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3 Committee Assessment of DOE-NNSA'S Conceptual Plans for Dilute and Dispose Process
Pages 19-36

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From page 19...
... . The committee agrees with earlier assessments that the technical complexity of the dilute and dispose process is lower than that of the construction of a MOX fuel option.
From page 20...
... Evidence of the changing nature of the program is a recently updated version of the Dilute and Dispose System Requirements document received by the committee during the writing of this report (DOE 2018d) .5 FINDING 2: The committee identified the following three barriers to implementation of DOE-NNSA's current conceptual plans:  Insufficient current statutory and current physical capacity within WIPP for disposal of 34 MT of diluted plutonium throughout the lifetime of the dilute and dispose project.
From page 21...
... Extending the end date of WIPP to 2050 or later requiring a permit modification. Some of these actions may be required for future TRU waste streams absent the disposal of 34 MT of diluted plutonium; regardless, the approval of the permits is necessary for DOE-NNSA's conceptual plan.
From page 22...
... WIPP's disposal capacity is defined by the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Land Withdrawal Act to be 6.2 million ft3 (175,564 m3) of defense-generated TRU waste.
From page 23...
... is shown in Figure 3-1. This analysis includes additional potential sources of TRU waste not shown in the 2017 Inventory Report.
From page 24...
... DOE proposes to create a "Land Withdrawal Act TRU Waste Volume of Record" to refer to the volume of TRU waste inside a disposal container. The permit modification request proposes to track the "LWA TRU Waste Volume of Record" separately from the NMED Permit "TRU Mixed Waste Volume." DOE notes in the permit request that the volume of emplaced contact-handled TRU (CH TRU)
From page 25...
... The combination of reduction in the "LWA TRU Waste Volume of Record" for already emplaced waste plus the potential disposal of 48.2 MT surplus plutonium would provide 58,110 m3 additional capacity under current LWA limits. The United States will continue to generate defense TRU waste through its weapons programs.
From page 26...
... There is a long history of commitments, some of which are legally binding, made by DOE related to radioactive waste removal from specific states. Delays in implementing the dilute and dispose process could result in fines and/or affect DOE's ability to import or remove waste into or out of South Carolina.17 FINDING 3: Shifting the plutonium disposition program of record to the dilute and dispose option will require detailed discussions between DOE and the states of New Mexico and South Carolina.
From page 27...
... There will likely be additional costs for maintaining WIPP's systems, structures, and components in a safe and secure condition during this life extension, and the entire cost of running and maintaining WIPP could fall on DOE-NNSA once the DOE-EM TRU waste mission has ended. DOE-NNSA has yet to issue a life-cycle cost estimate for the dilute and dispose option, and so the committee is unable to evaluate whether the additional costs noted above have been included in that estimate.
From page 28...
... immobilization … and … MOX fuel. The Department has selected the Savannah River Site in South Carolina as the location for all three disposition facilities." (DOE 2000, p.
From page 29...
... 2016 Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin announces suspension of the PMDA a "Discarding Plutonium to WIPP" was rejected in this analysis due to lack of capacity at WIPP, (see DOE 1996a, summary table)
From page 30...
... FINDING 6: Based on limited information regarding the NEPA strategy for the dilute and dispose pro gram and the fact that DOE-NNSA's dilute and dispose plans derive from a similar program managed by DOE-EM to dilute and dispose of 6 MT of surplus plutonium, the committee finds that a full program matic environmental impact statement (PEIS) of the dilute and dispose option, encompassing all sites, transportation, and activities involved in the dilute and dispose process rather than a supplemental EIS would help ensure the proper scope and scale of the proposed change.
From page 31...
... The 1994 committee assessed disposition options for meeting the spent fuel standard that included both chemical and radiological barriers or chemical and substantial physical barriers but does not review a dilute and dispose option as proposed by DOE-NNSA. The PMDA does not reference the 1994 NAS report but the means for dispositioning the surplus plutonium outlined in the agreement, irradiation of MOX fuel in nuclear reactors, met the spent fuel standard.
From page 32...
... Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin raised concerns in an April 2016 meeting with journalists about the United States' use of the dilute and dispose process for dispositioning surplus plutonium under the PMDA: [...]
From page 33...
... . The dilute and dispose conceptual plans rely on significant permit modifications for WIPP operations to be approved by the State of New Mexico.
From page 34...
... Since New Mexico will be the recipient of the diluted plutonium waste and New Mexico's Environmental Department will review DOE's permit modification requests, an independent technical review organization representing New Mexico's concerns could increase the robustness of DOE plans as well as increase public trust in them. 26 The EEG was established with federal funding in 1978 to provide an independent technical review of the nuclear waste repository proposed for salt beds in New Mexico.
From page 35...
... As the classified aspects of the dilute and dispose program plans mature, an independent technical group with appropriate clearances could improve the planning and increase trust across the southern states including South Carolina where the diluted plutonium waste will be stored until it is shipped to WIPP for disposition. The classified aspect of the adulterant leads to other complications.
From page 36...
... 2. Environmental Impact Statements: How many and what kinds of environmental impact statements are currently associated with the dilute and dispose program?


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