Scoping evaluation of the technical capabilities of DOE sites for disposal of mixed low-level waste. Examples: Sandia National Laboratories and Los Alamos National Laboratory

The disposal of mixed low-level waste has become an issue for the U.S. Department of Energy and the States since the inception of the Federal Facilities Compliance Act in 1992. Fifteen sites, including Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), have been evaluated to estimate their technical capabilities for disposal of this type of waste after it has been subjected to treatment processes. The analyses were designed to quantify the maximum permissible concentrations of radioactive and hazardous constituents in mixed low-level waste that could potentially be disposed of in a facility at one of the fifteen sites and meet regulatory requirements. The evaluations provided several major insights about the disposal of mixed low-level waste. All of the fifteen sites have the technical capability for disposal of some waste. Maximum permissible concentrations for the radioactive component of the waste at and sites such as SNL and LANL are almost exclusively determined by pathways other than through groundwater. In general, for the hazardous component of the waste, travel times through groundwater to a point 100 meters from the disposal facility are on the order of thousands of years. The results of the evaluations will be compared to actual treated waste that may be disposed of in a facility at one of these fifteen evaluated sites. These comparisons will indicate which waste streams may exceed the disposal limitations of a site and which component of the waste limits the technical acceptability for disposal. The technical analyses provide only partial input to the decision-making process for determining the disposal sites for mixed low-level waste. Other, less quantitative factors such as social and political issues will also be considered