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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY MANUAL
Washington, DC
DOE M 435.1-1
Approved: 7-09-99 Change 1:
Chg 1: 6-19-01
` Certified: 1-9-07
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT MANUAL
1. PURPOSE. This Manual further describes the requirements
and establishes specific responsibilities for
implementing DOE O 435.1, Radioactive Waste Management,
for the management of DOE high-level waste, transuranic
waste, low-level waste, and the radioactive component
of mixed waste. The purpose of the Manual is to catalog
those procedural requirements and existing practices
that ensure that all DOE elements and contractors
continue to manage DOE’s radioactive waste in a manner
that is protective of worker and public health and
safety, and the environment.
2. APPLICABILITY. The requirements set forth in this
Manual apply to DOE elements and contractors as set
forth in DOE O 435.1, Radioactive Waste Management.
3. SUMMARY. This Manual is organized into four (4)
chapters. Chapter I, General Requirements and
Responsibilities, contains requirements and
responsibilities which are applicable to all
radioactive waste types and delineates responsibilities
for radioactive waste management decision-making at the
complex-wide and Field Element levels. Chapters II
through IV contain those requirements that are
applicable to high-level waste, transuranic waste, and
low-level waste including the radioactive component of
mixed low-level waste, respectively.
4. IMPLEMENTATION. The requirements of this Manual apply
to all new and existing DOE radioactive waste
management facilities, operations, and activities.
Implementation of the requirements shall begin at the
earliest possible date, and all DOE entities shall be
in compliance with this directive within one year of
its issuance. Compliance with this directive includes
implementing the requirements or an approved
implementation or corrective action plan. If compliance
with this Order cannot be achieved within one year of
its issuance, the Field Element Manager must request
approval to extend the compliance date to no later than
October 1, 2001, from the cognizant Program Secretarial
Officer (PSO). Failure to implement the requirements of
this directive shall, through the appropriate lines of
management, result in corrective actions including, if
necessary, shutdown of radioactive waste management
facilities, operations, or activities until the
appropriate requirements are implemented. Any of the
requirements in this Manual may be waived or modified
through application of a DOE-approved requirements
tailoring process, such as the “Necessary and
Sufficient Closure Process” in DOE P 450.3 and DOE M
450.3-1 and DOE P 450.4, Safety Management System
Policy, the applicable or relevant and appropriate
requirements identification process for actions taken
pursuant to the Department’s CERCLA authorities, or by
an exemption processed in accordance with the
requirements of DOE M 251.1-1A, Directives System
Manual.
5. REVISIONS. Systematic planning, execution, and
evaluation of radioactive waste management facilities,
operations, and activities will provide the basis for
evaluating the adequacy of and, if necessary, revising
the requirements of DOE O 435.1, Radioactive Waste
Management, and this Manual. The revision process will
be based on DOE P 450.4, Safety Management System
Policy, and will implement continuous improvement for
management of radioactive waste. The process includes:
identifying the functions necessary to execute
radioactive waste management responsibilities;
conducting an analysis of the hazards associated with
performing those functions; developing and implementing
the proper controls to mitigate any associated hazards;
developing and implementing a periodic assessment of
work performance; and providing feedback to revise the
work processes and incorporate lessons learned, as
appropriate. Administrative requirements of the Order
and Manual will be revised as needed to support safe
and efficient waste management.
6. DEFINITIONS. Definitions for DOE M 435.1-1, Radioactive
Waste Management Manual, are provided in Attachment 1.
7. REFERENCE. DOE O 435.1, Radioactive Waste Management,
dated 7-09-99.
8. CONTACT. Call the Office of Waste Management at (202)
586-0370.
BY ORDER OF THE SECRETARY OF ENERGY: THOMAS T.
TAMURA Acting Director of Management and
Administration
CHAPTER I
GENERAL REQUIREMENTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
1. REQUIREMENTS
A. Delegation of Authority. Managers charged with
responsibilities within this Manual may delegate
authority for these tasks to another manager. All
delegations of authority shall be documented.
B. Use of Guidance. Additional information supporting
the requirements in this Manual is contained in
the Implementation Guide for use with DOE M 435.1-
1, Radioactive Waste Management Manual. This
Guide, DOE G 435.1-1, Implementation Guide for DOE
M 435.1-1, shall be reviewed when implementing the
requirements of this Manual. The Guide provides
additional information and acceptable methods for
meeting the requirements. Other methods may be
used but must ensure an adequate level of safety
commensurate with the hazards associated with the
work and be consistent with the radioactive waste
management basis.
C. Radioactive Waste Management. All radioactive
waste subject to DOE O 435.1, Radioactive Waste
Management, and the requirements of this Manual
shall be managed as high-level waste, transuranic
waste, low-level waste, or mixed low- level waste.
D. Analysis of Environmental Impacts. Existing and
proposed radioactive waste management facilities,
operations, and activities shall meet the
requirements of 10 CFR Part 1021, National
Environmental Policy Act Implementing Procedures;
and DOE O 451.1A, National Environmental Policy
Act Compliance Program. All reasonable
alternatives shall be considered, as appropriate.
Nothing in this Order is meant to restrict
consideration of alternatives to proposed actions.
E. Requirements of Other Regulations and DOE
Directives. The following requirements and DOE
directives are required for all DOE radioactive
waste management facilities, operations, and
activities as applicable. Any of the requirements
for the following Departmental directives may be
waived or modified through application of a DOE-
approved requirements tailoring process, such as
the “Necessary and Sufficient Closure Process” in
DOE P 450.3 and DOE M 450.3-1 and DOE P 450.4,
Safety Management System Policy, or by an
exemption processed in accordance with the
requirements of that directive or DOE M 251.1-1A,
Directives System Manual.
(1) Analysis of Operations Information. Data that
measure the environment, safety, and health
performance of radioactive waste management
facilities, operations, and activities shall
be identified, collected, and analyzed as
required by DOE O 210.1, Performance
Indicators and Analysis of Operations
Information.
(2) Classified Waste. Radioactive waste to which
access has been limited for national security
reasons and cannot be declassified shall be
managed in accordance with the requirements
of DOE 5632.1C, Protection and Control of
Safeguards and Security Interests, and DOE
5633.3B, Control and Accountability of
Nuclear Materials.
(3) Conduct of Operations. Radioactive waste
management facilities, operations, and
activities shall be conducted in a manner
based on consideration of the associated
hazards. Waste management facilities,
operations, and activities shall meet the
requirements of DOE 5480.19, Conduct of
Operations Requirements for DOE Facilities.
(4) Criticality Safety. Radioactive waste
management facilities, operations, and
activities shall be covered by a criticality
safety program in accordance with DOE O
420.1, Facility Safety.
(5) Emergency Management Program. Radioactive
waste management facilities, operations, and
activities shall maintain an emergency
management program in accordance with DOE O
151.1, Comprehensive Emergency Management
System.
(6) Environmental and Occurrence Reporting.
Radioactive waste management facilities,
operations, and activities shall meet the
reporting requirements of DOE O 231.1,
Environment, Safety and Health Reporting, and
DOE O 232.1A, Occurrence Reporting and
Processing of Operations Information.
(7) Environmental Monitoring. Radioactive waste
management facilities, operations, and
activities shall meet the environmental
monitoring requirements of DOE 5400.1,
General Environmental Protection Program, and
DOE 5400.5, Radiation Protection of the
Public and the Environment.
(8) Hazard Analysis Documentation and
Authorization Basis. Radioactive waste
management facilities, operations, and
activities shall implement DOE Standards, DOE-
STD-1027-92, Hazard Categorization and
Accident Analysis Techniques for Compliance
with DOE 5480.23, Nuclear Safety Analysis
Reports, and/or DOE-EM-STD-5502-94, DOE
Limited Standard: Hazard Baseline
Documentation, and shall, as applicable,
prepare and maintain hazard analysis
documentation and an authorization basis as
required by DOE O 425.1A, Startup and Restart
of Nuclear Facilities, DOE O 5480.21,
Unreviewed Safety Questions, DOE 5480.22,
Technical Safety Requirements, and DOE
5480.23, Nuclear Safety Analysis Reports.
(9) Life-Cycle Asset Management. Planning,
acquisition, operation, maintenance, and
disposition of radioactive waste management
facilities shall be in accordance with DOE O
430.1A, Life-Cycle Asset Management, and DOE
4330.4B, Maintenance Management Program,
including a configuration management process
to ensure the integrity of physical assets
and systems. Corporate physical asset
databases shall be maintained as complete,
current inventories of physical assets and
systems to allow reliable analysis of
existing and potential hazards to the public
and workers.
(10) Mixed Waste. Radioactive waste that contains
both source, special nuclear, or by-product
material subject to the Atomic Energy Act of
1954, as amended, and a hazardous component
is also subject to the Resource Conservation
and Recovery Act (RCRA), as amended.
(11) Packaging and Transportation. Radioactive
waste shall be packaged and transported in
accordance with DOE O 460.1A, Packaging and
Transportation Safety, and DOE O 460.2,
Departmental Materials Transportation and
Packaging Management.
(12) Quality Assurance Program. Radioactive waste
management facilities, operations, and
activities shall develop and maintain a
quality assurance program that meets the
requirements of 10 CFR 830.120, Quality
Assurance Requirements, and DOE O 414.1,
Quality Assurance, as applicable.
(13) Radiation Protection. Radioactive waste
management facilities, operations, and
activities shall meet the requirements of 10
CFR Part 835, Occupational Radiation
Protection, and DOE 5400.5, Radiation
Protection of the Public and the Environment.
(14) Records Management. Radioactive waste
management facilities, operations, and
activities shall develop and maintain a
record-keeping system, as required by DOE O
200.1, Information Management Program, and
DOE O 414.1, Quality Assurance. Records shall
be established and maintained for radioactive
waste generated, treated, stored,
transported, or disposed. To the extent
possible, records prepared in response to
other requirements may be used to satisfy the
documentation requirements of this Manual.
Additional records may be required to satisfy
the regulations applicable to the hazardous
waste components of mixed waste.
(15) Release of Waste Containing Residual
Radioactive Material. Processes for
determining and documenting that waste is
suitable to be released and managed without
regard to its radioactive content shall be in
accordance with the criteria and requirements
in DOE 5400.5, Radiation Protection of the
Public and the Environment.
(16) Safeguards and Security. Appropriate features
shall be incorporated into the design and
operation of radioactive waste management
facilities, operations, and activities to
prevent unauthorized access and operations,
and for purposes of nuclear materials control
and accountability, where applicable; and
shall be consistent with DOE O 470.1,
Safeguards and Security Program.
(17) Safety Management System. Radioactive waste
management facilities, operations, and
activities shall incorporate the principles
of integrated safety management as described
in DOE P 450.4, Safety Management System
Policy, and DOE P 450.5, Line Environment,
Safety and Health Oversight, and meet the
requirements of the safety management systems
sections of 48 CFR Chapter 9, Department of
Energy Acquisition Regulations and DOE M
411.1-1, Manual of Safety Management
Functions, Responsibilities, and Authorities.
(18) Site Evaluation and Facility Design. New
radioactive waste management facilities,
operations, and activities shall be sited and
designed in accordance with DOE O 420.1,
Facility Safety, and DOE O 430.1A, Life-Cycle
Asset Management.
(19) Training and Qualification. A training and
qualification program shall be implemented
for radioactive waste management program
personnel, and shall meet the requirements of
DOE O 360.1, Training, and DOE 5480.20A,
Personnel Selection, Qualification, and
Training Requirements for DOE Nuclear
Facilities.
(20) Waste Minimization and Pollution Prevention.
Waste minimization and pollution prevention
shall be implemented for radioactive waste
management facilities, operations, and
activities to meet the requirements of
Executive Order 12856, Federal Compliance
with Right-to-Know Laws and Pollution
Prevention Requirements, and Executive Order
13101, Greening the Government through Waste
Prevention, Recycling, and Federal
Acquisition, and DOE 5400.1, General
Environmental Protection Program.
(21) Worker Protection. Radioactive waste
management facilities, operations, and
activities shall meet the requirements of DOE
O 440.1A, Worker Protection Management for
DOE Federal and Contractor Employees.
2. RESPONSIBILITIES
A. Program Secretarial Officers. Program Secretarial
Officers with radioactive waste management
facilities, operations, or activities are
responsible within their respective programs for
ensuring that the Field Element Managers meet the
requirements of DOE O 435.1, Radioactive Waste
Management, and this Manual.
B. Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management.
The Assistant Secretary for Environmental
Management is responsible for:
(1) Complex-Wide Radioactive Waste Management
Programs. Establishing and maintaining
integrated Complex-Wide Radioactive Waste
Management Programs for high-level,
transuranic, low-level, and mixed low-level
waste. These programs shall use a systematic
approach to planning, execution, and
evaluation to ensure that waste generation,
storage, treatment, and disposal needs are
met and coordinated across the DOE complex.
(2) Changes to Regulations and DOE Directives.
Ensuring changes to regulations and DOE
directives are reviewed and, when necessary,
incorporated into revisions of this Manual to
ensure the basis for safe radioactive waste
management facilities, operations, and
activities is maintained.
C. Assistant Secretary for Environment, Safety, and
Health. The Assistant Secretary for Environment,
Safety and Health is responsible for providing an
independent overview of DOE radioactive waste
management and decommissioning programs to
determine compliance with DOE environment, safety,
and health requirements and applicable
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and state
regulations, including: making compliance
determinations. Reviewing and approving
performance assessments and composite analyses, or
appropriate CERCLA documentation, for low-level
waste disposal facilities, and issuing disposal
authorization statements.
(1) Advising the Secretary of the status of
Departmental compliance with the requirements
of DOE O 435.1, this Manual, and applicable
provisions of other DOE Orders.
(2) Conducting independent appraisals and audits
of DOE waste management programs.
(3) Reviewing site Waste Management Plans with
regard to compliance with DOE environment,
safety, and health requirements.
D. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Waste Management.
Secretary for Waste Management is responsible for:
The Deputy Assistant
(1) Complex-Wide Radioactive Waste Management
Program Plans. Developing, implementing, and
maintaining integrated Complex-Wide
Radioactive Waste Management Program Plans
for high-level, transuranic, low-level, and
mixed low-level waste. Each plan shall, at
the DOE complex-wide level, describe the
functional elements, organizations,
responsibilities, and activities that
comprise the system needed to store, treat
and dispose of radioactive waste in a manner
that is protective of the public, workers,
and the environment. In addition, the plans
shall:
(a) Present a waste management strategy that
integrates waste projections and life-
cycle waste management planning into
complex-wide facility configuration
decisions; and
(b) Describe the approach to research and
technology development being pursued to
improve safety and/or efficiency in
managing radioactive waste.
(2) Waste Management Data System. Establishing
and maintaining a system to compile waste
generation projection data and other
information concerning radioactive waste
management facilities, operations, and
activities across the complex.
E. Deputy Assistant Secretaries for Waste Management
and Environmental Restoration. The Deputy
Assistant Secretary for Waste Management and the
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Environmental
Restoration are responsible for:
(1) Disposal. Reviewing and approving, along with
EH-1, transuranic waste disposal facility
performance assessments and other disposal
documents as required in waste specific
chapters for which DOE is responsible for
(a) The Deputy Assistant Secretaries shall
establish a review panel consisting of
DOE personnel to review low-level waste
disposal facility performance
assessments and composite analyses,
review appropriate CERCLA documentation,
recommend low-level waste disposal
facility compliance determinations to
the Deputy Assistant Secretaries, and
develop disposal authorization
statements.
(b) The Deputy Assistant Secretaries shall
issue disposal authorization
statements containing conditions that
low-level waste disposal facilities
must meet in order to operate with an
approved radioactive waste management
basis.
(2) Site Closure Plans. Reviewing and approving
closure plans and other closure documentation
for deactivated high-level waste
facilities/sites and issuing authorization
for closure activities to proceed.
F. Field Element Managers. Field Element Managers are
responsible for:
(1) Site-Wide Radioactive Waste Management
Programs. Developing, documenting,
implementing, and maintaining a Site-Wide
Radioactive Waste Management Program. The
Program shall use a systematic approach for
planning, executing, and evaluating the site-
wide management of radioactive waste in a
manner that supports the Complex- Wide
Radioactive Waste Management Programs and
ensures that the requirements of DOE O 435.1,
Radioactive Waste Management, and this Manual
are met.
(2) Radioactive Waste Management Basis. Ensuring
a radioactive waste management basis is
developed and maintained for each DOE
radioactive waste management facility,
operation, and activity; and ensuring review
and approval of the basis before operations
begin. The Radioactive Waste Management Basis
shall:
(a) Reference or define the conditions under
which the facility may operate based on
the radioactive waste management
documentation;
(b) Include the applicable elements
identified in the specific waste- type
chapters of this Manual; and
(c) Be developed using the graded approach
process.
(3) Waste Minimization and Pollution Prevention.
Ensuring implementation of waste minimization
and pollution prevention programs.
(4) Approval of Exemptions for Use of Non-DOE
Facilities. DOE radioactive waste shall be
treated, stored, and in the case of low-level
waste, disposed of at the site where the
waste is generated, if practical; or at
another DOE facility. If DOE capabilities are
not practical or cost effective, exemptions
may be approved to allow use of non-DOE
facilities for the storage, treatment, or
disposal of DOE radioactive waste based on
the following requirements:
(a) Such non-DOE facilities shall:
1. Comply with applicable Federal,
State, and local requirements;
2. Have the necessary permit(s),
license(s), and approval(s) for the
specific waste(s); and
3. Be determined by the Field Element
Manager to be acceptable based on a
review conducted annually by DOE.
(b) Exemptions for the use of non-DOE
facilities shall be documented to be
cost effective and in the best interest
of DOE, including consideration of
alternatives for on-site disposal, an
alternative DOE site, and available non-
DOE facilities; consideration of life-
cycle cost and potential liability; and
protection of public health and the
environment.
(c) DOE waste shall be sufficiently
characterized and certified to meet the
facility’s waste acceptance criteria.
(d) Appropriate National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA) review must be
completed. For actions taken under the
Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act
(CERCLA), it is DOE’s policy to
incorporate NEPA values into the CERCLA
documentation.
(e) Headquarters shall be notified of any
exemption allowing use of a non-DOE
disposal facility and the Office of the
Assistant Secretary for Environment,
Safety and Health (EH-1) shall be
consulted prior to the disposal facility
exemption being executed.
(f) Host States and State Compacts where non-
DOE facilities are located shall be
consulted prior to approval of an
exemption to use such facilities and
notified prior to shipments being made.
(5) Environmental Restoration, Decommissioning,
and Other Cleanup Waste. Ensuring the
management and disposal of radioactive waste
resulting from environmental restoration
activities, including decommissioning, meet
the substantive requirements of DOE O 435.1,
Radioactive Waste Management, and this
Manual. Environmental restoration activities
using the CERCLA process (in accordance with
Executive Order 12580) may demonstrate
compliance with the substantive requirements
of DOE O 435.1, Radioactive Waste Management,
and this Manual (including the Performance
Assessment and performance objectives, as
well as the Composite Analysis) through the
CERCLA process. However, compliance with all
substantive requirements of DOE O 435.1 not
met through the CERCLA process must be
demonstrated. Environmental restoration
activities which will result in the off-site
management and disposal of radioactive waste
must meet the applicable requirements of DOE
O 435.1, Radioactive Waste Management, and
this Manual for the management and disposal
of those off-site wastes. Field Elements
performing environmental restoration
activities involving development and
management of radioactive waste disposal
facilities under the CERCLA process shall:
(a) Submit certification to the Deputy
Assistant Secretary for Environmental
Restoration that compliance with the
substantive requirements of DOE O 435.1
have been met through application of the
CERCLA process; and
(b) Submit the decision document, such as
the Record of Decision, or any other
document that serves as the
authorization to dispose, to the Deputy
Assistant Secretary for Environmental
Restoration for approval.
(6) Radioactive Waste Acceptance Requirements.
Ensuring development, review, approval, and
implementation of the radioactive waste
acceptance requirements for facilities that
receive waste for storage, treatment, or
disposal. Radioactive waste acceptance
requirements shall establish the facility’s
requirements for the receipt, evaluation, and
acceptance of waste.
(7) Radioactive Waste Generator Requirements.
Ensuring development, review, approval, and
implementation of a program for waste
generation planning, characterization,
certification, and transfer. This program
shall address characterization of waste,
preparation of waste for transfer,
certification that waste meets the receiving
facility’s radioactive waste acceptance
requirements, and transfer of waste.
(8) Closure Plans. Ensuring development, review,
approval, and implementation of closure plans
for radioactive waste management facilities
in accordance with the applicable
requirements in the waste-type chapters of
this Manual.
(9) Defense-In-Depth. Ensuring defense-in-depth
principles are incorporated where potential
uncertainties or vulnerabilities warrant
their use when reviewing and approving
radioactive waste management activities and
documents. These principles advocate the use
of multiple levels of engineered and
administrative controls to provide protection
to the public, workers, and the environment.
(10) Oversight. Ensuring oversight of
radioactive waste management facilities,
operations, and activities is conducted.
Oversight shall ensure radioactive waste
management program activities are conducted
in accordance with a radioactive waste
management basis and meet the requirements of
DOE O 435.1, Radioactive Waste Management,
and this Manual.
(11) Training and Qualification. Ensuring a
training and qualification program is
implemented for designated radioactive waste
management program personnel, and the
training is commensurate with job duties and
responsibilities. Only those personnel who
have been trained and qualified shall design
or operate safety (safety class and safety
significant) structures, systems, and
components.
(12) As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA).
Ensuring ALARA principles for radiation
protection are incorporated when reviewing
and approving radioactive waste management
activities.
(13) Storage. Ensuring all radioactive waste
is stored in a manner that protects the
public, workers, and the environment in
accordance with a radioactive waste
management basis, and that the integrity of
waste storage is maintained for the expected
time of storage and does not compromise
meeting the disposal performance objectives
for protection of the public and environment
when the waste is disposed.
(14) Treatment. Ensuring all radioactive
waste requiring treatment is treated in a
manner that protects the public, workers, and
the environment and in accordance with a
radioactive waste management basis.
(15) Disposal. Ensuring radioactive waste is
disposed in a manner that protects the
public, workers, and the environment and in
accordance with a radioactive waste
management basis. Reviewing specific
transuranic or low-level waste documentation
including the performance assessment and
composite analysis, or appropriate CERCLA
documentation, prior to forwarding them to
Headquarters for approval, and obtaining and
ensuring the facility is operated in
accordance with the disposal authorization
statement. Conducting performance assessment
and composite analysis maintenance.
(16) Monitoring. Ensuring monitoring is
conducted for all radioactive waste
management facilities as required. Ensuring
that disposal facilities are monitored, as
appropriate, for compliance with conditions
of the disposal authorization statement.
(17) Material and Waste Declassification for
Waste Management. Ensuring, to the extent
practical, radioactive material and waste
generated under a program that is classified
for national security reasons is declassified
or rendered suitable for unclassified
radioactive waste management.
(18) Waste Incidental to Reprocessing.
Ensuring that waste incidental to
reprocessing determinations are made by
either the “citation” or “evaluation” process
described in Chapter II of this Manual.
Ensuring consultation and coordination with
the Office of Environmental Management for
waste determined to be incidental to
reprocessing through the “evaluation”
process.
(19) Waste with No Identified Path to
Disposal. Ensuring a process is developed and
implemented for identifying the generation of
radioactive waste with no identified path to
disposal, and reviewing and approving
conditions under which radioactive waste with
no identified path to disposal may be
generated. Headquarters shall be notified of
the decisions to generate a waste with no
identified path to disposal.
(20) Corrective Actions. Ensuring a process exists
for proposing, reviewing, approving, and
implementing corrective actions when
necessary to ensure that the requirements of
DOE O 435.1, Radioactive Waste Management,
and this Manual are met, and to address
conditions that are not protective of the
public, workers, or the environment. The
process shall allow workers, through the
appropriate level of management, to stop or
curtail work when they discover conditions
that pose an imminent danger or other serious
hazard to workers or the public, or are not
protective of the environment.
G. All Personnel. All personnel are responsible for:
(1) Problem Identification. Identifying and
reporting radioactive waste management
facilities, operations, or activities that do
not meet the requirements of DOE O 435.1,
Radioactive Waste Management, and this
Manual, or that pose a threat to the safety
of the public, workers, or the environment.
(2) Shutdown or Curtailment of Activities.
Stopping or curtailing work, through the
appropriate level of management, to prohibit
continuation of conditions or activities
which pose an imminent danger or other
serious hazard to workers or the public, or
are not protective of the environment.
CHAPTER II
HIGH-LEVEL WASTE REQUIREMENTS
A. Definition of High-Level Waste. High-level waste is the
highly radioactive waste material resulting from the
reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel, including liquid
waste produced directly in reprocessing and any solid
material derived from such liquid waste that contains
fission products in sufficient concentrations; and
other highly radioactive material that is determined,
consistent with existing law, to require permanent
isolation.
B. Waste Incidental to Reprocessing. Waste resulting from
reprocessing spent nuclear fuel that is determined to
be incidental to reprocessing is not high-level waste,
and shall be managed under DOE’s regulatory authority
in accordance with the requirements for transuranic
waste or low-level waste, as appropriate. When
determining whether spent nuclear fuel reprocessing
plant wastes shall be managed as another waste type or
as high-level waste, either the citation or evaluation
process described below shall be used:
(1) Citation. Waste incidental to reprocessing by
citation includes spent nuclear fuel reprocessing
plant wastes that meet the description included in
the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (34 FR 8712) for
proposed Appendix D, 10 CFR Part 50, Paragraphs 6
and 7. These radioactive wastes are the result of
reprocessing plant operations, such as, but not
limited to: contaminated job wastes including
laboratory items such as clothing, tools, and
equipment.
(2) Evaluation. Determinations that any waste is
incidental to reprocessing by the evaluation
process shall be developed under good record-
keeping practices, with an adequate quality
assurance process, and shall be documented to
support the determinations. Such wastes may
include, but are not limited to, spent nuclear
fuel reprocessing plant wastes that:
(a) Will be managed as low-level waste and meet
the following criteria:
1 Have been processed, or will be
processed, to remove key radionuclides
to the maximum extent that is
technically and economically practical;
and
2 Will be managed to meet safety
requirements comparable to the
performance objectives set out in 10 CFR
Part 61, Subpart C, Performance
Objectives; and
3 Are to be managed, pursuant to DOE’s
authority under the Atomic Energy Act of
1954, as amended, and in accordance with
the provisions of Chapter IV of this
Manual, provided the waste will be
incorporated in a solid physical form at
a concentration that does not exceed the
applicable concentration limits for
Class C low-level waste as set out in 10
CFR 61.55, Waste Classification; or will
meet alternative requirements for waste
classification and characterization as
DOE may authorize.
(b) Will be managed as transuranic waste and meet
the following criteria:
1 Have been processed, or will be
processed, to remove key radionuclides
to the maximum extent that is
technically and economically practical;
and
2 Will be incorporated in a solid physical
form and meet alternative requirements
for waste classification and
characteristics, as DOE may authorize;
and
3 Are managed pursuant to DOE’s authority
under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as
amended, in accordance with the
provisions of Chapter III of this
Manual, as appropriate.
C. Management of Specific Wastes. The following provide
for management of specific wastes as high-level waste
in accordance with the requirements in this Chapter:
(1) Mixed High-Level Waste. Unless demonstrated
otherwise, all high-level waste shall be
considered mixed waste and is subject to the
requirements of both the Atomic Energy Act of
1954, as amended, the Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act, as amended, DOE O 435.1, Radioactive
Waste Management, and this Manual.
(2) TSCA-Regulated Waste. High-level waste containing
polychlorinated biphenyls, asbestos, or other such
regulated toxic components shall be managed in
accordance with requirements derived from the
Toxic Substances Control Act, as amended, DOE O
435.1, Radioactive Waste Management, and this
Manual.
D. Complex-Wide High-Level Waste Management Program. A
complex-wide program and plan shall be developed as
described under Responsibilities, 2.B and 2.D, in
Chapter I of this Manual.
E. Site-Wide Radioactive Waste Management Program. In
addition to the items in Chapter I of this Manual,
documentation of the Site-Wide Radioactive Waste
Management Program shall include a description of the
High-Level Waste Systems Engineering Management Program
to support decision-making related to nuclear safety,
including high-level waste requirements analysis,
functional analysis and allocation, identification of
alternatives, and alternative selection and system
control.
F. Radioactive Waste Management Basis. High-level waste
facilities, operations, and activities shall have a
radioactive waste management basis consisting of
physical and administrative controls to ensure the
protection of workers, the public, and the environment.
The following specific waste management controls shall
be part of the radioactive waste management basis:
(1) Generators. The waste certification program.
(2) Pretreatment and Treatment Facilities. The waste
acceptance requirements and waste certification
program.
(3) Storage Facilities. The waste acceptance
requirements and the waste certification program.
G. Quality Assurance Program. The following requirements
are in addition to those in Chapter I of this Manual.
(1) Product Quality. The requirements of RW-0333P,
Quality Assurance Requirements and Description,
shall apply to those high-level waste items and
activities important to waste acceptance/product
quality.
(2) Audits and Assessments. The evaluation and
assessment requirements of RW– 0333P, Quality
Assurance Requirements Document and Description,
and associated implementing procedures shall be
met for high-level waste acceptance and product
quality activities, in addition to the assessment
requirements of other DOE directives and
requirements identified in Chapter I of this
Manual.
H. Contingency Actions. The following requirements are in
addition to those in Chapter I of this Manual.
(1) Contingency Storage. For off-normal or emergency
situations involving high- level waste storage or
treatment, spare capacity with adequate
capabilities shall be maintained to receive the
largest volume of waste contained in any one
storage vessel, pretreatment facility, or
treatment facility. Tanks or other facilities that
are designated for high-level waste contingency
storage shall be maintained in an operational
condition when waste is present and shall meet all
the requirements of DOE O 435.1, Radioactive Waste
Management, and this Manual.
(2) Transfer Equipment. Pipelines and auxiliary
facilities necessary for the transfer of waste to
contingency storage shall be maintained in an
operational condition when waste is present and
shall meet the requirements of DOE O 435.1,
Radioactive Waste Management, and this Manual.
I. Corrective Actions. The following requirements are in
addition to those in Chapter I of this Manual.
(1) Order Compliance. Corrective actions shall be
implemented whenever necessary to ensure the
requirements of DOE O 435.1, Radioactive Waste
Management, and this Manual are met.
(2) Operations Curtailment. Operations shall be
curtailed or facilities shut down for failure to
establish, maintain, or operate consistent with an
approved radioactive waste management basis.
J. Waste Acceptance. The following requirements are in
addition to those in Chapter I of this Manual.
(1) Technical and Administrative. Waste acceptance
requirements for all high-level waste storage,
pretreatment, or treatment facilities, operations,
and activities shall specify, at a minimum, the
following:
(a) Allowable activities and/or concentrations of
specific radionuclides;
(b) Acceptable waste form that ensures the
chemical and physical stability of the waste
under conditions that might be encountered
during transfer, storage, pretreatment, or
treatment;
(c) The basis, procedures, and levels of
authority required for granting exceptions to
the waste acceptance requirements, which
shall be contained in each facility’s waste
acceptance documentation. Each exception
request shall be documented, including its
disposition as approved or not approved; and
(d) Pretreatment, treatment, storage, packaging,
and other operations shall be designed and
implemented in a manner that will ultimately
comply with DOE/EM-0093, Waste Acceptance
Product Specifications for Vitrified High-
Level Waste Forms, or DOE/RW-0351P, Waste
Acceptance System Requirements Document, for
non-vitrified, immobilized high-level waste.
(2) Evaluation and Acceptance. The receiving facility
shall evaluate waste for acceptance, including
confirmation that the technical and administrative
requirements have been met. A process for the
disposition of non-conforming wastes shall be
established.
K. Waste Generation Planning. The following requirements
are in addition to those in Chapter I of this Manual.
(1) Life-Cycle Planning. Prior to waste generation,
planning shall be performed to address the entire
life cycle for all high-level waste streams.
(2) Waste with No Identified Path to Disposal. High-
level waste streams with no identified path to
disposal shall be generated only in accordance
with approved conditions which, at a minimum,
shall address:
(a) Programmatic need to generate the waste;
(b) Characteristics and issues preventing the
disposal of the waste;
(c) Safe storage of the waste until disposal can
be achieved; and
(d) Activities and plans for achieving final
disposal of the waste (compliance with DOE/EM-
0093, Waste Acceptance Product Specifications
for Vitrified High-Level Waste Forms).
L. Waste Characterization. High-level waste shall be
characterized using direct or indirect methods, and the
characterization documented in sufficient detail to
ensure safe management and compliance with the waste
acceptance requirements of the facility receiving the
waste.
(1) Data Quality Objectives. The data quality
objectives process, or a comparable process, shall
be used for identifying characterization
parameters and acceptable uncertainty in
characterization data.
(2) Minimum Waste Characterization. Characterization
data shall, at a minimum, include the following
information relevant to the management of the
waste:
(a) Physical and chemical characteristics;
(b) Volume, including the waste and any
solidification media;
(c) Radionuclides or source information
sufficient to describe the approximate
radionuclide content of the waste; and
(d) Any other information which may be needed to
demonstrate compliance with the requirements
of the DOE/EM-0093, Waste Acceptance Product
Specifications for Vitrified High-Level Waste
Forms, or DOE/RW-0351P, Waste Acceptance
System Requirements Document, for non-
vitrified, immobilized high-level waste.
(3) Hazardous Characteristics. Waste characterization
processes shall yield sufficient chemical and
physical data to clearly identify any hazardous
characteristics that may degrade the ability of
structures, systems, and components to perform
their radioactive waste management function.
M. Waste Certification. A waste certification program
shall be developed, documented, and implemented to
ensure that the waste acceptance requirements of
facilities receiving high-level waste for storage,
pretreatment, treatment, and disposal are met.
(1) Certification Program. The waste certification
program shall designate the officials who have the
authority to certify and release waste for
shipment; and specify what documentation is
required for waste generation, characterization,
shipment, and certification. The program shall
provide requirements for auditability,
retrievability, and storage of required
documentation and specify the records retention
period.
(2) Certification before Transfer. High-level waste
shall be certified as meeting the waste acceptance
requirements before it is transferred to the
facility receiving the waste.
(3) Maintaining Certification. High-level waste that
has been certified as meeting the waste acceptance
requirements for transfer to a storage,
pretreatment, treatment, or disposal facility
shall be managed in a manner that maintains its
certification status.
N. Waste Transfer. The following requirements are in
addition to those in Chapter I of this Manual.
(1) Authorization. High-level waste shall not be
transferred to a storage, treatment, or disposal
facility until personnel responsible for the
facility receiving the waste authorize the
transfer.
(2) Data. Waste characterization data and generation,
storage, pretreatment, treatment, and
transportation information for high-level waste
shall be transferred with or be traceable to the
waste.
(3) Records and Transfer Reporting. The records and
transfer requirements for canistered high-level
waste forms shall comply with DOE/EM-0093, Waste
Acceptance Product Specification for Vitrified
High-Level Waste Forms, or DOE/RW-0351P, Waste
Acceptance System Requirements Document, for non-
vitrified, immobilized high-level waste.
O. Packaging and Transportation. The following requirement
is in addition to those in Chapter I of this Manual.
(1) Canistered Waste Form. Immobilized high-level
waste shall meet the requirements of the DOE/EM-
0093, Waste Acceptance Product Specifications for
Vitrified High-Level Waste Forms, or DOE/RW-0351P,
Waste Acceptance System Requirements Document, for
non-vitrified, immobilized high-level waste. P.
Site Evaluation and Facility Design. The following
requirements are in addition to those in Chapter I
of this Manual.
(2) Site Evaluation. Proposed locations for high-level
waste facilities shall be evaluated to identify
relevant features that should be avoided or must
be considered in facility design and analyses.
(a) Each site proposed for a new high-level waste
facility or expansion of an existing high-
level waste facility shall be evaluated
considering environmental characteristics,
geotechnical characteristics, and human
activities.
(b) Proposed sites with environmental
characteristics, geotechnical
characteristics, or human activities for
which adequate protection cannot be provided
through facility design shall be deemed
unsuitable for the location of the facility.
(2) Facility Design. The following facility design
requirements, at a minimum, apply:
(a) Safety (Safety Class and Safety-Significant)
Structures, Systems, and Components. Safety
structures, systems, and components for high-
level waste storage, pretreatment, and
treatment facilities shall be designated and
designed consistent with the provisions of
DOE O 420.1, Facility Safety; DOE 5480.22,
Technical Safety Requirements; and DOE
5480.23, Nuclear Safety Analysis Reports.
(b) Confinement. High-level waste systems and
components shall be designed to maintain
waste confinement. The following requirements
apply to new or modifications to existing
high-level waste systems, ancillary systems,
and components:
1 Secondary confinement systems shall be
designed to prevent any migration of
wastes or accumulated liquid out of the
waste system; shall be capable of
detecting, collecting, and retrieving
releases into the secondary confinement;
and shall be constructed of, or lined
with, materials that are compatible with
the waste(s) to be placed in the waste
system.
2 Tank and piping systems used for high-
level waste collection, pretreatment,
treatment, and storage shall be welded
construction, except where remote
configurations or periodic rerouting of
high- level waste streams require non-
welded construction.
(c) Lifting Devices. The design of hoisting and
rigging devices shall comply with the
following specific requirements.
1 Lifting devices that are designated as
safety class or safety significant shall
be designed to prevent free fall of
loads.
2 Loading and unloading systems for
lifting devices that are designated as
safety class or safety significant shall
be designed with a reliable system of
interlocks that will fail safely upon
malfunction.
(d) Ventilation.
1 Design of high-level waste pretreatment,
treatment, and storage facilities shall
include ventilation through an
appropriate filtration system to
maintain the release of radioactive
material in airborne effluents within
the applicable requirements.
2 When conditions exist for generating
gases in flammable and explosive
concentrations, ventilation systems or
other measures shall be provided to keep
the gases in a non-flammable and non-
explosive condition. Where
concentrations of explosive or flammable
gases are expected to approach the lower
flammability limit, measures shall be
taken to prevent deflagration or
detonation.
(e) Consideration of Decontamination and
Decommissioning. Areas in new and
modifications to existing high-level waste
management facilities that are subject to
contamination with radioactive or other
hazardous materials shall be designed to
facilitate decontamination. For such
facilities a proposed decommissioning method
or a conversion method leading to reuse shall
be described.
(f) Maintenance Exposure Reduction. Remote
maintenance features and other appropriate
techniques to maintain as low as reasonably
achievable (ALARA) personnel exposures shall
be incorporated into each high-level waste
facility.
(g) Facilities for Receipt and Retrieval of High-
Level Waste.
1 Designs for storage facilities shall
incorporate features to facilitate
retrieval capability.
2 High-level waste receipt and retrieval
systems shall be designed to complement
the existing storage facilities for safe
storage and transfer of high-level
waste.
(h) Structural Integrity. Designs for new tanks
shall contribute to the confinement
requirement at Section II.P.(2)(b) of this
Manual by:
1 Incorporating features to avoid critical
degradation modes at the proposed site
where practicable, or minimize
degradation rates for the critical
modes; and
2 Incorporating features to facilitate
execution of the Structural Integrity
Program required by Section II.Q.(2) of
this Manual.
(i) Instrumentation and Control Systems.
Engineering controls shall be
incorporated in the design and
engineering of high-level waste
treatment storage, pretreatment, and
treatment facilities to provide volume
inventory data and to prevent spills,
leaks and overflows from tanks or
confinement systems.
(j) Volume Monitoring Systems. Monitoring
and/or leak detection capabilities shall
be incorporated in the design and
engineering of high- level waste
storage, pretreatment, and treatment
facilities to provide rapid detection of
failed confinement and/or other abnormal
conditions.
Q. Storage. The following requirements are in addition to
those in Chapter I of this Manual and also apply to
facilities intended for management of high-level waste
awaiting pretreatment, treatment or disposal, unless
stated otherwise.
(1) Operation of Confinement Systems.
(a) Confinement systems shall be operated and
maintained so as to preserve the design
basis.
(b) Secondary confinement systems, where
provided, shall be operated to prevent any
migration of wastes or accumulated liquid out
of the waste confinement systems.
(2) Structural Integrity Program.
(a) Leak-Tight Tanks In-Service. A structural
integrity program shall be developed for each
high-level waste storage tank site to verify
the structural integrity and service life of
each tank to meet operational requirements
for storage capacity. The program shall be
capable of:
1 Verifying the current leak-tightness and
structural strength of each tank in
service;
2 Identifying corrosion, fatigue, and
other critical degradation modes;
3 Adjusting the chemistry of tank waste,
calibrating cathodic protection systems,
wherever employed, and implementing
other necessary corrosion protection
measures;
4 Providing credible projections as to
when structural integrity of each tank
can no longer be assured; and
5 Identifying the additional controls
necessary to maintain an acceptable
operating envelope.
(b) In-Service Tanks that Have Leaked or Are
Suspect. For each high- level waste storage
tank in-service that is known to have leaked,
or is suspect, a modified structural
integrity program shall be developed and
implemented to identify the safe operational
envelope. The modified program shall be
capable of:
1 Verifying the structural strength of
each tank in-service which has leaked or
is suspect;
2 Identifying corrosion, fatigue and other
critical degradation modes;
3 Adjusting the chemistry of tank waste,
calibrating cathodic protection systems,
wherever employed, and implementing
other necessary corrosion protection
measures;
4 Determining which of the tanks that have
leaked or are suspect may remain in
service by identifying an acceptable
safe operating envelope;
5 Providing credible projections as to
when the acceptable safe operational
envelope can no longer be assured; and
6 Identifying the additional controls
necessary to maintain the acceptable
safe operational envelope. When physical
activities, as part of a structural
integrity program, pose additional
vulnerabilities, alternative measures
shall be implemented to provide an
acceptable storage operational envelope.
(c) Other Storage Components. The structural
integrity of other storage components shall
be verified to assure leak tightness and
structural strength.
(3) Canistered Waste Form Storage. Canisters of
immobilized high-level waste awaiting shipment to
a repository shall be:
(a) Stored in a suitable facility;
(b) Segregated and clearly identified to avoid
commingling with low-level, mixed low-level,
or transuranic wastes; and
(c) Monitored to ensure that storage conditions
are consistent with DOE/EM– 0093, Waste
Acceptance Product Specifications for
Vitrified High-level Waste Forms, or DOE/RW-
0351, Waste Acceptance System Requirements
Document, for non-vitrified immobilized high-
level waste. Facilities and operating
procedures for storage of vitrified high-
level waste shall maintain the integrity of
the canistered waste form.
R. Treatment. Treatment shall be designed and implemented
in a manner that will ultimately comply with
DOE/EM–0093, Waste Acceptance Product Specifications
for Vitrified High-level Waste Forms, or DOE/RW-0351P,
Waste Acceptance System Requirements Document, for non-
vitrified, immobilized high-level waste.
S. Disposal. Disposal of high-level waste must be in
accordance with the provisions of the Atomic Energy Act
of 1954, as amended, the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of
1982, as amended, or any other applicable statutes.
T. Monitoring. High-level waste pretreatment, treatment,
storage, and transportation facilities shall be
monitored for chemical, physical, radiological,
structural, and other changes that could indicate
failure of system confinement, integrity, or safety,
and which could lead to abnormal events or accidents.
Parameters that shall be sampled or monitored, at a
minimum, include: temperature, pressure (for closed
systems), radioactivity in ventilation exhaust and
liquid effluent streams, flammable or explosive
mixtures of gases, level and/or waste volume, and
significant waste chemistry parameters for non-
immobilized high-level waste. Facility monitoring
programs shall also include physical inspections to
verify that control systems have not failed.
U. Closure. The following requirements for closure of
deactivated high-level waste facilities and sites are
in addition to those in Chapter I of this Manual.
(1) Decommissioning. Deactivated high-level waste
facilities/sites shall meet the decommissioning
requirements of DOE O 430.1A, Life-Cycle Asset
Management and the requirements of DOE 5400.5,
Radiation Protection of the Public and the
Environment, for release; or
(2) CERCLA Process. Deactivated high-level waste
facilities/sites shall be closed in accordance
with the CERCLA process as described in Section
I.2.F.(5); or
(3) Closure. Deactivated high-level waste
facilities/sites shall be closed in accordance
with an approved closure plan as specified below.
Residual radioactive waste present in facilities
to be closed shall satisfy the waste incidental to
reprocessing requirements of this Chapter.
(a) Facility/Site Closure Plans. A closure plan
shall be developed for each deactivated high-
level waste facility/site being closed that
defines the approach and plans by which
closure of each facility within the site is
to be accomplished. This plan shall be
completed and approved prior to the
initiation of physical closure activities,
and updated periodically to reflect current
analysis and status of individual facility
closure actions. The plan shall include, at a
minimum, the following elements:
1 Identification of the closure
standards/performance objectives to be
applied from Chapter III or IV, as
appropriate;
2 A strategy for allocating waste disposal
facility performance objectives from the
closure standards identified in the
closure plan among the facilities/units
to be closed at the site;
3 An assessment of the projected
performance of each unit to be closed
relative to the performance objectives
allocated to each unit under the closure
plan;
4 An assessment of the projected composite
performance of all units to be closed at
the site relative to the performance
objectives and closure standards
identified in the closure plan; and
5 Any other relevant closure controls
including a monitoring plan,
institutional controls, and land use
limitations to be maintained in the
closure activity.
V. Specific Operations. Specific
requirements are provided for the
operation of lifting devices and
facilities for receipt and retrieval of
high-level waste.
(1) Operation of Lifting Devices. Hoisting and rigging
activities shall be conducted in accordance with
the guidance provided in the DOE Standard
“Hoisting and Rigging” (DOE-STD-1090-96).
(2) Operation of Facilities for Receipt and Retrieval
of High-Level Waste. High- level waste receipt and
retrieval systems shall be operated and maintained
consistent with high-level waste system features
incorporated in the facilities. Strategies for
retrieval of waste shall be analyzed to ensure
that structural and radiological impacts are
consistent with the facility design basis.
CHAPTER III
TRANSURANIC WASTE REQUIREMENTS
A. Definition of Transuranic Waste. Transuranic waste is
radioactive waste containing more than 100 nanocuries
(3700 becquerels) of alpha-emitting transuranic
isotopes per gram of waste, with half-lives greater
than 20 years, except for:
(1) High-level radioactive waste;
(2) Waste that the Secretary of Energy has determined,
with the concurrence of the Administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency, does not need the
degree of isolation required by the 40 CFR Part
191 disposal regulations; or
(3) Waste that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has
approved for disposal on a case-by-case basis in
accordance with 10 CFR Part 61.
B. Management of Specific Wastes. The following provide
for management of specific wastes as transuranic waste
in accordance with the requirements in this Chapter:
(1) Mixed Transuranic Waste. Transuranic waste
determined to contain both a hazardous component
subject to the Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act (RCRA), as amended, and a radioactive
component subject to the Atomic Energy Act of
1954, as amended, shall be managed in accordance
with the requirements of RCRA and DOE O 435.1,
Radioactive Waste Management, and this Manual.
(2) TSCA-Regulated Waste. Transuranic waste containing
polychlorinated biphenyls, asbestos, or other such
regulated toxic components shall be managed in
accordance with requirements derived from the
Toxic Substances Control Act, as amended, DOE O
435.1, Radioactive Waste Management, and this
Manual.
(3) Pre-1970 Transuranic Waste. Transuranic waste
disposed of prior to implementation of the 1970
Atomic Energy Commission Immediate Action
Directive regarding retrievable storage of
transuranic waste is not subject to the
requirements of DOE O 435.1, Radioactive Waste
Management, and this Manual.
C. Complex-Wide Transuranic Waste Management Program. A
complex-wide program and plan shall be developed as
described under Responsibilities, 2.B and 2.D, in
Chapter I of this Manual.
D. Radioactive Waste Management Basis. Transuranic waste
facilities, operations, and activities shall have a
radioactive waste management basis consisting of
physical and administrative controls to ensure the
protection of workers, the public, and the environment.
The following specific waste management controls shall
be part of the radioactive waste management basis:
(1) Generators. The waste certification program.
(2) Treatment Facilities. certification program. The
waste acceptance requirements and the waste
(3) Storage Facilities. The waste acceptance
requirements and the waste certification program.
(4) Disposal Facilities. The performance assessment,
disposal authorization statement, waste acceptance
requirements, and monitoring plan.
E. Contingency Actions. The following requirements are in
addition to those in Chapter I of this Manual.
(1) Contingency Storage. For off-normal or emergency
situations involving liquid transuranic waste
storage or treatment, spare capacity with adequate
capabilities shall be maintained to receive the
largest volume of liquid contained in any one
storage tank or treatment facility. Tanks or other
facilities that are designated transuranic waste
contingency storage shall be maintained in an
operational condition when waste is present and
shall meet the requirements of DOE O 435.1,
Radioactive Waste Management, and this Manual.
(2) Transfer Equipment. Pipelines and auxiliary
facilities necessary for the transfer of liquid
waste to contingency storage shall be maintained
in an operational condition when waste is present
and shall meet the requirements of DOE O 435.1,
Radioactive Waste Management, and this Manual.
F. Corrective Actions. The following requirements are in
addition to those in Chapter I of this Manual.
(1) Order Compliance. Corrective actions shall be
implemented whenever necessary to ensure the
requirements of DOE O 435.1, Radioactive Waste
Management, and this Manual are met.
(2) Operations Curtailment. Operations shall be
curtailed or facilities shut down for failure to
establish, maintain, or operate consistent with an
approved radioactive waste management basis.
G. Waste Acceptance. The following requirements are in
addition to those in Chapter I of this Manual.
(1) Technical and Administrative. Waste acceptance
requirements for all transuranic waste storage,
treatment, or disposal facilities, operations, and
activities shall specify, at a minimum, the
following:
(a) Allowable activities and/or concentrations of
specific radionuclides;
(b) Acceptable waste form and/or container
requirements that ensure the chemical and
physical stability of waste under conditions
that might be encountered during
transportation, storage, treatment, or
disposal;
(c) Restrictions or prohibitions on waste,
materials, or containers that may adversely
affect waste handlers or compromise facility
or waste container performance;
(d) Requirement to identify transuranic waste as
defense or non-defense, and limitations on
acceptance; and
(e) The basis, procedures, and levels of
authority required for granting exceptions to
the waste acceptance requirements, which
shall be contained in each facility’s waste
acceptance documentation. Each exception
request shall be documented, including its
disposition as approved or not approved.
(2) Evaluation and Acceptance. The receiving facility
shall evaluate waste for acceptance, including
confirmation that technical and administrative
requirements have been met. A process for the
disposition of non-conforming wastes shall be
established.
H. Waste Generation Planning. The following requirements
are in addition to those in Chapter I of this Manual.
(1) Life-Cycle Planning. Prior to waste generation,
planning shall be performed to address the entire
life cycle for all transuranic waste streams.
(2) Waste with No Identified Path to Disposal.
Transuranic waste streams with no identified path
to disposal shall be generated only in accordance
with approved conditions which, at a minimum,
shall address:
(a) Programmatic need to generate the waste;
(b) Characteristics and issues preventing the
disposal of the waste;
(c) Safe storage of the waste until disposal can
be achieved; and
(d) Activities and plans for achieving final
disposal of the waste.
I. Waste Characterization. Transuranic waste shall be
characterized using direct or indirect methods, and the
characterization documented in sufficient detail to
ensure safe management and compliance with the waste
acceptance requirements of the facility receiving the
waste.
(1) Data Quality Objectives. The data quality
objectives process, or a comparable process, shall
be used for identifying characterization
parameters and acceptable uncertainty in
characterization data.
(2) Minimum Waste Characterization. Characterization
data shall, at a minimum, include the following
information relevant to the management of the
waste:
(a) Physical and chemical characteristics;
(b) Volume, including the waste and any
stabilization or absorbent media;
(c) Weight of the container and contents;
(d) Identities, activities, and concentrations of
major radionuclides;
(e) Characterization date;
(f) Generating source;
(g) Packaging date; and
(h) Any other information which may be needed to
prepare and maintain the disposal facility
performance assessment or demonstrate
compliance with applicable performance
objectives.
J. Waste Certification. A waste certification program
shall be developed, documented, and implemented to
ensure that the waste acceptance requirements of
facilities receiving transuranic waste for storage,
treatment, or disposal are met.
(1) Certification Program. The waste certification
program shall designate the officials who have the
authority to certify and release waste for
shipment; and specify what documentation is
required for waste generation, characterization,
shipment, and certification. The program shall
provide requirements for auditability,
retrievability, and storage of required
documentation and specify the records retention
period.
(2) Certification before Transfer. Transuranic waste
shall be certified as meeting waste acceptance
requirements before it is transferred to the
facility receiving the waste.
(3) Maintaining Certification. Transuranic waste that
has been certified as meeting the waste acceptance
requirements for transfer to a storage, treatment,
or disposal facility shall be managed in a manner
that maintains its certification status.
K. Waste Transfer. A documented process shall be
established and implemented for transferring
responsibility for management of transuranic waste and
for ensuring availability of relevant data. The
following requirements are in addition to those in
Chapter I of this Manual.
(1) Authorization. Transuranic waste shall not be
transferred to a storage, treatment, or disposal
facility until personnel responsible for the
facility receiving the waste authorize the
transfer.
(2) Data. Waste characterization data, container
information, and generation, storage, treatment,
and transportation information for transuranic
waste shall be transferred with or be traceable to
the waste.
L. Packaging and Transportation. The following
requirements are in addition to those in Chapter I of
this Manual.
(1) Packaging.
(a) Transuranic waste shall be packaged in a
manner that provides containment and
protection for the duration of the
anticipated storage period and until disposal
is achieved or until the waste is removed
from the container.
(b) Vents or other mechanisms to prevent
pressurization of containers or generation of
flammable or explosive concentrations of
gases shall be installed on containers of
newly-generated waste at the time the waste
is packaged. Containers of currently stored
waste shall meet this requirement as soon as
practical unless analyses demonstrate that
the waste can otherwise be managed safely.
(c) When transuranic waste is packaged, defense
waste shall be packaged separately from non-
defense waste, if feasible.
(d) Containers of transuranic waste shall be
marked such that their contents can be
identified.
(2) Transportation. To the extent practical, the
volume of waste and number of transuranic waste
shipments shall be minimized.
M. Site Evaluation and Facility Design. The following
requirements are in addition to those in Chapter I of
this Manual.
(1) Site Evaluation. Proposed locations for
transuranic waste facilities shall be evaluated to
identify relevant features that should be avoided
or must be considered in facility design and
analyses.
(a) Each site proposed for a new transuranic
waste facility or expansion of an existing
transuranic waste facility shall be evaluated
considering environmental characteristics,
geotechnical characteristics, and human
activities.
(b) Proposed sites with environmental
characteristics, geotechnical
characteristics, and human activities for
which adequate protection cannot be provided
through facility design shall be deemed
unsuitable for the location of the facility.
(2) Facility Design. The following facility
requirements and general design criteria, at a
minimum, apply:
(a) Confinement. Transuranic waste systems and
components shall be designed to maintain
waste confinement.
(b) Ventilation.
1 Design of transuranic waste treatment
and storage facilities shall include
ventilation, if applicable, through an
appropriate filtration system to
maintain the release of radioactive
material in airborne effluents within
the requirements and guidelines
specified in applicable requirements.
2 When conditions exist for generating
gases in flammable or explosive
concentrations in treatment or storage
facilities, ventilation or other
measures shall be provided to keep the
gases in a non-flammable and non-
explosive condition. Where
concentrations of explosive or flammable
gases are expected to approach the lower
flammability limit, measures shall be
taken to prevent deflagration or
detonation.
(c) Consideration of Decontamination and
Decommissioning. Areas in new and
modifications to existing transuranic waste
management facilities that are subject to
contamination with radioactive or other
hazardous materials shall be designed to
facilitate decontamination. For such
facilities a proposed decommissioning method
or a conversion method leading to reuse shall
be described.
(d) Instrumentation and Control Systems.
Engineering controls shall be incorporated in
the design and engineering of transuranic
waste treatment and storage facilities to
provide volume inventory data and to prevent
spills, leaks, and overflows from tanks or
confinement systems.
(e) Monitoring. Monitoring and/or leak detection
capabilities shall be incorporated in the
design and engineering of transuranic waste
storage, treatment, and disposal facilities
to provide rapid identification of failed
confinement and/or other abnormal conditions.
N. Storage. The following requirements are in addition to
those in Chapter I of this Manual.
(1) Storage Prohibitions. Transuranic waste in storage
shall not be readily capable of detonation,
explosive decomposition, reaction at anticipated
pressures and temperatures, or explosive reaction
with water. Prior to storage, pyrophoric materials
shall be treated, prepared, and packaged to be
nonflammable.
(2) Storage Integrity. Transuranic waste shall be
stored in a location and manner that protects the
integrity of waste for the expected time of
storage and minimizes worker exposure.
(3) Container Inspection. A process shall be developed
and implemented for inspecting and maintaining
containers of transuranic waste to ensure
container integrity is not compromised.
(4) Retrievable Earthen-Covered Storage. Plans for the
removal of transuranic waste from retrievable
earthen-covered storage facilities shall be
established and maintained. Prior to commencing
waste retrieval activities, each waste storage
site shall be evaluated to determine relevant
information on types, quantities, and location of
radioactive and hazardous chemicals as necessary
to protect workers during the retrieval process.
O. Treatment. Transuranic waste shall be treated as
necessary to meet the waste acceptance requirements of
the facility receiving the waste for storage or
disposal.
P. Disposal. Transuranic waste shall be disposed in
accordance with the requirements of 40 CFR Part 191,
Environmental Radiation Protection Standards for
Management and Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel, High-
Level and Transuranic Radioactive Wastes.
Q. Monitoring. The following requirements are in addition
to those in Chapter I of this Manual.
(1) All Waste Facilities. Parameters that shall be
sampled or monitored, at a minimum, include:
temperature, pressure (for closed systems),
radioactivity in ventilation exhaust and liquid
effluent streams, and flammable or explosive
mixtures of gases. Facility monitoring programs
shall include verification that passive and active
control systems have not failed.
(2) Stored Wastes. All transuranic wastes in storage
shall be monitored, as prescribed by the
appropriate facility safety analysis, to ensure
the wastes are maintained in safe condition.
(3) Liquid Waste Storage Facilities. For facilities
storing liquid transuranic waste, the following
shall also be monitored: liquid level and/or waste
volume, and significant waste chemistry
parameters.
CHAPTER IV
LOW-LEVEL WASTE REQUIREMENTS
A. Definition of Low-Level Waste. Low-level radioactive
waste is radioactive waste that is not high-level
radioactive waste, spent nuclear fuel, transuranic
waste, byproduct material (as defined in section
11e.(2) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended),
or naturally occurring radioactive material.
B. Management of Specific Wastes. The following provide
for management of specific wastes as low-level waste in
accordance with the requirements in this Chapter:
(1) Mixed Low-Level Waste. Low-level waste determined
to contain both source, special nuclear, or
byproduct material subject to the Atomic Energy
Act of 1954, as amended, and a hazardous component
subject to the Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act (RCRA), as amended, shall be managed in
accordance with the requirements of RCRA and DOE O
435.1, Radioactive Waste Management, and this
Manual.
(2) TSCA-Regulated Waste. Low-level waste containing
polychlorinated biphenyls, asbestos, or other such
regulated toxic components shall be managed in
accordance with requirements derived from the
Toxic Substances Control Act, as amended, DOE O
435.1, Radioactive Waste Management, and this
Manual.
(3) Accelerator-Produced Waste. Radioactive waste
produced as a result of operations of DOE
accelerators is low-level waste and shall be
managed in accordance with DOE O 435.1,
Radioactive Waste Management, and this Manual, and
all applicable Federal or State requirements.
(4) 11e.(2) and Naturally Occurring Radioactive
Material. Small quantities of 11e.(2) byproduct
material and naturally occurring radioactive
material may be managed as low-level waste
provided they can be managed to meet the
requirements for low-level waste disposal in
Section IV.P of this Manual.
C. Complex-Wide Low-Level Waste Management Program. A
complex-wide program and plan shall be developed as
described under Responsibilities, 2.B and 2.D, in
Chapter I of this Manual.
D. Radioactive Waste Management Basis. Low-level waste
facilities, operations, and activities shall have a
radioactive waste management basis consisting of
physical and administrative controls to ensure the
protection of workers, the public, and the environment.
The following specific waste management controls shall
be part of the radioactive waste management basis:
(1) Generators. The waste certification program.
(2) Treatment Facilities. The waste acceptance
requirements and the waste certification program.
(3) Storage Facilities. The waste acceptance
requirements and the waste certification program.
(4) Disposal Facilities. The performance assessment,
composite analysis, disposal authorization
statement, closure plan, waste acceptance
requirements, and monitoring plan.
E. Contingency Actions. The following requirements are in
addition to those in Chapter I of this Manual.
(1) Contingency Storage. For off-normal or emergency
situations involving high activity or high hazard
liquid low-level waste storage or treatment, spare
capacity with adequate capabilities shall be
maintained to receive the largest volume of liquid
contained in any one storage tank or treatment
facility. Tanks or other facilities that are
designated low-level waste contingency storage
shall be maintained in an operational condition
when waste is present and shall meet the
requirements of DOE O 435.1, Radioactive Waste
Management, and this Manual.
(2) Transfer Equipment. Pipelines and auxiliary
facilities necessary for the transfer of high
activity or high hazard liquid low-level waste to
contingency storage shall be maintained in an
operational condition when waste is present and
shall meet the requirements of DOE O 435.1,
Radioactive Waste Management, and this Manual.
F. Corrective Actions. The following requirements are in
addition to those in Chapter I of this Manual.
(1) Order Compliance. Corrective actions shall be
implemented whenever necessary to ensure the
requirements of DOE O 435.1, Radioactive Waste
Management, and this Manual are met.
(2) Operations Curtailment. Operations shall be
curtailed or facilities shut down for failure to
establish, maintain, or operate consistent with an
approved radioactive waste management basis.
G. Waste Acceptance. The following requirements are in
addition to those in Chapter I of this Manual.
(1) Technical and Administrative. Waste acceptance
requirements for all low-level waste storage,
treatment, or disposal facilities, operations, and
activities shall specify, at a minimum, the
following:
(a) Allowable activities and/or concentrations of
specific radionuclides.
(b) Acceptable waste form and/or container
requirements that ensure the chemical and
physical stability of waste under conditions
that might be encountered during
transportation, storage, treatment, or
disposal.
(c) Restrictions or prohibitions on waste,
materials, or containers that may adversely
affect waste handlers or compromise facility
or waste container performance.
(d) The following are additional waste acceptance
requirements that shall be specified in low-
level waste disposal facility waste
acceptance requirements:
1 Low-level waste must contribute to and
not detract from achieving long-term
stability of the facility, minimizing
the need for long- term active
maintenance, minimizing subsidence, and
minimizing contact of water with waste.
Void spaces within the waste and, if
containers are used, between the waste
and its container shall be reduced to
the extent practical.
2 Liquid low-level waste or low-level
waste containing free liquid must be
converted into a form that contains as
little freestanding liquid as is
reasonably achievable, but in no case
shall the liquid exceed 1 percent of the
waste volume when the low-level waste is
in a disposal container, or 0.5 percent
of the waste volume after it is
processed to a stable form.
3 Low-level waste must not be readily
capable of detonation or of explosive
decomposition or reaction at anticipated
pressures and temperatures, or of
explosive reaction with water.
Pyrophoric materials contained in waste
shall be treated, prepared, and packaged
to be nonflammable.
4 Low-level waste must not contain, or be
capable of generating by radiolysis or
biodegradation, quantities of toxic
gases, vapors, or fumes harmful to the
public or workers or disposal facility
personnel, or harmful to the long-term
structural stability of the disposal
site.
5 Low-level waste in a gaseous form must
be packaged such that the pressure does
not exceed 1.5 atmospheres absolute at
20?C.
(e) The basis, procedures, and levels of
authority required for granting exceptions to
the waste acceptance requirements, which
shall be contained in each facility’s waste
acceptance documentation. Each exception
request shall be documented, including its
disposition as approved or not approved.
(2) Evaluation and Acceptance. The receiving facility
shall evaluate waste for acceptance, including
confirmation that the technical and administrative
requirements have been met. A process for the
disposition of non-conforming wastes shall be
established.
H. Waste Generation Planning. The following requirements
are in addition to those in Chapter I of this Manual.
(1) Life-Cycle Planning. Prior to waste generation,
planning shall be performed to address the entire
life cycle for all low-level waste streams.
(2) Waste with No Identified Path to Disposal. Low-
level waste streams with no identified path to
disposal shall be generated only in accordance
with approved conditions which, at a minimum,
shall address:
(a) Programmatic need to generate the waste;
(b) Characteristics and issues preventing the
disposal of the waste;
(c) Safe storage of the waste until disposal can
be achieved; and
(d) Activities and plans for achieving final
disposal of the waste.
I. Waste Characterization. Low-level waste shall be
characterized using direct or indirect methods, and the
characterization documented in sufficient detail to
ensure safe management and compliance with the waste
acceptance requirements of the facility receiving the
waste.
(1) Data Quality Objectives. The data quality
objectives process, or a comparable process, shall
be used for identifying characterization
parameters and acceptable uncertainty in
characterization data.
(2) Minimum Waste Characterization. Characterization
data shall, at a minimum, include the following
information relevant to the management of the
waste:
(a) Physical and chemical characteristics;
(b) Volume, including the waste and any
stabilization or absorbent media;
(c) Weight of the container and contents;
(d) Identities, activities, and concentrations of
major radionuclides;
(e) Characterization date;
(f) Generating source; and
(g) Any other information which may be needed to
prepare and maintain the disposal facility
performance assessment, or demonstrate
compliance with applicable performance
objectives.
J. Waste Certification. A waste certification program
shall be developed, documented, and implemented to
ensure that the waste acceptance requirements of
facilities receiving low- level waste for storage,
treatment, and disposal are met.
(1) Certification Program. The waste certification
program shall designate the officials who have the
authority to certify and release waste for
shipment; and specify what documentation is
required for waste generation, characterization,
shipment, and certification. The program shall
provide requirements for auditability,
retrievability, and storage of required
documentation and specify the records retention
period.
(2) Certification before Transfer. Low-level waste
shall be certified as meeting waste acceptance
requirements before it is transferred to the
facility receiving the waste.
(3) Maintaining Certification. Low-level waste that
has been certified as meeting the waste acceptance
requirements for transfer to a storage, treatment,
or disposal facility shall be managed in a manner
that maintains its certification status.
K. Waste Transfer. A documented process shall be
established and implemented for transferring
responsibility for management of low-level waste and
for ensuring availability of relevant data. The
following requirements are in addition to those in
Chapter I of this Manual.
(1) Authorization. Low-level waste shall not be
transferred to a storage, treatment, or disposal
facility until personnel responsible for the
facility receiving the waste authorize the
transfer.
(2) Data. Waste characterization data, container
information, and generation, storage, treatment,
and transportation information for low-level waste
shall be transferred with or be traceable to the
waste.
L. Packaging and Transportation. The following
requirements are in addition to those in Chapter I of
this Manual.
(1) Packaging. If containers are used:
(a) Low-level waste shall be packaged in a manner
that provides containment and protection for
the duration of the anticipated storage
period and until disposal is achieved or
until the waste has been removed from the
container.
(b) When waste is packaged, vents or other
measures shall be provided if the potential
exists for pressurizing or generating
flammable or explosive concentrations of
gases within the waste container.
(c) Containers of low-level waste shall be marked
such that their contents can be identified.
(2) Transportation. To the extent practical, the
volume of waste and number of low- level waste
shipments shall be minimized.
M. Site Evaluation and Facility Design. The following
requirements are in addition to those in Chapter I of
this Manual.
(1) Site Evaluation. Proposed locations for low-level
waste facilities shall be evaluated to identify
relevant features that should be avoided or must
be considered in facility design and analyses.
(a) Each site proposed for a new low-level waste
facility or expansion of an existing low-
level waste facility shall be evaluated
considering environmental characteristics,
geotechnical characteristics, and human
activities, including for a low-level waste
disposal facility, the capability of the site
to demonstrate, at a minimum, whether it is:
1 Located to accommodate the projected
volume of waste to be received;
2 Located in a flood plain, a tectonically
active area, or in the zone of water
table fluctuation; and
3 Located where radionuclide migration
pathways are predictable and erosion and
surface runoff can be controlled.
(b) Proposed sites with environmental
characteristics, geotechnical
characteristics, and human activities for
which adequate protection cannot be provided
through facility design shall be deemed
unsuitable for the location of the facility.
(c) Low-level waste disposal facilities shall be
sited to achieve long-term stability and to
minimize, to the extent practical, the need
for active maintenance following final
closure.
(2) Low-Level Waste Treatment and Storage Facility
Design. The following facility requirements and
general design criteria, at a minimum, apply:
(a) Confinement. Low-level waste systems and
components shall be designed to maintain
waste confinement.
(b) Ventilation.
1 Design of low-level waste treatment and
storage facilities shall include
ventilation, if applicable, through an
appropriate filtration system to
maintain the release of radioactive
material in airborne effluents within
the requirements and guidelines
specified in applicable requirements.
2 When conditions exist for generating
gases in flammable or explosive
concentrations, ventilation systems or
other measures shall be provided to keep
the gases in a non-flammable and non-
explosive condition. Where
concentrations of explosive or flammable
gases are expected to approach the lower
flammability limit, measures shall be
taken to prevent deflagration or
detonation.
(c) Consideration of Decontamination and
Decommissioning. Areas in new and
modifications to existing low-level waste
management facilities that are subject to
contamination with radioactive or other
hazardous materials shall be designed to
facilitate decontamination. For such
facilities a proposed decommissioning method
or a conversion method leading to reuse shall
be described.
(d) Instrumentation and Control Systems.
Engineering controls shall be incorporated in
the design and engineering of low-level waste
treatment and storage facilities to provide
volume inventory data and to prevent spills,
leaks, and overflows from tanks or
confinement systems.
(e) Monitoring. Monitoring and/or leak detection
capabilities shall be incorporated in the
design and engineering of low-level waste
treatment and storage facilities to provide
rapid identification of failed confinement
and/or other abnormal conditions.
(3) Low-Level Waste Disposal Facility Design. The
following facility requirements and general design
criteria, at a minimum, apply:
(a) Confinement. Low-level waste systems and
components shall be designed to maintain
waste confinement.
(b) Ventilation.
1 Design of low-level waste disposal
facilities shall include ventilation, if
applicable, through an appropriate
filtration system to maintain the
release of radioactive material in
airborne effluents within the
requirements and guidelines specified in
applicable requirements.
2 When conditions exist for generating
gases in flammable or explosive
concentrations, ventilation systems or
other measures shall be provided to keep
the gases in a non- flammable and non-
explosive condition. Where
concentrations of explosive or flammable
gases are expected to approach the lower
flammability limit, measures shall be
taken to prevent deflagration or
detonation.
(c) Stability. Low-level waste disposal
facilities shall be designed to achieve long-
term stability and to minimize to the extent
practical, the need for active maintenance
following final closure.
(d) Control of Water. Low-level waste disposal
facilities shall be designed to minimize to
the extent practical, the contact of waste
with water during and after disposal.
N. Storage and Staging. The following requirements are in
addition to those in Chapter I of this Manual.
(1) Storage Prohibitions. Low-level waste in storage
shall not be readily capable of detonation,
explosive decomposition, reaction at anticipated
pressures and temperatures, or explosive reaction
with water. Prior to storage, pyrophoric materials
shall be treated, prepared, and packaged to be
nonflammable.
(2) Storage Limit. Low-level waste that has an
identified path to disposal shall not be stored
longer than one year prior to disposal, except for
storage for decay, or as otherwise authorized by
the Field Element Manager.
(3) Storage Integrity. Low-level waste shall be stored
in a location and manner that protects the
integrity of waste for the expected time of
storage and minimizes worker exposure.
(4) Waste Characterization for Storage.
(a) Low-level waste that does not have an
identified path to disposal shall be
characterized as necessary to meet the data
quality objectives and minimum
characterization requirements of this
Chapter, to ensure safe storage, and to
facilitate disposal.
(b) Characterization information for all low-
level waste in storage shall be maintained as
a record in accordance with the requirements
for Records Management in Chapter I of this
Manual.
(5) Container Inspection. A process shall be developed
and implemented for inspecting and maintaining
containers of low-level waste to ensure container
integrity is not compromised.
(6) Storage Management. Low-level waste storage shall
be managed to identify and segregate low-level
waste from mixed low-level waste.
(7) Staging. Staging of low-level waste shall be for
the purpose of the accumulation of such quantities
of waste as necessary to facilitate
transportation, treatment, and disposal. Staging
longer than 90 days shall meet the requirements
for storage above and in Chapter I of this Manual.
O. Treatment. Low-level waste treatment to provide more
stable waste forms and to improve the long-term
performance of a low-level waste disposal facility
shall be implemented as necessary to meet the
performance objectives of the disposal facility.
P. Disposal. Low-level waste disposal facilities shall
meet the following requirements.
(1) Performance Objectives. Low-level waste disposal
facilities shall be sited, designed, operated,
maintained, and closed so that a reasonable
expectation exists that the following performance
objectives will be met for waste disposed of after
September 26, 1988:
(a) Dose to representative members of the public
shall not exceed 25 mrem (0.25 mSv) in a year
total effective dose equivalent from all
exposure pathways, excluding the dose from
radon and its progeny in air.
(b) Dose to representative members of the public
via the air pathway shall not exceed 10 mrem
(0.10 mSv) in a year total effective dose
equivalent, excluding the dose from radon and
its progeny.
(c) Release of radon shall be less than an
average flux of 20 pCi/m2/s (0.74 Bq/m2/s)
at the surface of the disposal facility.
Alternatively, a limit of 0.5 pCi/1 (0.0185
Bq/l) of air may be applied at the boundary
of the facility.
(2) Performance Assessment. A site-specific
radiological performance assessment shall be
prepared and maintained for DOE low-level waste
disposed of after September 26, 1988. The
performance assessment shall include calculations
for a 1,000 year period after closure of potential
doses to representative future members of the
public and potential releases from the facility to
provide a reasonable expectation that the
performance objectives identified in this Chapter
are not exceeded as a result of operation and
closure of the facility.
(a) Analyses performed to demonstrate compliance
with the performance objectives in this
Chapter, and to establish limits on
concentrations of radionuclides for disposal
based on the performance measures for
inadvertent intruders in this Chapter shall
be based on reasonable activities in the
critical group of exposed individuals. Unless
otherwise specified, the assumption of
average living habits and exposure conditions
in representative critical groups of
individuals projected to receive the highest
doses is appropriate. The likelihood of
inadvertent intruder scenarios may be
considered in interpreting the results of the
analyses and establishing radionuclide
concentrations, if adequate justification is
provided.
(b) The point of compliance shall correspond to
the point of highest projected dose or
concentration beyond a 100 meter buffer zone
surrounding the disposed waste. A larger or
smaller buffer zone may be used if adequate
justification is provided.
(c) Performance assessments shall address
reasonably foreseeable natural processes that
might disrupt barriers against release and
transport of radioactive materials.
(d) Performance assessments shall use DOE-
approved dose coefficients (dose conversion
factors) for internal and external exposure
of reference adults.
(e) The performance assessment shall include a
sensitivity/uncertainty analysis.
(f) Performance assessments shall include a
demonstration that projected releases of
radionuclides to the environment shall be
maintained as low as reasonably achievable
(ALARA).
(g) For purposes of establishing limits on
radionuclides that may be disposed of near-
surface, the performance assessment shall
include an assessment of impacts to water
resources.
(h) For purposes of establishing limits on the
concentration of radionuclides that may be
disposed of near-surface, the performance
assessment shall include an assessment of
impacts calculated for a hypothetical person
assumed to inadvertently intrude for a
temporary period into the low-level waste
disposal facility. For intruder analyses,
institutional controls shall be assumed to be
effective in deterring intrusion for at least
100 years following closure. The intruder
analyses shall use performance measures for
chronic and acute exposure scenarios,
respectively, of 100 mrem (1 mSv) in a year
and 500 mrem (5 mSv) total effective dose
equivalent excluding radon in air.
(3) Composite Analysis. For disposal facilities which
received waste after September 26, 1988, a site-
specific radiological composite analysis shall be
prepared and maintained that accounts for all
sources of radioactive material that may be left
at the DOE site and may interact with the low-
level waste disposal facility, contributing to the
dose projected to a hypothetical member of the
public from the existing or future disposal
facilities. Performance measures shall be
consistent with DOE requirements for protection of
the public and environment and evaluated for a
1,000 year period following disposal facility
closure. The composite analysis results shall be
used for planning, radiation protection
activities, and future use commitments to minimize
the likelihood that current low- level waste
disposal activities will result in the need for
future corrective or remedial actions to
adequately protect the public and the environment.
(4) Performance Assessment and Composite Analysis
Maintenance. The performance assessment and
composite analysis shall be maintained to evaluate
changes that could affect the performance, design,
and operating bases for the facility. Performance
assessment and composite analysis maintenance
shall include the conduct of research, field
studies, and monitoring needed to address
uncertainties or gaps in existing data. The
performance assessment shall be updated to support
the final facility closure. Additional iterations
of the performance assessment and composite
analysis shall be conducted as necessary during
the post-closure period.
(a) Performance assessments and composite
analyses shall be reviewed and revised when
changes in waste forms or containers,
radionuclide inventories, facility design and
operations, closure concepts, or the improved
understanding of the performance of the waste
disposal facility in combination with the
features of the site on which it is located
alter the conclusions or the conceptual
model(s) of the existing performance
assessment or composite analysis.
(b) A determination of the continued adequacy of
the performance assessment and composite
analysis shall be made on an annual basis,
and shall consider the results of data
collection and analysis from research, field
studies, and monitoring.
(c) Annual summaries of low-level waste disposal
operations shall be prepared with respect to
the conclusions and recommendations of the
performance assessment and composite analysis
and a determination of the need to revise the
performance assessment or composite analysis.
(5) Disposal Authorization. A disposal authorization
statement shall be obtained prior to construction
of a new low-level waste disposal facility. Field
Elements with existing low-level waste disposal
facilities shall obtain a disposal authorization
statement in accordance with the schedule in the
Complex-Wide Low-Level Waste Management Program
Plan. The disposal authorization statement shall
be issued based on a review of the facility’s
performance assessment, composite analysis,
performance assessment and composite analysis
maintenance, preliminary closure plan, and
preliminary monitoring plan. The disposal
authorization statement shall specify the limits
and conditions on construction, design,
operations, and closure of the low-level waste
facility based on these reviews. A disposal
authorization statement is a part of the
radioactive waste management basis for a disposal
facility. Failure to obtain a disposal
authorization statement by the implementation date
of this Order shall result in shutdown of the
disposal facility.
(6) Disposal Facility Operations. The disposal
facility design and operation must be consistent
with the disposal facility closure plan and lead
to disposal facility closure that provides a
reasonable expectation that performance objectives
will be met. Low-level waste shall be disposed in
such a manner that achieves the performance
objectives stated in this Chapter, consistent with
the disposal facility radiological performance
assessment. Additional requirements include:
(a) Operating procedures shall be developed and
implemented for low-level waste disposal
facilities that protect the public, workers,
and the environment; ensure the security of
the facility; minimize subsidence during and
after waste emplacement; achieve long-term
stability and minimize the need for long-term
active maintenance; and meet the requirements
of the closure/post-closure plan.
(b) Permanent identification markers for disposal
excavations and monitoring wells shall be
emplaced.
(c) Low-level waste placement into disposal units
shall minimize voids between waste
containers. Voids within disposal units shall
be filled to the extent practical.
Uncontainerized bulk waste shall also be
placed in a manner that minimizes voids and
subsidence.
(d) Operations are to be conducted so that active
waste disposal operations will not have an
adverse effect on any other disposal units.
(e) Operations shall include a process for
tracking and documenting low-level waste
placement in the facility by generator
source.
(7) Alternate Requirements for Low-Level Waste
Disposal Facility Design and Operation.
Requirements other than those set forth in this
Section for the design and operation of a low-
level waste disposal facility may be approved on a
specific basis if a reasonable expectation is
demonstrated that the disposal performance
objectives will be met.
Q. Closure. The following requirements are in addition to
those in Chapter I of this Manual.
(1) Disposal Facility Closure Plans. A preliminary
closure plan shall be developed and submitted to
Headquarters for review with the performance
assessment and composite analysis. The closure
plan shall be updated following issuance of the
disposal authorization statement to incorporate
conditions specified in the disposal authorization
statement. Closure plans shall:
(a) Be updated as required during the operational
life of the facility.
(b) Include a description of how the disposal
facility will be closed to achieve long-term
stability and minimize the need for active
maintenance following closure and to ensure
compliance with the requirements of DOE
5400.5, Radiation Protection of the Public
and the Environment.
(c) Include the total expected inventory of
wastes to be disposed of at the facility over
the operational life of the facility.
(2) Disposal Facility Closure. Closure of a disposal
facility shall occur within a five- year period
after it is filled to capacity, or after the
facility is otherwise determined to be no longer
needed.
(a) Prior to facility closure, the final
inventory of the low-level waste disposed in
the facility shall be prepared and
incorporated in the performance assessment
and composite analysis which shall be updated
to support the closure of the facility.
(b) A final closure plan shall be prepared based
on the final inventory of waste disposed in
the facility, the plan implemented, and the
updated performance assessment and composite
analysis prepared in support of the facility
closure.
(c) Institutional control measures shall be
integrated into land use and stewardship
plans and programs, and shall continue until
the facility can be released pursuant to DOE
5400.5, Radiation Protection of the Public
and the Environment.
(d) The location and use of the facility shall be
filed with the local authorities responsible
for land use and zoning.
R. Monitoring. The following requirements are in addition
to those in Chapter I of this Manual.
(1) All Waste Facilities. Parameters that shall be
sampled or monitored, at a minimum, include:
temperature, pressure (for closed systems),
radioactivity in ventilation exhaust and liquid
effluent streams, and flammable or explosive
mixtures of gases. Facility monitoring programs
shall include verification that passive and active
control systems have not failed.
(2) Liquid Waste Storage Facilities. For facilities
storing liquid low-level waste, the following
shall also be monitored: liquid level and/or waste
volume, and significant waste chemistry
parameters.
(3) Disposal Facilities. A preliminary monitoring plan
for a low-level waste disposal facility shall be
prepared and submitted to Headquarters for review
with the performance assessment and composite
analysis. The monitoring plan shall be updated
within one year following issuance of the disposal
authorization statement to incorporate and
implement conditions specified in the disposal
authorization statement.
(a) The site-specific performance assessment and
composite analysis shall be used to determine
the media, locations, radionuclides, and
other substances to be monitored.
(b) The environmental monitoring program shall be
designed to include measuring and evaluating
releases, migration of radionuclides,
disposal unit subsidence, and changes in
disposal facility and disposal site
parameters which may affect long-term
performance.
(c) The environmental monitoring programs shall
be capable of detecting changing trends in
performance to allow application of any
necessary corrective action prior to
exceeding the performance objectives in this
Chapter.
ATTACHMENT 1
DEFINITIONS
As used in the DOE 435.1 directives, the following terms
have the meanings indicated.
1. AUTHORIZATION BASIS. Those aspects of the facility
design basis and operational requirements relied upon
by DOE to authorize operation. They are considered to
be important to the safety of the facility operations.
The authorization basis is described in documents such
as the facility Safety Analysis Report and other safety
analysis; Hazard Classification Documents, Technical
Safety Requirements, DOE-issued safety evaluation
reports, and facility-specific commitments made in
order to comply with DOE Orders or policies. [Adapted
from: DOE Glossary, DOE 5480.21 and DOE 5480.23]
2. BYPRODUCT MATERIAL. (1) Any radioactive material
(except special nuclear material) yielded in or made
radioactive by exposure to the radiation incident to
the process of producing or utilizing special nuclear
material, and (2) the tailings or wastes produced by
the extraction or concentration of uranium or thorium
from any ore processed primarily for its source
material content. [Source: Atomic Energy Act of 1954,
as amended, section 11(e)]
3. CANISTERED WASTE FORM. High-level waste form in a
sealed canister. [Source: EMWAPS, DOE/EM-0093]
4. CLOSURE. Deactivation and stabilization of a
radioactive waste facility intended for long-term
confinement of waste. [No other source of definition
identified]
5. COMPOSITE ANALYSIS. An analysis that accounts for all
sources of radioactive material that may contribute to
the long-term dose projected to a hypothetical member
of the public from an active or planned low-level waste
disposal facility. The analysis is a planning tool
intended to provide a reasonable expectation that
current low-level waste disposal activities will not
result in the need for future corrective or remedial
actions to ensure protection of the public and the
environment. [Adapted from: Revised Interim DOE Policy
on Management Direction and Oversight of Low-Level
Radioactive Waste Management Disposal]
6. CONFINEMENT. The control or retention of radioactive
materials within a designated boundary. Primary
confinements are process enclosures and other spaces
normally containing radioactive material. Secondary
confinement surrounds one or more primary confinement
systems. [Adapted from: DOE 6430.1A]
7. CONTAINER. See WASTE CONTAINER.
8. DEACTIVATED HIGH-LEVEL WASTE FACILITY. A high-level
waste facility that has been put into a stable
condition through the removal of readily retrievable
hazardous and radioactive materials to protect the
worker, public health and safety, and the environment,
thereby limiting the long-term cost of surveillance and
maintenance. A facility in a deactivated status has not
had all necessary decontamination performed, e.g.,
removal of contamination remaining in fixed structures
and equipment after deactivation. [Adapted from: DOE O
430.1A]
9. DEFENSE-IN-DEPTH. The practice of using physical
systems and administrative systems in a structure of
mutual reenforcement to avoid exposure of the public,
the workforce, and the environment to nuclear radiation
and to radioactive materials. [Source: DNFSB/TECH6]
10. DEPARTMENTAL ELEMENTS. First-tier organizations at
Headquarters and in the Field. First-tier at
Headquarters is the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, Under
Secretary, and Secretarial Officers (Assistant
Secretaries and Staff Office Directors). First-tier in
the Field is Managers of the eight Operations Offices,
Managers of the three Field Offices, and the
Administrators of the Power Marketing Administrations.
Headquarters and Field Elements are described as
follows: (1) Headquarters Elements are DOE
organizations located in the Washington, DC,
Metropolitan Area; and (2) Field Elements is a general
term for all DOE sites (excluding individual duty
stations) located outside of the Washington, DC,
Metropolitan Area. [Source: DOE Glossary]
11. DESIGN BASIS. Information that identifies the specific
functions to be performed by a structure, system, or
component of a facility, and the specific values or
range of values chosen for controlling parameters as
reference bounds of design. These values may be (1)
restraints derived from generally accepted “state of
the art” practices for achieving functional goals, or
(2) requirements derived from analyses (based on
calculations and/or experiments) of the effects of a
postulated accident for which a structure, system, or
component must meet its functional goals. [Adapted
from: 10 CFR Part 50]
12. DISPOSAL. Emplacement of waste in a manner that ensures
protection of the public, workers, and the environment
with no intent of retrieval and that requires
deliberate action to regain access to the waste.
[Adapted from: DOE 5820.2A]
13. DISPOSAL AUTHORIZATION STATEMENT. Documentation
authorizing operation (or continued operation) of a low-
level waste disposal facility resulting from the DOE
Headquarters review and acceptance of the facility’s
performance assessment, composite analysis, and other
information and evaluations. The disposal authorization
statement constitutes approval of the performance
assessment and composite analysis, authorizes operation
of the facility, and includes conditions the disposal
facility must meet. [Adapted from: Revised Interim DOE
Policy Management Direction and Oversight of Low-Level
Radioactive Waste Management and Disposal]
14. DISPOSITION. Those activities that follow generation of
a waste and which constitute completion of the life
cycle of management of the waste, including, but not
limited to, stabilization, deactivation, disposal,
decommissioning, dismantlement, and/or reuse. [Adapted
from: DOE O 430.1]
15. EFFLUENT. Any treated or untreated air emission or
liquid discharge at a DOE site or from a DOE facility.
[Source: DOE 5400.1]
16. FACILITY. See RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT FACILITY.
17. FIELD ELEMENT. See DEPARTMENTAL ELEMENTS.
18. FIELD ELEMENT MANAGER. See DEPARTMENTAL ELEMENTS.
19. GENERATOR. Organizations within DOE or managed by DOE
whose act or process produces radioactive waste or, for
the purposes of the generator requirements in this
Order and Manual, transfer radioactive waste to a
treatment, storage, or disposal facility. [Adapted
from: 40 CFR Part 270]
20. GRADED APPROACH. A process by which the level of
analysis, documentation, and actions necessary to
comply with a requirement are commensurate with (1) the
relative importance to safety, safeguards, and
security; (2) the magnitude of any hazard involved; (3)
the life cycle stage of a facility; (4) the
programmatic mission of a facility; (5) the particular
characteristics of a facility; and (6) any other
relevant factor. [Source: 10 CFR 830.3]
21. HAZARD. A source of danger (i.e., material, energy
source, or operation) with the potential to cause
illness, injury, or death to personnel or damage to an
operation or to the environment (without regard for the
likelihood or credibility of accident scenarios or
consequence mitigation). [Source: DOE M 411.1-1]
22. HIGH-LEVEL WASTE. High-level waste is the highly
radioactive waste material resulting from the
reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel, including liquid
waste produced directly in reprocessing and any solid
material derived from such liquid waste that contains
fission products in sufficient concentrations; and
other highly radioactive material that is determined,
consistent with existing law, to require permanent
isolation. [Adapted from: Nuclear Waste Policy Act of
1982, as amended]
23. LESSONS LEARNED. The process for communicating a “good
work practice” or innovative approach that should be
implemented or an adverse work practice or experience
that should be avoided. [Adapted from: DOE M 232.1-1A]
24. LIFE CYCLE. The life of a waste from generator planning
through generation, storage, treatment, and disposal.
[Adapted from: DOE O 430.1A]
25. LOW-LEVEL WASTE. Low-level radioactive waste is
radioactive waste that is not high- level radioactive
waste, spent nuclear fuel, transuranic waste, byproduct
material (as defined in section 11e.(2) of the Atomic
Energy Act of 1954, as amended), or naturally occurring
radioactive material. [Adapted from: Nuclear Waste
Policy Act of 1982, as amended]
26. MAINTENANCE. Day-to-day work, including preventive and
predictive maintenance, that is required to maintain
and preserve plant and capital equipment in a condition
suitable for it to be used for its designated purpose.
[Source: DOE O 430.1A]
27. MIXED WASTE. Waste that contains both source, special
nuclear, or by-product material subject to the Atomic
Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and a hazardous
component subject to the Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act. [Adapted from: Federal Facility
Compliance Act of 1992]
28. NATURALLY OCCURRING RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL (NORM).
Naturally occurring materials not regulated under the
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended whose
composition, radionuclide concentrations, availability,
or proximity to man have been increased by or as a
result of human practices. NORM does not include the
natural radioactivity of rocks or soils, or background
radiation. [Adapted from: January 1997 Draft Part N,
Regulation and Licensing of Naturally Occurring
Radioactive Material, Conference of Radiation Control
Program Directors, Inc.]
29. NEAR SURFACE DISPOSAL. Disposal of radioactive waste on
or near the earth’s surface. The term encompasses a
wide range of methods, including disposal in earthen
trenches several meters deep, disposal in engineered
structures constructed on or below the surface, and
disposal in structures or rock caverns tens of meters
below the earth’s surface. Near surface disposal does
not include disposal in a deep geologic repository.
[Adapted from: IAEA Safety Standard No. 111-S-3]
30. NECESSARY AND SUFFICIENT PROCESS. The sets of standards
which are the product of the “Necessary and Sufficient
Process” of DOE M 450.3-1. That process establishes the
sets of agreed upon standards to ensure adequate
protection of the safety and health of workers and the
public and the protection of the environment against
the hazards associated with performing the work of the
Department of Energy. [Adapted from: DOE G 450.3-1]
31. OVERSIGHT. The responsibility and authority assigned to
line management to assess the adequacy of DOE and
contractor performance. Independent Oversight refers to
the responsibility and authority assigned to the
Assistant Secretary for Environment, Safety and Health
to independently assess the adequacy of DOE and
contractor performance. [Adapted from: DOE M 411.1-1]
32. PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT. An analysis of a radioactive
waste disposal facility conducted to demonstrate there
is a reasonable expectation that performance objectives
established for the long-term protection of the public
and the environment will not be exceeded following
closure of the facility. [Adapted from: DOE 5820.2A]
33. PROGRAM SECRETARIAL OFFICER. Head of a Departmental
Element who has responsibility for a specific program
or facility(ies). These include the Assistant
Secretaries for Defense Programs, Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy, Environmental Management, and Fossil
Energy; and the Directors of the Offices of Civilian
Radioactive Waste Management, Science, and Nuclear
Energy; and (2) a Cognizant Secretarial Officer is a
DOE official at the Assistant Secretary level who is
responsible for the assignment of work, the
institutional overview of any type of facility, or
both, and the management oversight of a laboratory.
[Source: DOE M 232.1-1A]
34. RADIOACTIVE MIXED WASTE. See MIXED WASTE.
35. RADIOACTIVE WASTE. Any garbage, refuse, sludges, and
other discarded material, including solid, liquid,
semisolid, or contained gaseous material that must be
managed for its radioactive content. [Adapted from: 40
CFR Part 240]
36. RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT BASIS. The radioactive
waste management controls applied to DOE facilities,
operations, and activities to provide near- and long-
term protection of public, workers, and the
environment. The radioactive waste management basis
consists of controls and analyses such as facility
waste certification programs, facility waste acceptance
requirements, low-level waste disposal facility closure
plans, performance assessments, composite analyses, and
other facility-specific processes, procedures, and
analyses made to comply with DOE O 435.1 and its
Manual. [No other source of definition identified]
37. RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
FACILITY/OPERATIONS/ACTIVITIES. All land, structures,
other appurtenances, and improvements on the land which
generate, treat, store, or dispose of radioactive
waste, and the operations and activities associated
therewith. [Adapted from: DOE 5820.2A]
38. RECORD. A completed document or other medium that
provides objective evidence of an item, service, or
process. [Source: 10 CFR 830.3]
39. RELEASE. Any discharging, dumping, emitting, emptying,
escaping, injecting, leaching, leaking, pouring,
pumping, spilling of radioactive substances into the
environment including abandoning any type of receptacle
containing radioactive substances, but does not include
disposal in a permitted disposal facility. [Adapted
from: DOE Glossary]
40. RELEASE OF WASTE. The exercising of DOE’s authority to
release property that has been declared waste from its
control after confirming that residual radioactive
material on the waste has been determined to meet the
guidelines for residual radioactive material in
accordance with DOE 5400.5, Radiation Protection of the
Public and the Environment, and other applicable
radiological requirements. [Adapted from: DOE 5400.5]
41. SITE. A geographic entity comprising leased or owned
land, buildings, and other structures required to
perform program activities. [Source: DOE O 430.1A]
42. SOURCE MATERIAL. (1) Uranium or thorium, or any
combination thereof, in any physical or chemical form
or (2) ores which contain by weight one-twentieth of
one percent (0.05%) or more of (i) uranium, (ii)
thorium or (iii) any combination thereof. Source
material does not include special nuclear material.
[Source: 10 CFR Part 40]
43. SPECIAL NUCLEAR MATERIAL. (1) Plutonium, uranium
enriched in the isotope 233 or in the isotope 235, and
any other material which is determined, pursuant to the
provisions of section 51 [of the Atomic Energy Act of
1954, as amended], to be special nuclear material, but
does not include source material; or (2) any material
artificially enriched by any of the foregoing, but does
not include source material. [Source: Atomic Energy Act
of 1954, as amended]
44. SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL. Fuel that has been withdrawn from a
nuclear reactor following irradiation, the constituent
elements of which have not been separated by
reprocessing. Test specimens of fissionable material
irradiated for research and development only, and not
production of power or plutonium, may be classified as
waste, and managed in accordance with the requirements
of this Order when it is technically infeasible, cost
prohibitive, or would increase worker exposure to
separate the remaining test specimens from other
contaminated material. [Adapted from: DOE 5820.2A]
45. STAGING. Storing waste for the purpose of accumulation
to facilitate transportation transfer, treatment and/or
disposal. [Adapted from: Surplus Plutonium Disposition
Draft Environmental Impact Statement, July 1998]
46. STORAGE. The holding of radioactive waste for a
temporary period, at the end of which the waste is
treated, disposed of, or stored elsewhere. [Adapted
from: 40 CFR Part 260]
47. STORAGE FOR DECAY. Storage of radioactive waste for a
period of time sufficient for radionuclide(s) of
concern to be reduced in concentration, by radioactive
decay, to a level of lower concern. [Source: DOE
5820.2A]
48. SYSTEMS ENGINEERING. A total systematic approach for
the development of systems in response to a defined
need. It involves a comprehensive, structured and
disciplined approach to all life-cycle phases. Systems
Engineering employs a multi-discipline team to
iteratively define and refine solutions to problems
throughout the system life cycle. Preferred
alternatives are selected based on cost, schedule,
performance and risk. Management of risk is integral to
the process. Progressive verification, from individual
components up through the total system, is required.
[Source: EIA-632, Systems Engineering]
49. TRANSURANIC WASTE. Transuranic waste is radioactive
waste containing more than 100 nanocuries (3700
becquerels) of alpha-emitting transuranic isotopes per
gram of waste, with half-lives greater than 20 years,
except for: (1) high-level radioactive waste; (2) waste
that the Secretary of Energy has determined, with the
concurrence of the Administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency, does not need the degree of
isolation required by the 40 CFR Part 191 disposal
regulations; or (3) waste that the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission has approved for disposal on a case-by-case
basis in accordance with 10 CFR Part 61. [Source: WIPP
Land Withdrawal Act of 1992, as amended]
50. TREATMENT. Any method, technique, or process designed
to change the physical or chemical character of waste
to render it: less hazardous; safer to transport,
store, or dispose of; or reduce its volume. [Source:
DOE 5820.2A]
51. WASTE ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA (WAC). Waste acceptance
criteria are the technical and administrative
requirements that a waste must meet in order for it to
be accepted at a storage, treatment, or disposal
facility. [Adapted from: DOE 5820.2A]
52. WASTE ACCEPTANCE REQUIREMENTS. Waste acceptance
requirements are waste acceptance criteria, and all
other requirements that a facility receiving
radioactive waste for storage, treatment, or disposal
must meet to receive waste (e.g., waste acceptance
program requirements, receiving facility operations
manual). [Adapted from: DOE O 5820.2A]
53. WASTE CHARACTERIZATION. The identification of waste
composition and properties, by review of acceptable
knowledge (which includes process knowledge), or by
nondestructive examination, nondestructive assay, or
sampling and analysis, to comply with applicable
storage, treatment, handling, transportation, and
disposal requirements. [Adapted from: DOE Glossary
(“Characterization” definition) and Federal Register,
Vol. 62, No. 224]
54. WASTE CERTIFICATION. A process by which a waste
generator affirms that a given waste or waste stream
meets the waste acceptance criteria of the facility to
which the generator intends to transfer waste for
treatment, storage, or disposal. [Adapted from: DOE
5820.2A]
55. WASTE CONTAINER. A receptacle for waste, including any
liner, shielding, or material that is intended to
accompany the waste in disposal. [Adapted from: DOE
5820.2A]
56. WASTE MANAGEMENT. The planning, coordination, and
direction of those functions related to generation,
handling, treatment, storage, transportation, and
disposal of waste, as well as associated surveillance
and maintenance activities. [Source: DOE 5820.2A]
57. WASTE STREAM. A waste or group of wastes from a process
or a facility with similar physical, chemical, or
radiological properties. [Adapted from: DOE 5820.2A]
U.S. Department of Energy PAGE CHANGE Washington, D.C.
06-19-01
SUBJECT: RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT MANUAL
1 PURPOSE. To transmit revised pages to DOE M 435.1-1,
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT MANUAL, dated 7-09-99.
2 EXPLANATION OF CHANGE. To remove in DOE M 435.1-1,
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT MANUAL, the requirement
that Headquarters is to be notified and the Office of
Environment, Safety and Health consulted for exemptions
for use of non-DOE treatment facilities. This change
decreases paperwork and time necessary to process
exemptions for the use of non DOE treatment and storage
facilities. Exemptions will still be required for the
use of non-DOE waste management facilities, but only
disposal exemptions will require Headquarters
notification and EH consultation.
3 FILING INSTRUCTIONS.
Remove Dated Insert Dated
I-9 & I-10 7-09-99 I-9 & I-10 6-19-01
After filing the attached pages, this transmittal may be
discarded.
BY ORDER OF THE SECRETARY OF ENERGY
FRANCIS S. BLAKE
Deputy Secretary