The latest version of the Senate’s fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act calls upon the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to report on repackaging of transuranic waste at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) after an April 11 incident in which the lids blew off four waste drums.
It is “disturbing” that at least one of the four drums had been remediated to prepare it for shipment to DOE’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico, according to the detailed report for the Senate bill, made public this week. Remediation included checking the waste for prohibited items such as aerosol cans. The report noted the drum had not yet been certified for shipment.
After a transuranic waste drum from the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) ruptured underground at WIPP, DOE was required to perform a complete review of waste preparation and certification at its waste generator sites, the Senate Armed Services Committee report said.
The Senate adjourned for the week Thursday without passing the defense policy bill.
The NDAA report instructs GAO to examine what procedures are in place at the Idaho Site to prevent shipment of potentially combustible drums. No specific date is stipulated. The report instructs the GAO to work with the committee in scheduling the report and accompanying briefings.
A “significant portion” of material was ejected when four 55-gallon drums of radioactive waste blew their lids off during the INL incident, Fluor Idaho said in a recent report. Repackaged waste sludge was found scattered on the floor and on other surfaces within Airlock 5 of the Accelerated Retrieval Project 5 facility, the Idaho Cleanup Project contractor said.
This contractor’s first monthly report to the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, which covers April 27 through May 24, did not offer any more detailed estimate on how much material spewed from the drums. Early tests suggest there is little chance of this spilled material reheating and endangering cleanup personnel. The material has been exposed to air since April 11, the report notes.
Fluor Idaho said most cleanup of the floor around the breached drums should be done this month. But it is not yet known what caused the drums to overheat, and no date has been set for resuming repackaging of waste for off-site shipment.
At least part of the waste in the affected drums came from the former Rocky Flats nuclear weapons site in Colorado. Prior to the recent repackaging, it had been buried for years in a subsurface area of INL.
A fire crew responded to a smoke alarm at the facility around 10:35 p.m. local time on April 11 and discovered a smoldering drum with its lid resting about 10 meters away. The drum’s temperature at the time was roughly 300 degrees Fahrenheit, equipment indicated.
After attempting to extinguish the smoldering drum, the crew left the building. Shortly after midnight a loud “bang or boom,” was heard outside, the report said. All personnel were moved back to 100 meters from the building. Another loud noise was heard inside the structure at about 3:28 a.m. April 12.
In the first week after the episode, filters from continuous air monitors, along with other samples from the building, were sent to the Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina and the Southwest Research Institute in Texas for chemical and radiological tests. In the weeks since then, samples of the material ejected from the drums, along with samples remaining in the containers, were sent to the two sites for further evaluation.
In a June 1 email, Fluor Idaho spokesman Erik Simpson said the affected drums are still in the airlock and will be overpacked in preparation for future processing. The waste will be ultimately placed in different containers with new lids.
Several other drums were in the immediate vicinity and were not affected during the drum breach, Simpson said. None of the waste containers have been removed from the airlock.
