Assessing waste management systems using reginalt software

A method for assessing management systems for low-level radioactive waste is being developed for US Department of Energy. The method is based on benefit-cost-risk analysis. Waste management is broken down into its component steps, which are generation, treatment, packaging, storage, transportation, and disposal. Several different alternatives available for each waste management step are described. A particular waste management system consists of a feasible combination of alternatives for each step. Selecting an optimal waste management system would generally proceed as follows: (1) qualitative considerations are used to narrow down the choice of waste management system alternatives to a manageable number; (2) the costs and risks for each of these system alternatives are evaluated; (3) the number of alternatives is further reduced by eliminating alternatives with similar risks but higher costs, or those with similar costs but higher risks; (4) a trade-off factor between cost and risk is chosen and used to compute the objective function (sum of the cost and risk); and (5) the selection of the optimal waste management system among the remaining alternatives is made by choosing the alternative with the smallest value for the objective function. The authors propose that the REGINALT software system, developed by EG and G Idaho, Inc., as an acid for managers of low-level commerical waste, be augmented for application to the managment of DOE-generated waste. Specific recommendations for modification of the REGINALT system are made. 51 refs., 3 figs., 2 tabs