Environmental Engineering Reference
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of its elements will remain radioactive for thousands of years. DHLW is
also a mixed waste because it has highly corrosive components or has
organics or heavy metals that are regulated under RCRA. In the U.S.,
DOE has about 399,000 m
3
of HLW stored in large tanks at some locations
such as Hanford, Washington; Idaho National Engineering Laboratories
(INEL), Idaho; Savannah River Site (SRS), South Carolina; etc. DOE is
proceeding with plans to treat DHLW by processing it into a solid form
(e.g., borosilicate glass) that would not be readily diffusive into the air or
leak into the ground or surface water. In the U.S., this treatment process
is called vitrification that will generate approximately 29,000 canisters to
be disposed of in a geologic repository.
•
DOE Mixed Transuranic Waste (DMTRU) is waste that has a hazardous
component and radioactive elements heavier than uranium. The radioac-
tivity in the DMTRU must be greater than 100 nCi/g and co-mingled with
RCRA hazardous constituents. The principle hazard from DMTRU is
alpha-particle radiation through inhalation or ingestion. DMTRU is pri-
marily generated from nuclear weapons fabrication, plutonium-bearing
reactor fuel fabrication, and spent fuel reprocessing. The percentage of
non-DOE MTRU is negligible. Approximately 55% of DOE's TRU waste
is MTRU. In the U.S., DMTRU is currently being treated and stored at
some sites such as Los Alamos National Laboratories, New Mexico (8,000
m
3
); Rocky Flats, Colorado (1,500 m
3
); Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
Tennessee (1,500 m
3
).
DOE's 1995 Baseline Environmental Management Report roughly estimates that
the life-cycle costs for DHLW, DMTRU, and DLLMW are $34 billion, $13 billion,
and $13 billion, respectively, over a 75-year period.
3.4.1.2
Non-DOE Mixed Waste
Almost all of the commercially generated (non-DOE) mixed waste is composed of
Low-Level Radioactive Waste (LLRW) and Hazardous Waste and is called Low-
Level Mixed Waste (LLMW). Commercially generated LLMW is produced in all
50 states of the U.S. at industrial, hospital, and nuclear power plant facilities.
Radioactive and hazardous materials are used in a number of processes such as
medical diagnostic testing and research, pharmaceutical and biotechnology devel-
opment, pesticide research, as well as nuclear power plant operations. Based on the
results of a survey conducted by NRC and EPA, approximately 4,000 m
3
of LLMW
were generated in the U.S. in 1990. Of this amount, approximately 2,840 m
3
was
liquid scintillation cocktail (LSC). Organic solvents such as chlorofluorocarbons
(CFCs), corrosive organics, and waste oil made up 18%, toxic metals made up 3%,
and “other” waste made up the remaining 8%.
Under the 1984 Amendments to RCRA, Land Disposal Restriction (LDR) reg-
ulations prohibit disposal of most mixed waste including LLMW until it meets
specific treatment standards. While most of the commercial mixed waste that is
generated and stored can be treated to meet the LDRs by commercially available
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