Results of detailed characterization on CH-TRU mixed waste at Argonne National Laboratory-West

Argonne National Laboratory-West and Lockheed Idaho Technologies Company have jointly participated in the Department of Energy's (DOE) Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Experimental Test Program since 1990. A new facility at Argonne was developed to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of contact-handled transuranic mixed waste characterization and to decrease the potential for facility contamination and personnel exposures. This new facility, the Waste Characterization Area, was approved for radioactive operations in March 1994. Between April and September 1994, forty-two waste drums containing mixed debris waste were characterized to support a study being performed to evaluate volatile organic compound concentrations in the void volume headspaces of waste drums. This paper presents the results of characterization performed at Argonne, emphasizing parameters important from a facility standpoint. Specifically, information is presented on drum surface dose rate, fissile content, number and type of gas samples, volatile organic compound concentration, and facility contamination levels. Actual values are compared to enveloping conditions assumed in the safety assessment for the characterization facility. Argonne-West is one of the first DOE sites to perform detailed waste characterization under the DOE's Transuranic Waste Characterization Program. The information presented herein could aid other storage and generator sites in developing characterization procedures and facilities