Transuranic (TRU) waste characterization activities at the Stored Waste Examination Pilot Plant (SWEPP) (INEL-95/00564)

The Radioactive Waste Management Complex (RWMC) located within the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) contains facilities and equipment to manage low-level, mixed, and Transuranic (TRU) solid radioactive waste generated by the INEL and other Department of Energy (DOE) laboratories and operations. The primary mission of the RWMC is safe disposal of INEL-generated low-level waste (LLW) and temporary storage of mixed and TRU waste. Much of this waste will be retrieved, nondestructively examined, and shipped to a centralized DOE disposal facility, such as the proposed Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) facility in New Mexico. The Transuranic Storage Area (TSA) within the RWMC is used for examination, segregation, certification, and interim storage of TRU waste. Within the TSA, a facility referred to as the Stored Waste Examination Pilot Plant (SWEPP) provides space for the nondestructive assay and examination systems that characterize and certify the various waste forms for shipping and disposal to WIPP. The process through SWEPP includes waste container warm-up, radiological survey and weighing activity, radiographic examination, fissile material assay, container integrity testing, container overpacking, and gamma-ray spectroscopic evaluation. This paper and the associated poster session will provide an overview of the current and planned NDA/NDE waste characterization activities associated with SWEPP