DOE/ORO/2327 Oak Ridge Reservation Annual Site Environmental ...

Annual Site Environmental Report
contaminated with radioactivity, and chemical waste that also contains radioactivity (known as mixed
waste). The majority of ORNL’s newly generated radioactive waste meets the definition of low-level
radioactive waste, but ORNL does generate a small quantity of waste classified as TRU waste. Most of
ORNL’s newly generated radioactive waste contains very small quantities of radioactivity, and can be
handled without special-handling protocols (this waste is known as contact-handled [CH] waste).
However, some wastes generated in the ORNL’s nuclear facilities contain enough radioactivity to require
special-handling procedures such as transport in special casks that provide shielding of the radioactivity
(this waste is known as remote-handled [RH] waste). Less than 5% of the ORNL’s newly generated
radioactive waste meets the criteria of being RH waste.
Beginning October 1, 2008, ORNL became fully responsible for disposition of almost all of its newly
generated waste. Prior to that date, waste management responsibilities at ORNL were a shared
responsibility between the DOE Office of Science (and its prime contractor, UT-Battelle) and DOE-EM
(and its prime contractor, BJC). DOE initiated the transfer of most waste management responsibilities
back to ORNL on October 1, 2008, to give waste generators across ORNL incentive to find new ways of
doing business to eliminate and/or reduce waste generation. When the waste generating organization is
fully responsible for managing the waste it generates, it can also experience the full benefit in making
investments in new technology and equipment to eliminate the generation of waste streams. Waste
management responsibility is currently shared only for those waste streams that are still both being
generated by DOE-SC and DOE-EM activities at ORNL (e.g., TRU waste, and certain liquid and gaseous
waste streams that can be treated by the on-site ORNL liquid and gaseous waste system operated by
DOE-EM and its contractors).
The transition of waste management responsibilities at ORNL that took effect the beginning of
FY 2009 went smoothly, and ORNL newly generated waste continues to be safely and effectively
dispositioned using a combination of commercial waste vendors and government-owned waste disposal
sites. ORNL maintains contracts with a variety of commercial waste vendors to provide for the required
transport, treatment, and safe disposal of hazardous, mixed, and some radioactive waste streams. The
other radioactive waste streams from ORNL are dispositioned at the National Nuclear Security
Administration’s (NNSA’s) Nevada Test Site, for which ORNL is an approved waste generator. Standard
industrial waste generated by ORNL is dispositioned in DOE’s ORR industrial waste landfills located
near Y-12. Finally, certain waste streams generated from environmental remediation projects at ORNL
may also be dispositioned in the Oak Ridge EMWMF located near Y-12, if approved by regulatory
agencies in accordance with the Oak Ridge Federal Facilities Agreement.
ORNL management of newly generated waste is fully regulated by a number of federal and state laws
and associated regulations. In Oak Ridge, most of these regulations are implemented by the State of
Tennessee, with TDEC overseeing waste management activities. ORNL waste management officials
routinely meet with TDEC DOE Oversight Division staff to brief them on the status of waste
management activities, and compliance audits of waste management activities are routinely performed by
TDEC. ORNL’s radioactive waste activities are performed under the authority of DOE’s Radioactive
Waste Management Order (DOE Order 435.1), with which ORNL fully complies. Radioactive waste
activities are routinely reviewed with DOE officials to ensure the requirements of the radioactive waste
order are being met.
5.10.3 TRU Waste Processing Center
TRU waste-processing activities carried out for DOE in 2009 by WAI address the three remaining
waste streams stored at ORNL—CH solids/debris, RH solids/debris, and RH sludge—and involve
processing, treatment, repackaging, and off-site transportation and disposal at either the Nevada Test Site
or the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico.
The TWPC was designed and constructed to treat and dispose 900 m 3 of RH sludge, 550 m 3
of RH-TRU/alpha LLW solids, 1,600 m 3 of RH LLW supernate, and 1,000 m 3 of CH TRU/alpha
LLW solids currently stored in Melton Valley. The forecast for waste quantities to be processed
at the TWPC has been updated to include the latest estimates: 2,000 m 3 of RH sludge, 700 m 3 of
Oak Ridge National Laboratory 5-87