WIPP TRANSURANIC WASTE INVENTORY 2009 EPA WIPP RECERTIFICATION FACT SHEET WIPP TRANSURANIC WASTE INVENTORY How has the WIPP transuranic (TRU) waste inventory changed since the initial certification decision and the 2004 recertification decision? As the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) proceeds with the cleanup of its complexes across the nation and the disposal of waste in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) repository, knowledge about the DOE's TRU waste inventory has improved significantly. At the time of the 1998 certification decision, no waste had been disposed of at WIPP. Therefore, the waste inventory was only an estimate of the waste DOE would emplace in the repository. The 2004 Compliance Recertification Application (2004- CRA) used an updated inventory (Appendix Data, Attachment F) for the performance assessment (PA) calculations. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requested a revised inventory during its completeness review and subsequently the 2004-Perfonnance Assessment Baseline Calculation (2004- PABC) inventory was used to recertify WIPP. The primary differences between the 1996 Compliance Certification Application (CCA) and the 2004 PABC inventories are as follows: Characterization (40 CFR 194.24) for additional information on the inventory. The latest inventory can be found at: http://www.wipp.energY.gov/libranr/Baseline2004/FY2008/D OE TRU-2008-3425.htm. Will all waste in the TRU waste inventory be emplaced at WIPP? Because of possible changes in plans at various DOE sites, all the waste included in the TRU waste inventory may not be shipped to WIPP. It is also possible that EPA may not approve some waste for disposal at WIPP for regulatoiy reasons. In any case, before any waste is shipped or disposed at WIPP, EPA ensures that the waste meets the WIPP Waste Acceptance Criteria. Does the current WIPP waste inventory contain high-level waste (HLW)? • The 2004-PABC inventory accounted for the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) process by which 55-gallon drums are compacted and placed into 100-gallon drums, and disregards those calculations related to the proposed waste incineration process that was described in the CCA. In addition, the INL inventory was revised to include buried waste identified for WIPP shipment. • The 2004-PABC inventory includes approximately 8,400 m3 (296,688 ft3) of stored Hanford tank waste that was added to the inventory in December 2002. • The 2004-PABC inventory accounted for the deletion of several waste streams from Hanford Richland Operations inventory after the original CRA-2004 submittal. For the 2009-CRA. the inventory is the same as used for the 2004-CRA PABC inventory. See CRA-2009, Waste What is the transuranic waste inventory? The TRU waste inventory describes the type, volume, chemical components, packaging materials, waste material parameters, and radioactivity that is potentially destined for WIPP and includes the waste that is actually emplaced. This information is used for the performance assessment (PA) calculations that in turn demonstrate compliance with EPA's disposal regulations. Before the disposal of any waste at WIPP, EPA inspects the site that generated the waste to confirm that the DOE can measure and track the amount and content of radiological and physical components of the waste. Since 1998, EPA has conducted over 100 inspections at DOE waste generator sites. EPA also inspects operations at the WIPP site annually. During annual inspections, EPA verifies tracking of TRU waste being shipped from other DOE sites, and confirms that WIPP continues to meet the waste limits established bv EPA's regulations. United States Environmental Protection Agency | Office of Air and Radiation (6608J) | June 2009 http://www.epa.gov/radiation/wipp/index.html ------- WIPP TRANSURANIC WASTE INVENTORY The WIPP Land Withdrawal Act explicitly states that HLW cannot be disposed at WIPP. Waste that does not meet all legal and technical requirements for disposal will not be emplaced in the WIPP repository. EPA continues to monitor the TRU waste inventory to ensure HLW does not go to WIPP. Can waste that is not in the inventory go to WIPP? The LWA and EPA have established criterion for determining which waste may be disposed of at WIPP. As DOE continues to characterize waste throughout its facilities, waste will continue to be identified for disposal at WIPP. TRU waste that is not included in the current waste inventory may still be allowed for disposal at WIPP, but only if all of the following conditions are met: 1. EPA determines that the waste characteristics meet the limits for WIPP disposal. 2. Waste characteristics are reflected in the performance assessment. 2009 EPA WIPP RECERTIFICATION FACT SHEET 3. The waste meets all the criteria for acceptability at WIPP. EPA's technical evaluation During the full technical evaluation of the 2009 CRA, EPA will focus on the following aspects of the updated TRU waste inventory: 1. Examination of DOE's process for gathering information about the waste inventory from the generator sites. 2. Verification that DOE appropriately followed its process for gathering and compiling the information about the waste inventory. 3. Ensuring that the information about the waste inventory is appropriately incorporated into the recertification performance assessment. Legend Location of WIPP Generator Sites Yellow — Large Quantity Site Green — Small Quantity SitelRed — Sites that are De-inventoried| AE Argonne National Laboratory AL Ames Laboratory AM ARCO Medical Products AW Material and Fuels Complex BC Battelle Columbus Laboratories BL Bab cock and Wilcox Nuclear Energy Services BN Brookhaven National Laboratory B T B ettis Atomic P ower L ab oratory ET Energy Technology Engineering Center FM F ernald Environmental Manag ement Proj ect FR Framatome (AREVA) IN Idaho National Laboratory IT Inhalation Toxicology Research Institute KA Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory KN Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory-NFS LA Los Alamos National Laboratory LB Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory LL Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory MC U.S. Army Materiel Command MD Mound Plant MU University of Missouri Research Reactor ND Nuclear Radiation Development Site, Inc. NT Nevada Test Site OR Oak Ridge National Laboratory PA Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant PX Pantex Plant RF Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site RL Hanford Site (Richland Operations Office) RP Hanford Site (Office of River Protection) SA Sandia National Laboratories SP Separations Process Research Unit SR Savannah River Site TB Teledyne Brown Engineering VN General Electric Vallecitos Nuclear Center WV West Valley Demonstration Project WP Waste Isolation Pilot Plant .4s of December 31, 2007, approximately 84,500 cubic meters (2.98 million cubic feet) ofCH waste and about 2820 cubic meters (99,600 cubic- feet) ofRH waste at DOE sites across the county' are awaiting disposal at WIPP. CH waste disposal commenced in March 1999. BetM'een this time and the 2004 CR4 approval, approximately 36,500 cubic meters (1.29 million cubic feet) had been emplaced. No RH waste M'as disposed at this time. .4s of the January 2009, the WIPP Waste Information System reports approximately 57,800 cubic meters (2.04 million cubic feet) of CH and 83 cubic meters (2,930 cubic feet) of RH waste had been emplaced at WIPP. United States Enviromnental Protection Agency | Office of Air and Radiation (6608J) | June 2009 http://www.epa.gov/radiation/wipp/index.html ------- |