HOW THE ROCKY FLATS ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY SITE DEVELOPED A NEW WASTE PACKAGE USING A POLYUREA COATING THAT IS SAFELY AND ECONOMICALLY ELIMINATING SIZE REDUCTION OF LARGE ITEMS

One of the major challenges involved in closing the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site (RFETS) is the disposal of extremely large pieces of contaminated production equipment and building debris. Past practice has been to size reduce the equipment into pieces small enough to fit into approved, standard waste containers. Size reducing this equipment is extremely expensive, and exposes workers to high-risk tasks, including significant industrial, chemical, and radiological hazards. RFETS has developed a waste package using a Polyurea coating for shipping large contaminated objects. The cost and schedule savings have been significant