WASTE RECEIVING AND PROCESSING (WRAP) FACILITY – PART OF THE SOLUTION

摘要

The Waste Receiving and Processing (WRAP) Facility is a state-of-the-art facilityrndesigned to consolidate the operations necessary to inspect and process waste to facilitaternverification of contents for certification to established waste acceptance criteria. ThernWRAP facility will inspect, characterize, treat, and certify transuranic (TRU), low-levelrnand mixed waste at the Hanford Site in Washington state. The $55 million facility isrnoperated by Waste Management Federal Services of Hanford, Inc. for Fluor DanielrnHanford under the Project Hanford Management Contract. WRAP has recentlyrn(September 1998) completed all applicable U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)rnrequirements for startup and received authorization to commence operations under itsrnapproved authorization basis documentation. This paper describes the WRAP Facility,rnits capabilities and planned operations, and lessons learned in accomplishing thernobjectives of permitting and authorizing the startup of a hazard category 2 nuclear facilityrnunder DOE Orders 5480.23, Nuclear Safety Analysis Reports, and 425.1, Startup andrnRestart of Nuclear Facilities.rnThe WRAP Facility is relatively unique in the DOE complex. Relying heavily onrnALARA principles, WRAP was conceived, designed and built to inspect, examine andrnassay waste containers, provide the capability to open containers for inspection within arncontainment boundary, sample contents, remove non-compliant or suspect objects,rnperform limited treatment, and repackage wastes in accordance with establishedrnacceptance requirements. State-of-the art nondestructive examination and assayrn(NDE/NDA) instrumentation is provided to aid in verifying the contents of filled wasterncontainers. Suspect or noncompliant items identified through NDE can be removed inrnthe process area glove boxes that provide containment for control of radioactive andrnhazardous constituents. To minimize worker contact with the waste and comply withrnALARA objectives, opening of waste containers is only accomplished in glove boxesrndesigned to facilitate remote handling using manipulators and automated handlingrndevices.rnWaste streams include newly generated waste, previously buried TRU waste retrievedrnfrom long-term storage, suspect TRU waste that may not meet the current TRU definitionrn(exceeding 100 nCi/g of TRU alpha activity), and low-level waste destined for disposalrnor treatment that may require verification of contents. In addition, mixed waste may berncharacterized through WRAP processing, and Land Disposal Restriction (LDR)rnconstituents evaluated. With increasing emphasis on certification of contents to ensure