CLEANUP
Hanford Cleanup: DOE's Efforts to Close Tank Farms Would Benefit from Clearer Legal Authorities and Communication
GAO | 1/7/2021
The Department of Energy, under agreement with EPA and Washington State, is cleaning up radioactive waste at its Hanford site. It finished retrieving waste from one group of underground tanks—a "tank farm"—and it has begun retrieving waste from 2 of the remaining 17.
If DOE classifies the residual waste in tanks as something other than high-level waste, and the state approves it, DOE can fill the tanks with grout and leave them in place. This could avoid some risks and save $18 billion. But DOE's legal authority to do this is unclear.
We recommended that Congress consider clarifying DOE's authority to manage the residual waste.
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NUCLEAR WASTE
Billions could be saved at Savannah River Site by reclassifying radioactive wastes, DOE says
Aiken Standard | 1/6/2021
Billions upon billions of dollars and years of toil could be saved by classifying and treating certain kinds of nuclear wastes currently trapped at sites across the U.S. as less dangerous, based on their characteristics, a new evaluation from the Department of Energy shows.
More than $200 billion could be pocketed if certain reprocessing wastes – both current and expected – at the Savannah River Site, Idaho National Laboratory and the Hanford site in Washington were categorized as not high-level radioactive waste, a term that denotes hazard level.
“Classifying these reprocessing wastes as non-HLW could enable DOE to begin disposition of such waste earlier, reduce costs, and lower the risk to workers, the public, and the environment,” the department said in a years-in-the-making report to Congress.
ECA released a write-up on January 4 highlighting the reclassification:
DOE took yet another step forward on its High-Level Waste Interpretation last week, providing House and Senate Armed Services Committee leadership with a report evaluating the “feasibility, costs, and cost savings of classifying covered defense nuclear waste as other than high-level radioactive waste, without decreasing environmental, health or public safety requirements,” as required under Section 3139 of the 2018 National
Defense Authorization Act. The report, “Evaluation of Potential Opportunities to Classify Certain Defense Nuclear Waste From Reprocessing as Other than High-Level Radioactive Waste,” evaluates the inventory of reprocessing waste that is in storage or is planned to be produced at the Savannah River Site (SRS), the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and at Hanford. The report identifies up to $230 billion in cleanup cost savings -- far exceeding any estimates to date.
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Read about DOE's High Level Waste Interpretation
Have questions about DOE’s recent high-level waste (HLW) interpretation? Download ECA’s Key Points and FAQs on the issue to better understand what ECA believes are the potential benefits of implementation.
Interested in learning more? Read the ECA report “Making Informed Decisions on DOE's Proposed High Level Waste Definition” at www.energyca.org/publications
Stay Current on Activities in the DOE World
Read the latest edition of the ECA Bulletin, a regular newsletter providing a detailed brief of ECA activities, legislative news, and major events from across the DOE complex. Have suggestions for future editions? Email bulletin@energyca.org.
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Learn More about Cleanup Sites with ECA's DOE Site Profiles
ECA's new site profiles detail DOE's 13 active Environmental Management cleanup sites and national laboratories, highlighting their history, missions, and priorities. The profiles are a key source for media, stakeholders, and the public to learn more about DOE site activities, contractors, advisory boards, and their surrounding local
governments.
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