The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management Transuranic Waste Processing Center is one of the first locations in the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management complex to initiate a new treatment process for cellulosic waste approved by EM’s Carlsbad Field Office.
Office of Environmental Management
October 15, 2024
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Workers prepare grout in containers to send to the processing area at the Transuranic Waste Processing Center at Oak Ridge. The grout is used to encapsulate cellulosic material before it is characterized, certified and shipped for final disposal.
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) Transuranic Waste Processing Center is one of the first locations in the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (EM) complex to initiate a new treatment process for cellulosic waste approved by EM’s Carlsbad Field Office (CBFO).
Cellulosic waste contains plant-based material, such as cotton and wood. In Oak Ridge’s case, it involves items such as cotton rags and paper towels.
The new process, developed by OREM contractor UCOR, stabilizes non-compliant cellulosic waste that potentially contains oxidizing chemicals. These materials have the potential to combust if left untreated.
Workers at the Transuranic Waste Processing Center at Oak Ridge place cellulosic waste into premixed grout containers. After the material cures for 24 hours, the containers are placed into waste drums along with other compliant waste for shipment to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant to be reposited in the underground.
UCOR will now be able to process more than 100 waste drums from Oak Ridge’s remaining inventory of transuranic waste that were set aside after a similar waste stream combusted in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant’s (WIPP) underground repository in 2014. CBFO oversees WIPP.
That event at WIPP was caused by organic waste interacting with surrounding chemicals, generating an exothermic reaction inside a closed waste drum. CBFO has established new waste acceptance criteria to prevent any future potential occurrences.
“Getting to this point required approval from the state and submitting test results and receiving concurrence from the Carlsbad Field Office,” said OREM Project Manager Mike Vestal. “It was a long leadup to get to this point, but our team is excited to move forward knowing we can safely address and dispose of this waste.”
Protective waste overpacks contain select waste streams as they await processing at the Transuranic Waste Processing Center at Oak Ridge. They contain more than 100 drums containing cellulosic waste that now has an approved treatment process for disposal.
Workers will segregate non-compliant cellulosic materials from the compliant waste. The cellulosic material will then be encapsulated in grout, placed in a container, and repackaged into a new container for characterization, certification and shipment for final disposal.
“This is a great collaborative effort between the Transuranic Waste Processing Center, Carlsbad Field Office, and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant’s Central Characterization Project,” said Gio Barton, Transuranic Waste Processing Center Environmental Programs and Central Characterization Project interface with UCOR. “We have more technically challenging waste ahead of us, and this sets a precedent to follow for future approvals.”
Employees at the Transuranic Waste Processing Center began processing cellulosic waste for disposal last month.
-Contributor: Susanne Dupes
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