The Energy Department in today’s Federal Register formally published its reinterpretation of high-level radioactive waste.
As announced last week and months ago, DOE interprets that the existing HLW definition means that not all wastes from spent fuel reprocessing are highly-radioactive. Some material on the less radioactive end of the traditional high-level spectrum could conceivably be disposed of at sites licensed for low-level radioactive waste or transuranic waste.
In connection with this finding, DOE published plans for an assessment, under the National Environmental Policy Act, to consider disposal options for as much as 10,000 gallons of grouted or vitrified wastewater from the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina.
Publication of the Federal Register notices had to occur before opponents can pursue legal challenges, a source noted Friday.
Currently, the recycle wastewater is returned to the SRS tank farm for volume reduction by evaporation or is beneficially reused on-site. The current process is expected to end in fiscal 2024 as the agency accelerates tank closures. The Energy Department will use the environmental assessment to decide if the recycled water would be suitable for disposal at commercial low-level waste sites operated by EnergySolutions in Utah or Waste Control Specialists in Texas.
