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Review of the Continued Analysis of Supplemental Treatment Approaches of Low-Activity Waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation: Review #3 (2023)

Chapter: Appendix B: Statement of Task

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Statement of Task." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Review of the Continued Analysis of Supplemental Treatment Approaches of Low-Activity Waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation: Review #3. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26872.
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Appendix B

Statement of Task

An ad hoc committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will review the analysis carried out by the federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) selected by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management on approaches for supplemental treatment of low-activity waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. The review will evaluate the technical quality and completeness of the following:

  1. Does the FFRDC’s report clearly lay out a framework of decisions to be made among the treatment technologies, waste forms, and disposal locations?
  2. Does the FFRDC’s report consider in its analysis all the elements, criteria, and factors specified in Section 3125 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2021 (NDAA)?
  3. Does the FFRDC’s report provide additional analysis for the grout treatment approach as identified in the FFRDC report for Section 3134 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2017?

The review will be carried out concurrently with the FFRDC’s analysis with opportunities for input from the Washington State Department of Ecology, other principal Hanford stakeholders, and members of the public. The study will produce three consensus reports containing findings and recommendations. The first report will focus on study charges 1 and 2. It will be produced after the FFRDC briefs the committee on its plans for carrying out the mandated assessments and delivers to the committee a draft of the framework as described in Section 3125 of the NDAA of 2021. The second report will focus on study charges 1, 2, and 3. It will be produced after the FFRDC presents and delivers to the committee its next-to-final draft framework document. This report will also provide a summary of public comments, including comments from the Washington State Department of Ecology, received during a minimum 60-day comment period, for the committee’s review and the next-to-final draft of the FFRDC report. The third report will review the FFRDC’s final assessment results.

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Statement of Task." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Review of the Continued Analysis of Supplemental Treatment Approaches of Low-Activity Waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation: Review #3. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26872.
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Page 39 Cite
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Statement of Task." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Review of the Continued Analysis of Supplemental Treatment Approaches of Low-Activity Waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation: Review #3. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26872.
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Page 40 Cite
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Statement of Task." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Review of the Continued Analysis of Supplemental Treatment Approaches of Low-Activity Waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation: Review #3. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26872.
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The Hanford Nuclear Reservation in the state of Washington produced about two-thirds of the nations plutonium for nuclear weapons from 1944 until the last reactor was shut down in 1987. The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM) manages the ongoing clean-up at Hanford and has built a plant to convert the high-level radioactive waste into a glass form (vitrification) for safe disposal. However, decisions remain about how best to treat and dispose of the low-level waste at Hanford, which comprises over 90% of the volume of waste. To inform its decision, DOE contracted with key Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDC), led by Savannah River National Laboratory, to carry out an analysis. This final in a trilogy of reports from the National Academies reviews the FFRDC third report released in January 2023.

The review finds that the FFRDC team made a strong technical case that converting the supplemental low-level waste from the vitrification process to a grout form (like cement) is the best option in terms of cost-effectiveness and timeliness, and that off-site disposal of that grout is a valid option as it will be away from potable water. The FFRDC provided a useful framework to help decision-makers understand the issues and trade-offs of the disposal options and did an excellent job of isolating specific factual considerations that can be analyzed, often quantified, and compared with each other. The FFRDC chose to provide a purely technical analysis that excluded analysis of two important factors to be considered - securing regulatory permissions and public acceptance - treating them, for now, as uncertainties. Looking ahead, the DOE faces many uncertainties and should emphasize flexibility in its overall approach, allowing for multiple, redundant options and pathways, as well as the ability to change over time.

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