Management of Commercially Generated Radioactive Waste - U.S. ...

4.10
TABLE 4.2.1. Classification of Primary Wastes from the Post-Fission LWR Fuel Cycle
Waste Category General Description
Spent fuel Irradiated PWR and BWR fuel assemblies containing fission products
and actinides in ceramic U0 2 pellets sealed in Zircaloy
tubes. Intense radioactivity.
High-level liquid waste Contains about 0.5% of the U and Pu in the spent fuel and over
99% of the fission products and other actinides. Intense radioactivity.
Fuel residue Includes short segments of Zircaloy tubing (hulls) remaining
after U0 2 is dissolved and stainless steel assembly hardware.
Gaseous Predominately two types: 1) large volumes of ventilation air,
potentially containing particulate activity, and 2) smaller volumes
of vessel vent and process off-gas, potentially containing
volatile radioisotopes in addition to particulate activity.
Compactable and corn- Miscellaneous wastes including paper, cloth, plastic, rubber,
bustible wastes and filters. Wide range of radiation levels dependent on source
of waste.
Concentrated liquids, Miscellaneous wastes including evaporator bottoms, filter
wet wastes, and parti- sludges, resins, etc. Wide range of radioactivity levels depenculate
solids, dent on source of waste.
Failed equipment and Miscellaneous metal or glass wastes including massive process
noncombustible wastes vessels. Wide range of radioactivity levels dependent on source
of waste.
considered more hazardous than non-TRU wastes. Present regulations governing disposal of
TRU wastes are more stringent than those governing disposal of non-TRU wastes. Non-TRU
wastes are eligible for disposal by surface burial and, except for gaseous and airborne
wastes, some of which contain non-TRU radionuclides of special concern (1291, 85Kr and 14C),
management of these wastes is outside the scope of this Statement. However, data on the
characteristics of untreated post-fission non-TRU wastes are included in DOE/ET-0028 (Sec-
tion 3.3) along with those of the TRU wastes.
In current practice, a TRU waste is considered to be one that contains more than
10 nanocuries of transuranic alpha activity per gram of waste. However, spent fuel as waste
and high-level waste that results from processing spent fuel, which contain high levels of
transuranic activity, are considered as a separate high-level waste category. Raising the
dividing line between TRU and non-TRU wastes from 10 nCi/g to 100 nCi/g has been proposed
by EPA. Because these low concentrations are often difficult to measure in wastes, we
assume in this Statement that all wastes from locations that might cause contamination
levels above 10 nCi/g of waste are considered to be TRU-suspect and are combined with known
TRU wastes for treatment.
In order to relate waste quantities to electric energy generation and to facilitate
comparisons between alternative nuclear fuel cycles, the waste volumes and activities in
this section are given per GWe-yr. One GWe-yr (or 8.8 x 109 kWh) is equivalent to the
annual output of one of the largest nuclear power plants operating today (a 1250 MWe plant
operating for one year at 80% capacity produces 1 GWe-yr of electricity). One GWe-yr also