also support other activities aimed at problems that are less universal:

• treatment of confidentially configured circuit boards using Clean Technologies' molten aluminum process at Sandia National Laboratories and
• biodegradation of high-pressure liquid chromatography wastes at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

If other sites have similar problems, TMFA will try to coordinate treatment of surrogate wastes as part of these activities. The molten aluminum process appears to be well suited to the needs of several sites.

For more information on the Waste Elimination Team or how your site can participate, contact Greg Hulet at (208) 526-0283, hag@inel.gov.

On the regulatory front

Size doesn't necessarily define impact. TMFA’s regulatory program may be one of the smallest programs at INEEL, but it’s making a big difference across the DOE complex and in the regulatory community. The program ensures that DOE’s mixed waste research and development activities are in compliance with not only current environmental regulations, but future regulations as well.

“We knew that some combustible mixed wastes are not easily incinerated,” said Eaton. “Mercury-containing wastes, for example, are common across the DOE complex. We realized we needed to develop alternatives to incineration and began working on developing new technologies more than five years ago.”

A close working relationship and a strong partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been vital to this effort. EPA has experience working with hazardous wastes, and TMFA’s regulatory program assisted them in understanding the unique aspects of radioactive wastes. Recently, DOE’s Office of Science and Technology and EPA’s Office of Solid Waste signed a Memorandum of Understanding to improve cooperation in the research and development of technical solutions for mixed waste treatment. Three projects have been initiated.

• The first project will study the effectiveness of particulate matter continuous emissions monitors to determine how they might be used to monitor the performance of HEPA-filtered systems and detect HEPA filter failure.
• Another project will help determine the kinds of data required to help regulators issue a permit for new or innovative treatment technologies. EPA has not yet developed a standardized approach for demonstrating the effectiveness and failure modes for these new technologies.
• A third project involves mercury pollution in DOE wastes. Mercury is very toxic, and isolating it from man and his immediate environment presents special challenges. EPA is interested in DOE's help in filling technical data gaps, which will help EPA implement its new rules.

The regulatory program also conducts national workshops and symposiums on new regulations and upcoming regulatory changes with other DOE sites. Sharing information with other sites has had beneficial results. For example, the Hanford, Sandia, and Fernald sites have recently learned that new rules for handling PCB-contaminated waste actually give them more options and opportunities than originally thought.

The complex nature of many of DOE’s mixed wastes makes the job of TMFA’s regulatory program intricate and challenging. In the future, regulations will keep changing and are expected to get tougher in response to public demand. “Permitting and regulations will become much more case-specific and complex, being driven primarily by site-specific risk assessments,” said Eaton. “We will never get to zero risk, but the public and the regulators will continue to drive us ever closer to the mark.”

For more information or assistance with mixed waste regulatory issues, contact Dave Eaton at (208) 526-7002, dle@inel.gov, or Peggy Knecht at (208) 526-8094, mak@inel.gov. For more information about TMFA, see http://wastenot.inel.gov/mwfa.