[en] This report is intended to serve as a reference document and guide in developing the long-term improvements section of ORNL's radioactive waste management plan. The report reviews ORNL's operations and future program needs in terms of currently applicable DOE regulations and also in terms of regulations and accepted practices of the commerical sector of the nuclear power industry so that the impact of potential future adoption of these regulations and standards on ORNL's operations can be fully evaluated. The principal conclusion reached after reviewing ORNL's waste management operations is that these operations are currently being conducted in a manner that does not endanger the health or safety of workers or the general public and that does not have an adverse effect on the environment. Although nineteen specific problem areas have been identified all of these problems can be attributed to one of the following: a) the legacy of past practices; b) gradual deterioration of systems which have reached (or are near to reaching) the end of their reasonable design lives; and c) potential changes in regulations applicable to ORNL. All of the programs designed to improve or correct these problem areas could be accomplished within a four year period. However, given current limitations on manpower and capital, these programs would more likely be spread out over a five to ten year period of time if they were all to be undertaken. The cost of undertaking all of these projects concurrently is estimated to be between 60 and 100 million dollars. Due to the many unknowns and uncertainties associated with the problem areas, actual total costs for specific projects could vary from those presented in this report by as much as 300 percent

[en] It is believed that the priorities of NRC work in low-level waste management as described in this action plan are consistent with the needs of the overall national waste management program. Present licensing procedures and criteria are adequate for the short term, and priority attention is being given to the longer term, when the quantities of waste to be managed will be greater and licensing demand will increase. The plan makes use of expertise within NRC to achieve early results and is coordinated with other Federal agencies having related responsibilities. Since NRC decisions will affect industry, other governmental jurisdictions, private interest groups, and the public at large, procedures were developed to involve them in planning the program

[en] Purpose of the workshop was to probe the concepts of consultation and concurrence and to address issues in establishing and maintaining an effective state-federal process in nuclear waste management. The workshop was a gathering of some 50 people from industry, the environmental movement, local government, executive and legislative branches of state government, US Congressional staffs, the US Department of Energy, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ONWI, university social science departments, and other research institutions. The workshop consisted of general sessions at which ten papers covering various aspects of consultation and concurrence were presented and of working groups which further explored issues raised by the papers. This report presents a general summary of discussions, the text of a background paper prepared for the workshop, the presented papers, and individual comments by several participants

[en] In 1978, President Carter established the Interagency Review Group on Nuclear Waste Management (IRG) to review the nation's plans and progress in managing radioactive wastes. In its final report, issued in March 1979, the group recommended that the Department of Energy (DOE) assume responsibility for developing a national plan for the management of low-level wastes. Toward this end, DOE directed that a strategy be developed to guide federal and state officials in resolving issues critical to the safe management of low-level wastes. EG and G Idaho, Inc. was selected as the lead contractor for the Low-Level Waste Management Program and was given responsibility for developing the strategy. A 25 member task force was formed which included individuals from federal agencies, states, industry, universities, and public interest groups. The task force identified nineteen broad issues covering the generation, treatment, packaging, transportation, and disposal of low-level wastes. Alternatives for the resolution of each issue were proposed and recommendations were made which, taken together, form the draft strategy. These recommendations are summarized in this document

[en] Activities to determine interim reference conditions for temperatures, pressure, fluid, chemical, and radiation environments that are expected to exist in commercial and defense high-level nuclear waste and spent fuel repositories in salt, basalt, tuff, granite, and shale are summarized. These interim conditions are being generated by the Reference Repository Conditions Interface Working Groups (RRC-IWG), an ad hoc IWG established by the National Waste Terminal Storage Program's (NWTS) Isolation Interface Control Board

[en] This Quality Assurance Program Plan (QAPP) is provided to describe the Quality Assurance Program which is applied to the waste management activities conducted by AESD-Nevada Operations at the E-MAD Facility located in Area 25 of the Nevada Test Site. The AESD-Nevada Operations QAPP provides the necessary systematic and administrative controls to assure activities that affect quality, safety, reliability, and maintainability during design, procurement, fabrication, inspection, shipments, tests, and storage are conducted in accordance with established requirements

[en] Many nations and international agencies are working to develop improved technology and industrial capability for neuclear fuel cycle and waste management operations. The effort in some countries is limited to research in university laboratories on treating low-level waste from reactor plant operations. In other countries, national nuclear research institutes are engaged in major programs in all phases of the fuel cycle and waste management, and there is a national effort to commercialize fuel cycle operations. Since late 1976, staff members of Pacific Northwest Laboratory have been working under US Department of Energy sponsorship to assemble and consolidate openly available information on foreign and international nuclear waste management programs and technology. This report summarizes the information collected on the status of fuel cycle and waste management programs in selected countries making major efforts in these fields as of the end of May 1981

[en] Lanthanum phosphate is a promising host material for reprocessed light water reactor wastes (e.g., PW-4b). This is demonstrated by the high density of the composite waste form and by the low leach rates of both Cs and Sr. Additionally, crystallographic data on LaPO₄ pellets loaded with 10 wt % simulated PW-4b indicate the presence of only one phase, i.e., monoclinic monazite. The rare-earth orthophosphates have also been shown to be a viable waste form for Savannah River (SRW) defense wastes. Compaction and sintering studies indicate that the rare-earth phosphate mixture employed here is preferable to pure LaPO₄ for containing SRW. Higher density and more homogeneous samples were obtained by using the mixed phosphates as compared to pure LaPO₄ as the host material. It is shown that aluminum removal from the composite SRW is not necessary when incorporating this type of waste into a rare-earth phosphate host. The current results support the view that lanthanide orthophosphate waste forms (i.e., monazite) are potentially superior to borosilicate glasses in the following respects: (1) lower processing temperatures (approx. 1000⁰C versus 1160⁰C for glass); (2) significantly higher waste per volume loadings for a given wt % of waste for monazites relative to glass; and (3) the current leaching data show that monazite-type waste forms are clearly superior to glass in retaining Sr, and, in particular, Cs

[en] The Los Alamos National Laboratory is conducting a variety of research and development to ensure the safety of storing and treating all types of radioactive wastes. These activities include the assay and sorting of waste, the interaction of waste with the earth, and the treatment of waste to reduce the volume and mobility of radionuclides in waste. The practical lessons learned from safely storing waste at Los Alamos since the mid-1940s are an ingredient in determining the direction of our research. National waste management programs are structured according to categories of waste, for example, high level, low level, mill tailings, and transuranic. In this bibliography publications are listed since 1979 according to the following disciplines to show the relevance of work to more than one category of waste: summary and overview; material science; environmental studies; geochemistry and geology; waste assay; soil/waste interactions shallow land burial; volume reduction and technology development; and nonradioactive wastes

[en] This report summarizes the progress of States and low-level radioactive waste compacts in 1988 in establishing new low-level waste disposal facilities, and also provides summary information on the volume of low-level waste received for disposal in 1988 by commercially-operated low-level waste disposal facilities. The report is in response to Section 7(b) of the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1985