Remote-handled transuranic solid waste characterization study: Oak Ridge National Laboratory

At Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) several facilities generate TRU waste. Since 1970, this waste has been stored in a retrievable manner on the Oak Ridge Reservation. However, the DOE master plan for TRU waste establishes a goal of ending interim storage and achieving permanent disposal of DOE TRU waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), a geologic repository for TRU waste located about 2000 ft underground in a salt formation near Carlsbad, New Mexico. ORNL's remote-handled (RH) TRU waste (waste with surface dose rates (of its container) greater then 200 mrem/h) will require processing before receiving certification for shipment to WIPP. The objective of this solid waste characterization task is to accurately characterize RH TRU and SC TRU solid waste currently stored at ORNL to assist in planning the facility design for WHPP. Execution of the solid waste characterization task objective will satisfy the following two goals. 8 refs., 11 figs., 8 tabs.