The Energy Department expects in April to file a permit application for storage of radioactive and chemically hazardous waste at its Separations Process Research Unit (SPRU) cleanup in upstate New York.
A total of 22 containers are expected to hold waste generated by ongoing environmental remediation at the site, according to a recent DOE notice. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), which is an authorized state regulator for the SPRU remediation operation, requires the material be stored under a hazardous waste permit.
The Energy Department has been storing mixed transuranic (TRU) waste under 30-day extensions granted by NYSDEC, said a DOE spokesperson. On Feb. 5, DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) and the state signed a consent order allowing for continued storage of the waste. The order also requires EM to submit an application for a storage permit, which is intended to replace the consent order.
The waste resulted from decontamination of the H2 and G2 buildings on the SPRU site, which has been overseen by contractor AECOM.
SPRU is located at the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory in Schenectady County and was used in the 1950s for research into chemical separation of plutonium and uranium. The remediation so far is being done under a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) corrective action-only permit but must now obtain a state Part 373 operating permit, which requires public participation.
The Energy Department expects the transuranic waste or mixed transuranic waste will eventually be shipped to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. But that might not happen until 2021 due to a national backlog of TRU waste to be shipped to WIPP.
A public hearing on the permit request was scheduled Thursday at the Niskayuna Town Hall. The public will have further opportunities to provide feedback on the permit request, according to the DOE notice.
