DOE Tank Waste: How clean is clean enough? The U.S. Congress asked the National Academies to evaluate the Department of Energy's (DOE's) plans for cleaning up defense-related radioactive wastes stored in underground tanks at three sites: the Hanford Site in Washington State, the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, and the Idaho National Laboratory. DOE plans to remove the waste from the tanks, separate out high-level radioactive waste to be shipped to an off-site geological repository, and dispose of the remaining lower-activity waste onsite. The report concludes that DOE's overall plan is workable, but some important challenges must be overcome—including the removal of residual waste from some tanks, especially at Hanford and Savannah River. The report recommends that DOE pursue a more risk-informed, consistent, participatory, and transparent for making decisions about how much waste to retrieve from tanks and how much to dispose of onsite. The report offers several other detailed recommendations to improve the technical soundness of DOE's tank cleanup plans.

Table of Contents


Front Matter
Executive Summary
Summary
I Introduction
II Background and Overview of the Current Situation
III Tank Waste Retrieval
IV Processing and Treatment of Retrieved Tank Waste
V Tank Grouting and Closure
VI Performance Assessment
VII Monitoring
VIII Decision-Making Process
IX Focused Research and Development Needs
X Illustrative Example of the Recommended Decision-Making Process
XI Conclusions
References
Appendix A Biographical Sketches of Committee Members
Appendix B Statement of Task
Appendix C Section 3116, Order 435.1, and Performance Objectives
Appendix D Information-Gathering Meetings
Appendix E Interim Report Summary and Follow-up
Appendix F Waste Retrieval Status
Appendix G Tank Waste Retrieval Techniques and Experience at West Valley and Oak Ridge
Appendix H Features of a Good Monitoring Program
Appendix I Performance Assessment Process
Appendix J Relevant Maps of the Three Sites
Appendix K Glossary