In 1943, as part of the Manhattan Project, the Hanford Nuclear Reservation was established with the mission to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons. During 45 years of operations, the Hanford Site produced about 67 metric tonnes of plutonium—approximately two-thirds of the nation's stockpile. Production processes generated radioactive and other hazardous wastes and resulted in airborne, surface, subsurface, and groundwater contamination. Presently, 177 underground tanks contain collectively about 210 million liters (about 56 million gallons) of waste. The chemically complex and diverse waste is difficult to manage and dispose of safely. Section 3134 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 calls for a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) to conduct an analysis of approaches for treating the portion of low-activity waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation intended for supplemental treatment. The third of four, this report provides an overall assessment of the FFRDC team's final draft report, dated April 5, 2019.

Contents

• The National Academies of SCIENCES • ENGINEERING • MEDICINE
• COMMITTEE ON SUPPLEMENTAL TREATMENT OF LOW-ACTIVITY WASTE AT THE HANFORD NUCLEAR RESERVATION
• NUCLEAR AND RADIATION STUDIES BOARD
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Reviewer Acknowledgments
• Summary
  • USING THE FFRDC REPORT
• 1. Context and Setting
  • PROPOSED TREATMENT PLAN AND CONGRESSIONAL MANDATE TO ANALYZE AND REVIEW THE ANALYSIS OF SUPPLEMENTAL TREATMENT APPROACHES
  • STUDY PROCESS
  • BRIEF HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF TANK WASTE TREATMENT APPROACHES
  • REVIEW REPORT ORGANIZATION
• 2. The Committee's Technical Review of the FFRDC's Final Draft Analysis
  • GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
  • METHODS USED TO ASSESS RISKS, COSTS, BENEFITS, SCHEDULE, AND REGULATORY COMPLIANCE AND HOW THEY WERE IMPLEMENTED
  • WASTE CONDITIONING AND SUPPLEMENTAL PRE-TREATMENT APPROACHES CONSIDERED IN THE ASSESSMENTS, INCLUDING ANY APPROACHES NOT IDENTIFIED BY CONGRESS
  • OTHER KEY INFORMATION AND DATA USED IN THE ASSESSMENTS
  • PRESENTATION OF ASSESSMENT RESULTS
  • THE COMMITTEE'S FINDINGS
• 3. The Committee's Assessment of the Usefulness for Decision-Makers of the FFRDC's Final Draft Analysis
  • CONSIDERATIONS FOR DECISION-MAKERS
  • THE COMMITTEE'S RECOMMENDATIONS
• References
• Appendix A. Section 3134 of the Fiscal Year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act
• Appendix B. Statement of Task
• Appendix C. Presentations at the Committee's Information-Gathering Meetings
• Appendix D. Biographical Sketches of the Committee, Technical Adviser, and Study Director
• Appendix E. Acronyms and Abbreviations

Suggested citation:

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2019. Review of the Final Draft Analysis of Supplemental Treatment Approaches of Low-Activity Waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation: Review #3. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25509.

Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.17226/25509

Additional copies of this publication are available from the National Academies Press, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Keck 360, Washington, DC 20001; (800) 624-6242 or (202) 334-3313; http://www.nap.edu.

Printed in the United States of America