Preliminary Assessment of the Hanford Tank Waste Feed Acceptance and Product Qualification Programs

Abstract

The U.S. Department of Energy-Office of Environmental Management (EM) has tasked the national laboratories to provide the scientific and technological rigor to support EM program and project planning, technology development and deployment, project execution, and assessment of program outcomes. The Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) are coordinating the engagement of the broader national laboratory community to develop and deploy technologies and programs to reduce risk, as well as cost and schedule, in the Hanford tank waste feed acceptance and product qualification area. As a first step, the laboratories examined the technical risks and uncertainties associated with the planned waste feed acceptance and product qualification testing for Hanford tank wastes. Science and technology gaps were identified for work associated with 1) waste feed acceptance criteria development with emphasis on identifying the feed properties and the process requirements, 2) the Tank Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) process qualification program, and 3) the WTP High Level Waste (HLW) glass product qualification program. Opportunities for streamlining the acceptance and qualification programs were also considered in the gap assessment. Technical approaches to address the gaps and/or implement the opportunities were identified. In some cases, the identified gaps or improvement opportunities are currently being worked by the Hanford contractors and a status of those programs is included in the approach for completeness. The approaches will be further refined and developed as strong integrated teams of researchers from national laboratories, contractors, industry, and academia are brought together to provide the best available science and technology solutions. Pursuing the identified approaches will have immediate and long-term benefits to DOE in reducing risks and uncertainties associated with tank waste removal and preparation, transfers from the tank farm to the WTP, processing within the WTP Pretreatment Facility, and in producing qualified HLW and Low Activity Waste glass products. Additionally, implementation of the identified opportunities provides the potential for long-term cost savings given the anticipated facility life of WTP. A summary of the technology gaps and/or improvement opportunities are provided in the table below. Revisions to this assessment will be performed as programs are completed by both the laboratories and the contractors providing support to the Hanford Tank Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant.