Data collection and analysis in support of the US Department of Energy Environmental Restoration and Waste Management Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement waste management alternatives

Abstract

This paper is a report on work in progress in support of the US Department of Energy Environmental Restoration and Waste Management (EM) Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS). Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) has been providing technical support in the areas of waste characterization; waste treatment, storage, and disposal (TSD) facility descriptions (developed jointly with EG&G, Idaho); analysis of potential accidents at TSD facilities; and waste transportation risk assessment. Support efforts encompass the following six waste types: high-level waste; transuranic waste; low-level waste; greater-than Class-C low-level waste; low-level mixed waste; and hazardous waste. Treatment, storage, and disposal facility descriptions cover the following parameters: resource requirements, cost, staffing, capacity, by-products, and effluents. The variations in these parameters effected by the proposed alternatives are estimated. Selection of proposed initiating events, characterization of source terms, and descriptions of scenarios are covered in the accident analysis portion of the ANL work. The transportation risk assessment portion includes both off-site and on-site transportation of both radioactive and hazardous wastes for all waste management alternatives under consideration in the EM PEIS.