Systematic evaluation of options to avoid generation of noncertifiable transuranic (TRU) waste at Los Alamos National Laboratory

At present, >35% of the volume of newly generated transuranic (TRU) waste at Los Alamos National Laboratory is not certifiable for transport to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). Noncertifiable waste would constitute 900--1,000 m{sup 3} of the 2,600 m{sup 3} of waste projected during the period of the Environmental Management (EM) Accelerated Cleanup: Focus on 2006 plan (DOE, 1997). Volume expansion of this waste to meet thermal limits would increase the shipped volume to {approximately}5,400 m{sup 3}. This paper presents the results of efforts to define which TRU waste streams are noncertifiable at Los Alamos, and to prioritize site-specific options to reduce the volume of certifiable waste over the period of the EM Accelerated Cleanup Plan. A team of Los Alamos TRU waste generators and waste managers reviewed historic generation rates and thermal loads and current practices to estimate the projected volume and thermal load of TRU waste streams for Fiscal Years 1999--2006. These data defined four major problem TRU waste streams. Estimates were also made of the volume expansion that would be required to meet the permissible wattages for all waste. The four waste streams defined were: (1) {sup 238}Pu-contaminated combustible waste from production of Radioactive Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs) with {sup 238}Pu activity which exceeds allowable shipping limits by 10--100X. (2) {sup 241}Am-contaminated cement waste from plutonium recovery processes (nitric and hydrochloric acid recovery) are estimated to exceed thermal limits by {approximately}3X. (3) {sup 239}Pu-contaminated combustible waste, mainly organic waste materials contaminated with {sup 239}Pu and {sup 241}Am, is estimated to exceed thermal load requirements by a factor of {approximately}2X. (4) Oversized metal waste objects, (especially gloveboxes), cannot be shipped as is to WIPP because they will not fit in a standard waste box or drum