PREPARATION OF THE FIRST SHIPMENTS OF TRANSURANIC WASTE BY THE LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LABORATORY: A REST STOP ON THE ROAD TO THE WIPP

摘要

The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) achieved a national milestone on the roadto shipping transuranic (TRU) waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) when itreceived certification authority on September 12, 1997. Since that time, LANL has beencharacterizing a non-mixed TRU waste stream and preparing shipments of this TRUwaste for disposal in the WIPP.The paper describes the TRU waste identified as waste stream TA-55-43 Lot No. 01 fromLANL Technical Area-55 and the process used to determine that it does not containhazardous waste regulated by the Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA) or theNew Mexico Hazardous Waste Act (HWA). The non-mixed determination is based onthe acceptable knowledge (AK) characterization process, which clearly shows that thewaste does not exhibit any RCRA characteristics nor meet any RCRA listing descriptions.LANL has certified TRU waste from waste stream TA-55-43 Lot No. 01 and is preparedto certify additional quantities of TRU waste from other non-mixed TRU waste streams.Assembly and preparation of AK on the processes that generated TRU waste isrecognized as a necessary part of the process for having waste ready for shipment to theWIPP.