Appendix F
FFRDC Response to National Academy of Sciences Recommendations for “Review of the Continued Analysis of Supplemental Treatment Approaches of Low-Activity Waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation: Review #2”
TABLE F-1 Table of Revisions to the FFRDC Report for Review #2.
NAS Recommendation (summarized): | FFRDC Approach/Response | Applicable Section |
---|---|---|
A: Include a discussion of the tank integrity program with references to describe the strategy that is adopted and the status to provide perspective for decision makers. |
|
1.3.2 |
B: The affordability concept should be removed from “the likelihood of successful mission completion” criterion and not assume any funding limit for this purpose. The FFRDC should then compare unconstrained life-cycle cost profiles with sensitivity analyses about what funding levels would be required. |
|
Executive Summary, 3.2, 4.1, 5.0, and 6.1 Appendix I.A., I.C., II.D., II.F. |
C:
|
|
Appendix II. F. Section 3.4 (Table 3.4-1) and Appendix II.F. |
D: Include a discussion of issues associated with obtaining regulatory approval for the various options. Specifically, it would be helpful to focus on the significant adverse consequences of grouted SLAW not being acceptable for disposal at IDF or other out-of-state disposal sites. |
|
Section 6.2 |
E: Expand consideration of the consequences of potential impediments impacting the safe and expeditious SLAW management, such as grouted SLAW not being accepted for transportation, disposal at IDF, or other out-of-state disposal sites. The FFRDC should incorporate insights from public comments obtained to date in the final report, as well as the experiences of other sites that have transported radioactive waste to distant treatment or disposal locations. |
|
Sections 6.1 and 6.2 Appendix I.D., II, G., and II.H (H.13) |
F: Acknowledge as a subcriterion under key criterion 6 (community/public acceptance), consideration of the location and amount of land to which tribal members are likely to have access among the four alternatives that were evaluated. |
|
Executive Summary Sections 2.0 and 6.2 |
G: Give more discussion of the consequences for cost, time to completion, and likelihood of completion of the delayed start date of the vitrification treatment. |
|
Section 3.4 Appendix II.F. |
H: Address the implications of using monthly averages of pretreated liquid SLAW compositions when dose limits are on a tanker-by-tanker basis. |
|
Section 1.3.1.1. Appendix II.H. (H.10) |
I: The FFRDC needs to resolve this possible dose rate inconsistency:
|
|
Appendix II.H. (H.5.3) Appendix II.H. (H.5.3) |
J: The FFRDC report should elaborate the potential negative consequences of the unavailability of off-site disposal by (1) discussing the possibility that permission to dispose of grouted SLAW at WCS and/or Clive might never occur or someday be withdrawn; (2) discussing what is known about public acceptance regarding potential grouted SLAW disposal in Texas and Utah; and (3) providing more information surrounding the orphaned waste issue including specifics on how the issue might develop and what the consequences/coping measures might be. |
|
Section 6.2 Appendix I.D (D.3.7) |
K: The differences between on-site and off-site grouting treatment should be separately analyzed in the same level of detail as on- and off-site disposal. The grout alternatives should identify potential variations on the on-site and off-site alternatives, such as tank-side treatment or pretreatment, to provide DOE with the ability to make a financial “business case” with a range of budgetary possibilities for on- and offsite alternatives, including additional upfront DOE funding. This is also captured by a public comment from Hastings (see Appendix C) regarding possible technologies to increase the speed with which tank waste is retrieved. |
|
Section 3.3.4 |
L: Comparisons should be quantified, and as such, charts and graphs that lack a quantified basis should be eliminated (see Finding 4). This recommendation is particularly directed at the presentations in Section 4.0 Comparative Analyses. |
|
Section 4.3 |
M: If the FFRDC is to offer a recommendation, it needs to be fully transparent concerning the methods used to reach the recommendation and the analysis that supports the recommendation. In particular:
|
|
Section 6.2 Section 4.1, 4.3, and Appendix I.A (A.2) |
NOTES: The first column is the NAS recommendation. The second column is the revision made to the FFRDC report. The third column is the section in the FFRDC report where the revision can be found.
This page intentionally left blank.