Radionuclide correlations at TMI-2 for 10 CFR 61 compliance

A detailed review and evaluation of all radionuclide analysis results from the TMl-2 waste has helped develop scaling factors for difficult to measure radionuclides. Analytic procedures and results from this research are applicable to waste classification for other sites involving higher-than-normal fuel leakage. Individual utilities and industry organizations, including EPRI, are developing waste classification programs to comply with NRC regulation 10 CFR 61, implemented in December 1983. Much of this effort has focused on the use of scaling factors to correlate the presence of difficult-to-measure radionuclides (Tc-99, C-14, Ni-63, I-129, and transuranics) with nuclides more readily measured in power reactor waste streams (such as Co-60 and Cs-137). Researchers have invariably concluded that the quantifiable results are insufficient to establish defensible scaling factors for some radionuclides, such as I-129 and Tc-99. The TMI-2 cleanup operations have yielded more data, with more observable radionuclide, than previous waste classification efforts. The additional data on 10 CFR 61 radionuclide correlations provided through characterizations of the TMI-2 waste may prove beneficial to a broad sector of the industry. 22 figs., 9 tabs.