Characterization of mixed wastes resulting from fuel fabrication at the Hanford Site: Use of historical research

摘要

Fuel fabrication activities took place in the 300 Area of the Hanford Site in eastern Washington State continuously between 1943 and 1987. Methods and techniques of fuel manufacture changed over the years, thus changing the components of the waste streams associated with the processes. Additionally, the national imperatives of World War II and the Cold War caused waste volumes to grow enormously, and disposal practices and policies shifted many times. The result today is an extremely complex mixture of waste forms, locations, composition and potential migration pathways. Because the Hanford Site is large, and waste characterization and cleanup must move quickly under schedules set in the Hanford Federal Facility Order and Consent Agreement (''Tri-Party Agreement''), there was a need to understand the fuel fabrication wastes without undertaking exhaustive physical characterization. Also, the Columbia River, the greatest single natural resource of the Pacific Northwest, flows past the Hanford Site's 300 Area in close proximity to old fuel fabrication and waste disposal sites. Therefore, Westinghouse Hanford Company employed historical research as a key, initial technique in identifying and quantifying known and unknown waste locations, components and source terms.