Evaluation of Low Activity Waste Feed Supplemental Treatment Options by the C3T Mission Acceleration Initiative Team for DOE-ORP

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of River Protection (ORP), is responsible for the remediation of the Hanford Site tank farms, including the 53 million gallons of highly radioactive mixed waste contained in 149 single-shell tanks (SST) and 28 double-shell tanks (DST). ORP manages the River Protection Project (RPP). Under the RPP, wastes retrieved from the tanks will be partitioned to separate the highly radioactive constituents from the very large volumes of chemical wastes that exist in the tanks. The volume of waste is the result of chemicals used in various Hanford Site processes, chemicals that were added to the tanks to reduce tank corrosion, and chemicals used in reprocessing and extraction of cesium and strontium. The highly radioactive constituents are to be vitrified, stored onsite, and ultimately disposed of as high-level waste (HLW) in the offsite national repository. The less radioactive chemical waste, referred to as low-activity waste (LAW), also would be vitrified and then disposed of onsite in trenches that comply with the Resource Conservation Act of 1976 (RCRA) and in compliance with DOE O 435.1, Radioactive Waste Management.