The Department of Energy launched the Nuclear Materials Stewardship Initiative in January 2000 to accelerate the work of achieving integration and cutting long-term costs associated with the management of the Department's nuclear materials, with the principal focus on excess materials. Management of nuclear materials is a fundamental and enduring responsibility that is essential to meeting the Department's national security, nonproliferation, energy, science, and environmental missions into the distant future. The effective management of nuclear materials is important for a set of reasons: (1) some materials are vital to our national defense; (2) the materials pose physical and security risks; (3) managing them is costly; and (4) costs are likely to extend well into the future. The Department currently manages nuclear materials under eight programs, with offices in 36 different locations. Through the Nuclear Materials Stewardship Initiative, progress was during calendar year 20 00 in achieving better coordination and integration of nuclear materials management responsibilities and in evaluating opportunities to further coordinate and integrate cross-program responsibilities for the treatment, storage, and disposition of excess nuclear materials. During CY 2001 the Departmental approach to nuclear materials stewardship changed consistent with the business processes followed by the new administration. This paper reports on …

Mobile modular installation ''Aqua-Express'' is a liquid low level and intermediate level radioactive waste (LL&ILRW) treatment facility, intended for not large research centers and other organizations, which activity causes the formation of a few quantity (up to 500 m3/year) of low and intermediate level radioactive waste water. Mobile modular installation ''Aqua-Express'' has the following features: (1) filtration, sorption and ultrafiltration units are used for LL&ILRW purification; (2) installation ''Aqua-Express'' consists of a cascade of three autonomous aqueous liquid waste-purifying installations; (3) installation ''Aqua-Express'' is a mobile installation; the installation can be transported by car, train, ship, or plane, as well as placed in a standard transport (sea or railway) container; (4) installation ''Aqua-Express'' does not includes any technological equipment for conditioning the secondary radioactive waste. Productivity of the installation ''Aqua-Express'' by purified water depends on composition of the initial liquid waste and makes up to 300 l/h. In present report is described the design of installation ''Aqua-Express'', theory of LRW purification in the installation ''Aqua-Express'' and some results of its use at cleaning real radioactive waters at State unitary enterprise - MosNPO ''Radon''.

Throughout the United States Department of Energy (DOE) complex, there are a number of streams of low enriched uranium (LEU) that contain various trace contaminants. These surplus nuclear materials require processing in order to meet commercial fuel cycle specifications. To date, they have not been designated as waste for disposal at the DOE's Nevada Test Site (NTS). Currently, with no commercial outlet available, the DOE is evaluating treatment and disposal as the ultimate disposition path for these materials. This paper will describe an innovative program that will provide a solution to DOE that will allow disposition of these materials at a cost that will be competitive with treatment and disposal at the NTS, while at the same time recycling the material to recover a valuable energy resource (yellowcake) for reintroduction into the commercial nuclear fuel cycle. International Uranium (USA) Corporation (IUSA) and Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc. (NFS) have entered into a commercial relationship to pursue the development of this program. The program involves the design of a process and construction of a plant at NFS' site in Erwin, Tennessee, for the blending of contaminated LEU with depleted uranium (DU) to produce a uranium source material ore (USM Ore{trademark}). The USM …

The Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company, SKB, has developed a system that ensures the safe handling of all kinds of radioactive waste from the Swedish nuclear power plants for a long time period ahead. The keystones of this system are: A transport system with the ship M/S Sigyn which has been in operation since 1983. A central interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel, CLAB, in operation since 1985. A final repository for short-lived, low and intermediate level waste, SFR, in operation since 1988. In Sweden, the preferred method for final disposal of spent fuel is to encapsulate it in copper canisters and dispose them in a deep geological repository in crystalline host rock. SKB is planning to build an encapsulation plant adjacent to the central storage for spent fuel, CLAB. The siting for the deep repository has not yet been selected. A siting program with feasibility studies was completed in 2001. Early 2002 SKB received the necessary permits to start the site investigation at two potential sites for siting of the deep repository in Sweden. The site investigation at these sites started early 2002 and will be completed during 2007. Over the years, a number of generic …

This paper explores the successes and failures of privatization and other contract reform initiatives within the DOE Weapons Complex over the past seven years. The paper concludes that the successes and failures of these project delivery methods depend largely on the risks attendant with the project itself. For example, where the wastes to be remediated defy characterization and the technology is innovative, the Department ordinarily should bear most of the risk, and some specie of cost-reimbursable contracting should be employed. On the other hand, where the risks are readily quantifiable and the technology is proven, more of the risk and responsibility can and should be placed on the contractor. This form of risk transference runs the continuum from lump-sum contracting to design/build, to privatization, depending on the circumstances. The preferred contracting form, however, is not dictated solely by project-related risk. Onto this risk must be overlain a set of risks that derive from the project management capabilities and the institutional biases of the oversight M&O or M&I contractor. Foremost among this additional set of risks is the ability of the oversight contractor to employ a level of contractual interface that is commensurate and proportionate with the selected project delivery method.

The Department of Energy, Idaho Operations Office (DOE-ID) is making preparations to close two underground high-level waste (HLW) storage tanks at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) to meet Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) regulations and Department of Energy orders. Closure of these two tanks is scheduled for 2004 as the first phase in closure of the eleven 300,000 gallon tanks currently in service at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center (INTEC). The INTEC Tank Farm Facility (TFF) Closure sequence consists of multiple steps to be accomplished through the existing tank riser access points. Currently, the tank risers contain steam and process waste lines associated with the steam jets, corrosion coupons, and liquid level indicators. As necessary, this equipment will be removed from the risers to allow adequate space for closure equipment and activities.

The Multi-purpose Research Reactor was a pressurized-water reactor cooled and moderated with heavy water. It was built from 1961 to 1966 and went critical for the first time on 29 September 1965. After nineteen years of successful operation, the reactor was de-activated on 3 May 1984. The reactor had a thermal output of 200 MW and an electrical output of 50 MW. The MZFR not only served to supply electrical power, but also as a test bed for: - research into various materials for reactor building (e. g. zirkaloy), - the manufacturing and operating industry to gain experience in erection and operation, - training scientific and technical reactor staff, and - power supply (first nuclear combined-heat-and-power system, 1979-1984). The experience gained in operating the MZFR was very helpful for the development and operation of power reactors. At first, safe containment and enclosure of the plant was planned, but then it was decided to dismantle the plant completely, step by step, in view o f the clear advantages of this approach. The decommissioning concept for the complete elimination of the plant down to a green-field site provides for eight steps. A separate decommissioning license is required for each step. As part …

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation has begun a program to create a risk-informed environment within the reactor program. The first step of the process is to evaluate the existing environment and internal NRC stakeholder perceptions of risk-informed regulatory practices. This paper reports on the results of the first phase of this evaluation: assessing the current environment, including the level of acceptance of risk-informed approaches throughout the reactor program, the level of integration, areas of success, and areas of difficulty. The other two phases of the evaluation will identify barriers to the integration of risk into NRC activities and gather input on how to move to a risk-informed environment.

Following a referendum in Italy in 1987, the four Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) owned and operated by the state utility ENEL were closed. After closing the NPPs, ENEL selected a ''safestore'' decommissioning strategy; anticipating a safestore period of some 40-50 years. This approach was consistent with the funds collected during plant operation, and was reinforced by the lack of both a waste repository and a set of national free release limits for contaminated materials in Italy. During 1999, twin decisions were made to privatize ENEL and to transform the nuclear division into a separate subsidiary of the ENEL group. This group was renamed Sogin and during the following year, ownership of the company was transferred to the Italian Treasury. On formation, Sogin was asked by the Italian government to review the national decommissioning strategy. The objective of the review was to move from a safestore strategy to a prompt decommissioning strategy, with the target of releasing all of the nuclear sites by 2020. It was recognized that this target was conditional upon the availability of a national LLW repository together with interim stores for both spent fuel and HLW by 2009. The government also agreed that additional costs caused by …

Radioactive waste packages containing water and/or organic substances have the potential to radiolytically generate hydrogen and other combustible gases. Typically, the radiolytic gas generation rate is estimated from the energy deposition rate and the radiolytic gas yield. Estimation of the energy deposition rate must take into account the contributions from all radionuclides. While the contributions from non-gamma emitting radionuclides are relatively easy to estimate, an average geometry factor must be computed to determine the contribution from gamma emitters. Hitherto, no satisfactory method existed for estimating the geometry factors for a cylindrical package. In the present study, a formulation was developed taking into account the effect of photon buildup. A prototype code, called PC-CAGE, was developed to numerically solve the integrals involved. Based on the selected dimensions for a cylinder, the specified waste material, the photon energy of interest and a value for either the absorption or attenuation coefficient, the code outputs values for point and average geometry factors. These can then be used to estimate the internal dose rate to the material in the cylinder and hence to calculate the radiolytic gas generation rate. Besides the ability to estimate the rates of radiolytic gas generation, PC-CAGE can also estimate the …

In 1997, the UK programme for the deep disposal of radioactive waste was ''stopped dead in its tracks'' with the refusal by the Secretary of State for the Environment to allow Nirex to go ahead with its plans for an underground Rock Characterisation Facility at Sellafield in north-west England. Since that time a House of Lords' Select Committee has held an inquiry into what went wrong and what the way ahead should be. In addition, Nirex and the nuclear industry players have also been analyzing the past with a view to learning from the experience in taking things forward. In Nirex's view this is essentially an ethical issue; the waste exists and we should deal with it in this generation. Three areas need to be better addressed if a successful program of management of the nation's radioactive waste is to be achieved: the process of how policy development and implementation can be achieved; the structure of the nuclear industry and its relationship to the waste management organization; and the behavior of the players in their interaction with stakeholders. All three are underpinned by the need for transparency. In recognition that developing a policy for managing radioactive waste has to be …

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is conducting a cleanup of radiologically contaminated properties under the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP). The largest cost element for most of the FUSRAP sites is the transportation and disposal of contaminated soil. Project managers and engineers need an estimate of the volume of contaminated soil to determine project costs and schedule. Once excavation activities begin and additional remedial action data are collected, the actual quantity of contaminated soil often deviates from the original estimate, resulting in cost and schedule impacts to the project. The project costs and schedule need to be frequently updated by tracking the actual quantities of excavated soil and contaminated soil remaining during the life of a remedial action project. A soil volume estimate tracking methodology was developed to provide a mechanism for project managers and engineers to create better project controls of costs and schedule. For the FUSRAP Linde site, an estimate of the initial volume of in situ soil above the specified cleanup guidelines was calculated on the basis of discrete soil sample data and other relevant data using indicator geostatistical techniques combined with Bayesian analysis. During the remedial action, updated volume estimates of remaining …

Over the last 30 years, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has successfully and safely transported shipments of spent nuclear fuel over America's highways and railroads. During that time, an exemplary safety record has been established with no identifiable fatalities, injuries, or environmental damage caused by the radioactive nature of the shipments. This paper evaluates some rail and truck shipping campaigns, planning processes, and selected transportation plans to identify lessons learned in terms of planning and programmatic activities. The intent of this evaluation is to document best practices from current processes and previous plans for DOE programs preparing or considering future plans. DOE's National Transportation Program (NTP) reviewed 13 plans, beginning with core debris shipments from Three Mile Island to current, ongoing fuel campaigns. This paper describes lessons learned in the areas of: emergency planning, planning information, security, shipment prenotification, emergency notification/response, terrorism/sabotage risk, and recovery and cleanup, as well as routing, security, carrier/driver requirements, transportation operational contingencies, tracking, inspections and safe parking.

Beginning with the decommissioning of nuclear power plants the release, criteria for radioactive materials has gained importance significantly. After decommissioning and dismantling, most of the residues need not be treated as radioactive waste, since they contain only small amounts of radioactivity. The Karlsruhe Research Center already dismantled two research reactors completely (the Karlstein Super Heated Steam Reactor and the Niederaichbach Nuclear Power Plant), while several additional decommissioning projects are currently in progress. About 70 % of the total waste mass within each project can be released from the area of atomic regulations and licenses. At the Niederaichbach and Karlstein sites the release procedures and the release criteria were determined in the decommissioning license, where issues such as controlling and release values were fixed. Additionally, each step of the release process has to be coordinated with the regulator. Today the general release criteria are contained in the atomic act. Depending on the nature of the material to be released (e.g. building structures or metallic waste), and depending on the further use of the material, such as unrestricted reuse or waste disposal, release values for each nuclide are established. To prepare the release of materials, a release plan including the release measurement …

Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) removal and investigation projects typically involve multiple organizations including Government entities, private contractors, and technical experts. Resources are split into functional ''teams'' who perform the work and interface with the clients. The projects typically generate large amounts of data that must be shared among the project team members, the clients, and the public. The ability to efficiently communicate and control information is essential to project success. Web-based project collaboration is an effective management and communication tool when applied to ordnance and explosives (OE) projects. During a recent UXO/OE removal project at the Jefferson Proving Ground (JPG) in Madison, IN, American Technologies, Inc. (ATI) successfully used the Project Commander(reg sign) (www.ProCommander.com) project collaboration website as a dynamic project and information management tool.

At the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL), a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) treatability study is being performed to examine the technology of in situ grouting for final in situ disposal of buried mixed transuranic (TRU) waste. At the INEEL, there is over 56,000 cubic meters of waste commingled with a similar amount of soil in a shallow (3-5 m) land burial referred to as Waste Area Group 7-13/14. Since this buried waste has been declared on the National Priorities List under CERCLA, it is being managed as a superfund site. Under CERCLA, options for this waste include capping and continued monitoring, retrieval and ex situ management of the retrieved waste, in situ stabilization by vitrification or grouting, in situ thermal dissorption, or some combination of these options. In situ grouting involves injecting grout at high pressures (400 bars) directly into the waste to create a solid monolith. The in situ grouting process is expected to both stabilize the waste against subsidence and provide containment against migration of waste to the Snake River Plain Aquifer lying 150-200 m below the waste. The treatability study involves bench testing, implementability testing, and field testing. The bench testing …

Samples of zirconate pyrochlore ceramic (REE)2(Zr,U)2O7 (REE = La-Gd) containing simulated REE-An fraction of HLW were synthesized by two routes: (1) conventional cold compaction of oxide mixtures in pellets under pressure of 200 MPa and sintering of the pellets at 1550 C for 24 hours; and (2) using preliminary mechanical activation of oxide powders in a linear inductive rotator (LIV-0.5E) and a planetary mill - activator with hydrostatic yokes (AGO-2U) for 5 or 10 min. All the samples sintered at 1550 C were monolithic and dense with high mechanical integrity. As follows from X-ray diffraction (XRD) data, the ceramic sample produced without mechanical activation is composed of pyrochlore as major phase but contains also minor unreacted oxides. The samples prepared from pre-activated mixtures are composed of the pyrochlore structure phase only. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) data also show higher structural and compositional homogeneity of the samples prepared from mechanically activated batches. The samples produced from oxide mixtures mechanically activated in the LIV for 10 min were slightly contaminated with iron resulting in formation of minor perovskite structure phase not detected by XRD but seen on SEM-images of the samples. Comparison of the samples prepared from non-activated and activated batches showed …

Most waste management activities are decided upon and carried out in a public or semi-public arena, typically involving the waste management organization, one or more regulators, and often other stakeholders and members of the public. In these environments, simulation modeling can be a powerful tool in reaching a consensus on the best path forward, but only if the models that are developed are understood and accepted by all of the parties involved. These requirements for understanding and acceptance of the models constrain the appropriate software and model development procedures that are employed. This paper discusses requirements for both simulation software and for the models that are developed using the software. Requirements for the software include transparency, accessibility, flexibility, extensibility, quality assurance, ability to do discrete and/or continuous simulation, and efficiency. Requirements for the models that are developed include traceability, transparency, credibility/validity, and quality control. The paper discusses these requirements with specific reference to the requirements for performance assessment models that are used for predicting the long-term safety of waste disposal facilities, such as the proposed Yucca Mountain repository.

The Hanford Nuclear Reservation is a former U. S. Department of Energy Defense Production Site. The site is currently listed on the National Priorities List of the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) and is undergoing cleanup and environmental restoration. The PFP is a former Plutonium metal production facility. The operating mission of the PFP ended with a DOE Headquarters shutdown letter in October of 1996. Generally, the receipt of a shutdown letter initiates the start of Transition (as the first step of Decommissioning) of a facility. The Hanford site is subject to the Hanford Federal Facilities Compliance Act and Consent Order (HFFCCO), an order on consent signed by the DOE, the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, (EPA) and the Washington Department of Ecology (WDOE). Under the HFFCCO, negotiations for transition milestones begin within six months after the issuance of a shutdown order. In the case of the PFP, the Nuclear Materials disposition and stabilization activities, a DOE responsibility, were necessary as precursor activities to Transition. This situation precipitated a crisis in the negotiations between the agencies, and formal negotiations initiated in 1997 ended in failure. The negotiations reached impasse on several key regulatory and operational …

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has amended the policies under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 for evaluating the suitability of Yucca Mountain, Nevada, as a site for development of a nuclear waste repository. The final rule at Title 10, Part 963 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR Part 963) focuses on the criteria and methodology to be used for evaluating relevant geological and other related aspects of the Yucca Mountain site. Consistent with the long standing policy to conform the DOE suitability guidelines for its nuclear waste repository program to licensing regulations of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the DOE's criteria and methodology are consistent with the NRC's recently final regulations for licensing a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain.

In an attempt to bring forth increased efficiency and effectiveness in assessing transportation risks associated with radioactive materials or wastes, the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) National Transportation Program (NTP) published a resource handbook in 2002. The handbook draws from the broad technical expertise among DOE national laboratories and industry, which reflects the extensive experience gained from DOE's efforts in conducting assessments (i.e., environmental impact assessments) within the context of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in the past 20 years. The handbook is intended to serve as a primary source of information regarding the approach and basis for conducting transportation risk assessments under normal or accidental conditions that are associated with shipping radioactive materials or wastes. It is useful as a reference to DOE managers, NEPA assessors, technical analysts, contractors, and also stakeholders. It provides a summary of pertinent U.S. policies and regulations on the shipment of radioactive materials, existing guidance on preparing transportation risk assessments, a review of previous transportation risk assessments by DOE and others, a description of comprehensive and generally accepted transportation risk assessment methodologies, and a compilation of supporting data, parameters, and assumptions. The handbook also provides a discussion paper on an issue that has …

A number of broad perspective technology roadmaps have been developed in the last few years as tools for coordinating nation-wide research in targeted areas. These roadmaps share a common characteristic of coalescing the associated stakeholder groups into a special-interest community that is willing to work cooperatively in achieving the roadmap goals. These communities are key to roadmap implementation as they provide the collaborative energy necessary to obtain the political support and funding required for identified science and technology development efforts. This paper discusses the relationship between roadmaps and special-interest communities, using the recently drafted Department of Energy's Long-Term Stewardship Science and Technology Roadmap as a case study. Specific aspects this roadmap's design facilitated the development of a long-term stewardship community while specific realities during roadmap development impacted the realization of the design.

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The Rancho Seco Nuclear Generating Station ceased operation in June of 1989 and entered an extended period of Safestor to allow funds to accumulate for dismantlement. Incremental dismantlement was begun in 1997 of steam systems and based on the successful work to date, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) board of directors approved full decommissioning in July 1999. A schedule has been developed for completion of decommissioning by 2008, allowing decommissioning funds to accumulate until they are needed. Systems removal began in the Auxiliary Building in October of 1999 and in the Reactor Building in January of 2000. Systems dismantlement continues in the Reactor Building and the Auxiliary Building and should be completed by mid 2003. The Spent Fuel is currently being moved to dry storage in an onsite ISFSI, with completion scheduled for late 2002. The personnel resources on site are currently assigned to support both the dry fuel project and the dismantlement of the facility. Once fuel movement is complete more resources will be provided for dismantlement. Characterization of major components other than the vessel is complete and planning for their removal is in progress with various cut-up and/or shipping options being evaluated. Planning for the vessel and …