Cost/benefit analysis for selected waste minimization technologies at TA-55

The TA-55 plutonium facility at LANL is one of the remaining plutonium-handling facilities in the United States with significant operational capability. In recent years a great deal of attention has been focused on the waste streams generated by this facility. Costs of properly treating these streams have risen significantly. This paper discusses the characterization of several proposed radioactive waste minimization technologies as a function of Return on Investment (ROI). In particular, the DOE Environmental Management program has identified a specific funding channel for such technology development activities, but this funding channel requires a restrictive definition of ROI. Here, a simple extension to the required ROI equation is used to capture the lifecycle ROI due to offsets in future capital charges resulting from present spending