Download or read book Milestones for Disposal of Radioactive Waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant WIPP in the United States written by and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 41 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since its identification as a potential deep geologic repository in about 1973, the regulatory assessment process for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico has developed over the past 25 years. National policy issues, negotiated agreements, and court settlements over the first half of the project had a strong influence on the amount and type of scientific data collected. Assessments and studies before the mid 1980s were undertaken primarily (1) to satisfy needs for environmental impact statements, (2) to develop general understanding of selected natural phenomena associated with nuclear waste disposal, or (3) to satisfy negotiated agreements with the State of New Mexico. In the last third of the project, federal compliance policy and actual regulations were sketched out, but continued to evolve until 1996. During this eight-year period, four preliminary performance assessments, one compliance performance assessment, and one verification performance assessment were performed.
Download or read book Milestones for Disposal of Radioactive Waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant WIPP in the United States written by Robert P. Rechard and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Improving Operations and Long Term Safety of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2001-06-11 with total page 156 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is a deep underground mined facility for the disposal of transuranic waste resulting from the nation's defense program. Transuranic waste is defined as waste contaminated with transuranic radionuclides with half-life greater than 20 years and activity greater than 100 nanocuries per gram. The waste mainly consists of contaminated protective clothing, rags, old tools and equipment, pieces of dismantled buildings, chemical residues, and scrap materials. The total activity of the waste expected to be disposed at the WIPP is estimated to be approximately 7 million curies, including 12,900 kilograms of plutonium distributed throughout the waste in very dilute form. The WIPP is located near the community of Carlsbad, in southeastern New Mexico. The geological setting is a 600-meter thick, 250 million-year-old saltbed, the Salado Formation, lying 660 meters below the surface. The National Research Council (NRC) has been providing the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) scientific and technical evaluations of the WIPP since 1978. The committee's task is twofold: (1) to identify technical issues that can be addressed to enhance confidence in the safe and long-term performance of the repository and (2) to identify opportunities for improving the National Transuranic (TRU) Program for waste management, especially with regard to the safety of workers and the public. This is the first full NRC report issued following the certification of the facility by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on May 18, 1998. An interim report was issued by the committee in April 2000 and is reproduced in this report. The main findings and recommendations from the interim report have been incorporated into the body of this report. The overarching finding and recommendation of this report is that the activity that would best enhance confidence in the safe and long-term performance of the repository is to monitor critical performance parameters during the long pre-closure phase of repository operations (35 to possibly 100 years). Indeed, in the first 50 to 100 years the rates of important processes such as salt creep, brine inflow (if any), and microbial activity are predicted to be the highest and will be less significant later. The committee recommends that the results of the on-site monitoring program be used to improve the performance assessment for recertification purposes. These results will determine whether the need for a new performance assessment is warranted. For the National TRU Program, the committee finds that the DOE is implementing many of the recommendations of its interim report. It is important that the DOE continue its efforts to improve the packaging, characterization, and transportation of the transuranic waste.
Download or read book Improving Operations and Long Term Safety of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2000-05-20 with total page 57 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The National Research Council convened a committee of experts to advise the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on the operation of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), a geologic repository for disposal of defense transuranic (TRU) waste near Carlsbad, New Mexico. The committee was asked to provide recommendations on the following two issues: (1) a research agenda to enhance confidence in the long-term performance of WIPP; and (2) increasing the throughput, efficiency, and cost-benefit without compromising safety of the National TRU Program for characterizing, certifying, packaging, and shipping waste to WIPP. The committee has written this interim report to provide DOE with recommendations on several issues that the committee believes merit immediate consideration and action. In developing this report, the committee has been guided by the principle of "reasonableness" with respect to risks, costs, and the ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable) principle. In the committee's judgment, implementing the recommendations contained in this report will contribute to the continued safe operation of WIPP.
Download or read book The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1996-12-13 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume discusses the readiness of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) facility near Carlsbad, New Mexico, to serve as a geological repository for transuranic radioactive waste. WIPP is located in a Permian-age bedded salt deposit 658 meters below the surface. The committee has long reviewed DOE's readiness efforts, now aimed at demonstrating compliance with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations. Site characterization studies and performance assessment modeling are among the topics considered in this volume.
Download or read book Nuclear Waste Isolation Pilot Plant WIPP written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations and published by . This book was released on 1980 with total page 972 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Status of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Project written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Government Operations. Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources Subcommittee and published by . This book was released on 1988 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Certifying the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant written by and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 11 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In May 1998, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) certified the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) as being in compliance with applicable long-term regulations governing the permanent disposal of spent nuclear fuel, high-level, and transuranic radioactive wastes. The WIPP is the first deep geologic repository in the US to have successfully demonstrated regulatory compliance with long-term radioactive waste disposal requirements. The first disposal of TRU waste at WIPP occurred on March 26, 1999. Many of the lessons learned during the WIPP Project's transition from site characterization and experimental research to the preparation of a successful application may be of general interest to other repository programs. During a four-year period (1992 to 1996), the WIPP team [including the DOE Carlsbad Area Office (CAO), the science advisor to CAO, Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), and the management and operating contractor of the WIPP site, Westinghouse Electric Corporation (WID)] met its aggressive schedule for submitting the application without compromising the integrity of the scientific basis for the long-term safety of the repository. Strong leadership of the CAO-SNL-WID team was essential. Within SNL, a mature and robust performance assessment (PA) allowed prioritization of remaining scientific activities with respect to their impact on regulatory compliance. Early and frequent dialog with EPA staff expedited the review process after the application was submitted. Questions that faced SNL are familiar to geoscientists working in site evaluation projects. What data should be gathered during site characterization? How can we know when data are sufficient? How can we know when our understanding of the disposal system is sufficient to support our conceptual models? What constitutes adequate ''validation'' of conceptual models for processes that act over geologic time? How should we use peer review and expert judgment? Other lessons learned by SNL and the WIPP team are more specific to the regulatory context of the project and the demands imposed by pervasive review by the regulator and other external organizations. How should we document the relationship between site data and the parameter values used in computer models? How can we manage software configuration and use it to support the regulatory requirement that analyses be traceable and reproducible? Can we institute a quality assurance (QA) program that will meet the regulatory requirements and enhance the process without unreasonable budget and schedule impacts? How can we resolve technical disputes, both within the project and with external critics? How should we involve regulators and stakeholders in the compliance process? The WIPP teams answers to these questions, and others like them, were, in many cases, pragmatic solutions based on the needs of the pro-warn at the time. Some problems encountered and their solutions may be of limited interest. However, that it is possible to license a geologic repository in a regulatory proceeding while incorporating meaningful public review and criticism is a lesson of general interest to all radioactive waste management programs.
Download or read book Review of the Status of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Project written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Government Operations. Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources Subcommittee and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Exhibits 2 v written by United States. Department of Energy and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page 520 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Written documents 2 v written by United States. Department of Energy and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page 568 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Land Withdrawal written by United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page 642 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Guest Editorial written by and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 7 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The appropriate disposal of radioactive waste is a problem of great importance, wide-spread interest, and some controversy. As part of the solution to this problem the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is under development by the US Department of Energy (DOE) for the deep geologic disposal of transuranic (TRU) waste generated by defense programs in the United States. The DOE submitted a Compliance Certification Application (CCA)17 for the WIPP to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in October 1996, and a positive certification decision for the WIPP was issued by the EPA in May 1998. The first disposal of TRU waste in the WIPP took place in March 1999. The 1996 CCA for the WIPP was supported by an extensive performance assessment (PA) carried out by Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), with this PA often designated the 1996 WIPP PA, the 1996 CCA PA, or simply the 1996 PA. In turn, the 1996 PA was supported by site characterization activities, experimental programs, model development programs, data development programs, uncertainty and sensitivity analyses, a dedicated computational environment, a rigorous quality assurance (QA) program and a sequence of earlier PAs. Further, this PA was carried out in a regulatory environment defined by the following EPA regulations: Environmental Radiation Protection Standards for the Management and Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel, High-Level and Transuranic Radioactive Wastes (40 CFR Part 191) and Criteria for the Certification and Re-Certification of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant's Compliance with the 40 CFR Part 191 Disposal Regulations (40 CFR Part 194) The WIPP is the first licensed facility in the United States for the deep geologic disposal of radioactive waste. As a result, there is extensive interest in both the WIPP and the analyses that led to its certification by the EPA for the disposal of TRU waste. The WIPP program has produced large amounts of documentation both as part of the CCA itself and in large numbers of technical reports and supporting analysis documents. Although this information is publicly available, in practice its great quantity and availability at only specific locations (e.g., EPA Docket locations, the WIPP Records Centers in Albuquerque and Carlsbad) make obtaining a detailed understanding of the 1996 WIPP PA an arduous undertaking.
Download or read book Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Text written by United States. Department of Energy and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page 42 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Plans for Evaluation of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant s Compliance with EPA Standards for Radioactive Waste Management and Disposal written by Sharla G. Bertram and published by . This book was released on 1989 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Potential for Long term Isolation by the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Disposal System written by and published by . This book was released on with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The US Department of Energy's (DOE) Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) must comply with EPA regulation 40 CFR Part 191, Subpart B, which sets environmental standards for radioactive waste disposal. The regulation, Environmental Radiation Protection Standards for Management and Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel, High-Level and Transuranic Radioactive Wastes (hereafter referred to as the Standard), was vacated in 1987 by a Federal Court of Appeals and is underground revision. By agreement with the Sate of New Mexico, the WIPP project is evaluating compliance with the Standard as promulgated, in 1985 until a new regulation is available. This report summarizes the early-1990 status of Sandia National Laboratories' (SNL) understanding of the Project's ability to achieve compliance. The report reviews the qualitative and quantitative requirements for compliance, and identifies unknowns complicating performance assessment. It discusses in relatively nontechnical terms the approaches to resolving those unknowns, and concludes that SNL has reasonable confidence that compliance is achievable with the Standard as first promulgated. 46 refs., 7 figs.
Download or read book Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Public comments and responses written by United States. Department of Energy and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
