[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 10 (Tuesday, January 16, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3564-3571]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-1184]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Office of Science and Office of Environmental Management; Office 
of Science Financial Assistance Program Notice 01-16: Environmental 
Management Science Program: Basic Science Research Related to High 
Level Radioactive Waste

AGENCY: Office of Science and Office of Environmental Management, 
Department of Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Notice inviting grant applications.

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SUMMARY: The Offices of Science (SC) and Environmental Management (EM), 
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), hereby announce their interest in 
receiving grant applications for performance of innovative, fundamental 
research to support specific activities for high level radioactive 
waste; which include, but are not limited to, characterization and 
safety, retrieval of tank waste and tank closure, pretreatment, and 
waste immobilization and disposal.

DATES: The deadline for receipt of formal applications is 4:30 p.m. 
E.S.T., March 8, 2001, in order to be accepted for merit review and to 
permit timely consideration for award in Fiscal Year 2001.

ADDRESSES: Formal applications referencing Program Notice 01-16 should 
be sent to: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Grants and 
Contracts Division, SC-64, 19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20874-
1290, ATTN: Program Notice 01-16. This address must be used when 
submitting applications by U.S. Postal Service Express, commercial mail 
delivery service, or when hand carried by the applicant.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Roland F. Hirsch, SC-73, Mail Stop 
F-237, Medical Sciences Division, Office of Biological and 
Environmental Research, Office of Science, U.S. Department of Energy, 
19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20874-1290, telephone: (301) 903-
9009, fax: (301) 903-0567, E-mail: [email protected], or 
Mr. Mark Gilbertson, Office of Basic and Applied Research, Office of 
Science and Technology, Office of Environmental Management, 1000 
Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585, telephone: (202) 586-
7150, E-mail: [email protected]. The full text of Program 
Notice 01-16 is available via the World Wide Web using the following 
web site address: http://www.sc.doe.gov/production/grants/grants.html.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Office of Environmental Management, in 
partnership with the Office of Science, sponsors the Environmental 
Management Science Program (EMSP) to fulfill DOE's continuing 
commitment to the clean-up of DOE's environmental legacy. The program 
was initiated in Fiscal Year 1996. Ideas for basic scientific research 
are solicited which promote the broad national interest of a better 
understanding of the fundamental characteristics of highly radioactive 
chemical wastes and their effects on the environment.
    The DOE Environmental Management program currently has ongoing 
applied research and engineering efforts under its Technology 
Development Program. These efforts must be supplemented with basic 
research to address long-term technical issues crucial to the EM 
mission. Basic research can also provide EM with near-term fundamental 
data that may be critical to the advancement of technologies that are 
under development but not yet at full scale nor implemented. Proposed 
basic research under this Notice should contribute to environmental 
management activities that would decrease risk for the public and 
workers, provide opportunities for major cost reductions, reduce time 
required to achieve EM's mission goals, and, in general, should address 
problems that are considered intractable without new knowledge. This 
program is designed to inspire ``breakthroughs'' in areas critical to 
the EM mission through basic research and will be managed in 
partnership with SC. The Office of Science's well-established 
procedures, as set forth in the Office of Science Merit Review System, 
available on the World Wide Web at: http://www.science.doe.gov/production/grants/merit.html will be used for merit review of 
applications submitted in response to this Notice. Subsequent to the 
formal scientific merit review, applications that are judged to be 
scientifically meritorious, will be evaluated by DOE for relevance to 
the objectives of the Environmental Management Science Program and for 
relevance to the technical focus of this solicitation (see ``Relevance 
to Mission'' section below). Additional information can be obtained at 
http://emsp.em.doe.gov. Additional Notices for the Environmental 
Management Science Program may be issued during Fiscal Year 2001 
covering other areas within the scope of the EM program.

Purpose

    The purpose of the EMSP is to foster basic research that will 
contribute to successful completion of DOE's mission to clean-up the 
environmental contamination across the DOE complex.
    The objectives of the Environmental Management Science Program are 
to:
    1. Provide scientific knowledge that will revolutionize 
technologies and clean-up approaches to significantly reduce future 
costs, schedules, and risks;
    2. ``Bridge the gap'' between broad fundamental research that has 
wide-ranging applicability such as that performed in DOE's Office of 
Science and needs-driven applied technology development that is 
conducted in EM's Office of Science and Technology; and
    3. Focus the Nation's science infrastructure on critical DOE 
environmental management problems.

Representative Research Areas

    Basic research is solicited in areas of science with the potential 
for addressing problems in the clean-up of high level radioactive 
waste. Relevant scientific disciplines include, but are not limited to, 
chemistry (including actinide chemistry, analytical chemistry and 
instrumentation, interfacial chemistry, and separation science), 
computer and mathematical sciences, engineering science (chemical and 
process engineering), materials science (degradation mechanisms, 
modeling, corrosion, non-destructive evaluation, sensing of waste 
hosts, canisters), and physics (fluid flow, aqueous-ionic solid 
interfacial properties underlying rheological processes).

Project Renewals

    Lead Principal Investigators of record for Projects funded under 
Office of Science Notice 98-08, Environmental Management Science 
Program: Research Related to High Level Radioactive Waste, are eligible 
to submit renewal applications under this solicitation.

Program Funding

    It is anticipated that up to a total of $4,000,000 of Fiscal Year 
2001, Federal funds will be available for new Environmental Management 
Science Program awards resulting from this Announcement. Multiple-year 
funding of awards is anticipated, contingent upon the availability of 
appropriated funds. Award sizes are expected to be

[[Page 3565]]

on the order of $100,000-$300,000 per year for total project costs for 
a typical three-year award. Collaborative projects involving several 
research groups or more than one institution may receive larger awards 
if merited. The program will be competitive and offered to 
investigators in universities or other institutions of higher 
education, other non-profit or for-profit organizations, non-Federal 
agencies or entities, or unaffiliated individuals. DOE reserves the 
right to fund in whole or part any or none of the applications received 
in response to this Notice. A parallel announcement with a similar 
potential total amount of funds will be issued to DOE Federally Funded 
Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) and may be accessed on the 
World Wide Web at http://www.science.doe.gov/production/grants/LAB01_16.html. All projects will be evaluated using the same criteria, 
regardless of the submitting institution.

Collaboration and Training

    Applicants to the EMSP are strongly encouraged to collaborate with 
researchers in other institutions, such as universities, industry, non-
profit organizations, federal laboratories and Federally Funded 
Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs), including the DOE National 
Laboratories, where appropriate, and to incorporate cost sharing and/or 
consortia wherever feasible. Refer to http://www.sc.doe.gov/production/grants/Colab.html for details.
    Applicants are also encouraged to provide training opportunities, 
including student involvement, in applications submitted to the 
program.

Applications

    Applicants are expected to use the following format in addition to 
following instructions in the Office of Science Financial Assistance 
Program Application Guide. Applications must be written in English, 
with all budgets in U.S. dollars.
     SC Face Page (DOE F 4650.2 (10-91))
     Application classification sheet (a plain sheet of paper 
with one selection from the list of scientific fields listed in the 
Application Categories Section)
     Table of Contents
     Project Abstract (no more than one page)
     Budgets for each year and a summary budget page for the 
entire project period (using DOE F 4620.1)
     Budget Explanation. Applicants are requested to include in 
the travel budget for each year funds to attend the annual National 
Environmental Management Science Program Workshop, and also for one or 
more extended (one week or more) visits to a clean-up site by either 
the Principal Investigator or a senior staff member or collaborator
     Budgets and Budget explanation for each collaborative 
subproject, if any
     Project Narrative (recommended length is no more than 20 
pages; multi-investigator collaborative projects may use more pages if 
necessary up to a total of 40 pages)
     Goals
     Significance of Project to the EM Mission
     Background
     Research Plan
     Preliminary Studies (if applicable)
     Research Design and Methodologies
     Literature Cited
     Collaborative Arrangements (if applicable)
     Biographical Sketches (limit 2 pages per senior 
investigator)
     Description of Facilities and Resources
     Current and Pending Support for each senior investigator

Application Categories

    In order to properly classify each application for evaluation and 
review, the application must indicate the proposer's preferred 
scientific research field, selected from the following list.

Field of Scientific Research

1. Actinide Chemistry
2. Analytical Chemistry and Instrumentation
3. Separations Chemistry
4. Engineering Sciences
5. Geochemistry
6. Geophysics
7. Hydrogeology
8. Interfacial Chemistry
9. Materials Science
10. Other

Application Evaluation and Selection

Scientific Merit

    The program will support the most scientifically meritorious and 
relevant work, regardless of the institution. Formal applications will 
be subjected to scientific merit review (peer review) and will be 
evaluated against the following evaluation criteria listed in 
descending order of importance as codified at 10 CFR 605.10(d):

1. Scientific and/or Technical Merit of the Project
2. Appropriateness of the Proposed Method or Approach
3. Competency of Applicant's Personnel and Adequacy of Proposed 
Resources
4. Reasonableness and Appropriateness of the Proposed Budget.

    The evaluation will include program policy factors such as the 
relevance of the proposed research to the terms of the announcement and 
the Department's programmatic needs. DOE shall also consider, as part 
of the evaluation, program policy factors such as an appropriate 
balance among the program areas, including research already in 
progress. External peer reviewers are selected with regard to both 
their scientific expertise and the absence of conflict-of-interest 
issues. Non-federal reviewers may be used, and submission of an 
application constitutes agreement that this is acceptable to the 
investigator(s) and the submitting institution.

Relevance to Mission

    Subsequent to the formal scientific merit review, applications 
which are judged to be scientifically meritorious will be evaluated by 
DOE for relevance to the objectives of the Environmental Management 
Science Program and for relevance to the technical focus of the 
solicitation (see section below).
    ``Researchers are encouraged to demonstrate a linkage between their 
research projects and significant clean up related problems at DOE 
sites. Researchers could establish this linkage in a variety of ways--
for example, by elucidating the scientific problems to be addressed by 
the proposed research and explaining how the solution of these problems 
could improve remediation capabilities.'' (National Research Council, 
Board on Radioactive Waste Management, December 1998)
    DOE shall also consider, as part of the evaluation, program policy 
factors such as an appropriate balance among the program areas, 
including research already in progress. Research funded in the 
Environmental Management Science Program in Fiscal Year 1996 through 
Fiscal Year 2001, can be viewed at  http://www.doe.gov/em52/science-grants.html.

Application Guide and Forms

    Information about the development, submission of applications, 
eligibility, limitations, evaluation, the selection process, and other 
policies and procedures may be found in 10 CFR Part 605, and in the 
Application Guide for the Office of Science Financial Assistance 
Program. Electronic access to the Guide and required forms is available 
via the World Wide Web at: http://www.sc.doe.gov/production/grants/grants.html. DOE is under no obligation to pay for any costs associated 
with the preparation or submission of applications if an award is not 
made.

[[Page 3566]]

Technical Focus of the Solicitation

    This research announcement has been developed for Fiscal Year 2001, 
along with a development process for a long-term program within 
Environmental Management, with the objective of providing continuity in 
scientific knowledge that will revolutionize technologies and clean-up 
approaches for solving DOE's most complex environmental problems. A 
general description of the high level waste problem can be found in the 
Background section of this Notice. Detailed descriptions of the 
specific technical (science) needs and areas of emphasis associated 
with this problem area are available on the Tanks Focus Area web site 
at http://www.pnl.gov/tfa.

Long Term Research Agenda for High Level Radioactive Waste

    The National Academy of Science's National Research Council was 
requested to assist the DOE in developing a long-range science plan for 
the management of radioactive high-level waste at DOE sites. The 
Committee empanelled to study that issue determined that some High 
Level Waste related problems will require further research and 
development to minimize risk and program cost and to improve the 
effectiveness of clean-up. Their recommendations in four topic areas 
are the focus of this solicitation and are described below. More 
detailed descriptions of the specific technical (science) needs in 
these four topic areas are available on the Tanks Focus Area web site 
at: http://www.pnl.gov/tfa.

1. Long-Term Issues Related to Tank Closure

    An example of research activities to address this issue is 
innovative methods for in situ characterization of the High Level Waste 
remaining in the tanks after retrieval to facilitate tank closure.

2. High-Efficiency, High-Throughput Separation Methods That Would 
Reduce High-Level Waste Program Costs Over the Next Few Decades 
Including

    a. High-efficiency separation, and
    b. Minimization of the volume of secondary waste.
    Applications on separation sciences addressing these two areas are 
encouraged. The projects should address all types of separations: 
solids from liquids from gases, High Level Waste from low level waste, 
and radionuclides from organic compounds.
    An example of a project addressing separation issues could be 
research on processes that remove multiple radionuclides in a single 
step.

1. Robust, High Loading, Immobilization Methods and Materials That 
Could Provide Enhancements or Alternatives to Current Immobilization 
Strategies including

    a. Alternatives to borosilicate glasses using slurry-fed electric 
(Joule) melter as an immobilization matrix, and
    b. Alternatives melter techniques.
    As an example, a research project might study alternative 
immobilization matrixes, tailored to either High Level Waste or low 
level waste, such as cement or crystalline ceramics. Applications to 
conduct research on alternative melter techniques that would increase 
the processes available to address different waste streams leading to 
more efficient immobilization results are encouraged.

4. Innovative Methods To Achieve Real-Time, and, When Practical, in 
situ Characterization Data for High Level Waste and Process Streams 
That Would Be Useful for all Phases of the Waste Management Program 
With Emphasis on

    a. Characterization of the waste after retrieval, for instance in 
process streams and melter feeds.
    Applications aimed at developing techniques to achieve shorter 
turn-around times for the analytical results, which in turn would allow 
better control of High Level Waste processing are encouraged. An 
example of such a project is research on fiber-optical interrogation to 
characterize process streams.
    Attendant to paragraph 1. above, there was another area highlighted 
by the National Research Council regarding long-term issues related to 
characterization of surrounding areas including radionuclide and metal 
contamination problems in the near-field around the tanks, and 
engineered surface or subsurface barriers. These topics will be a 
matter of a future solicitation for research regarding subsurface 
contamination.

Specific High Level Waste Science Needs

    Detailed information on the specific high level waste technical 
(science) needs within the general topic areas of this solicitation are 
available from the Tanks Focus Area Home Page at: http://www.pnl.gov/tfa. Relevance to mission reviews will consider responsiveness to the 
four topic areas of this solicitation and these corresponding specific 
technical needs. Additional general science research needs and 
information is also available at: http://emsp.em.doe.gov/focus_area.htm.
    The aforementioned areas of emphasis do not preclude, and DOE 
strongly encourages, any innovative or creative ideas contributing to 
solving EM High Level Waste challenges mentioned throughout this 
Notice.
    For further information regarding the Tanks Focus Area please 
contact: Mr. Theodore P. Pietrok, Tanks Focus Area, U.S. Department of 
Energy, P.O. Box 550, Mail Stop K8-50, Richland, WA 99352, telephone: 
(509) 372-4546, Fax: (509) 372-4037, E-mail: [email protected].

Background

    Environmental Management (EM) is responsible for the development, 
testing, evaluation, and deployment of remediation technologies to 
characterize, retrieve, treat, concentrate, and dispose of radioactive 
waste stored in the underground storage tanks at DOE facilities and 
ultimately stabilize and close the tanks. The goal is to provide safe 
and cost-effective solutions that are acceptable to both the public and 
regulators.
    Radioactive high level waste is stored at four sites across the DOE 
complex:

1. Hanford Site near Richland, Washington
2. Savannah River Site (SRS) near Aiken, South Carolina
3. Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) near 
Idaho Falls, Idaho
4. West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) in West Valley, New York

    At these sites, 282 underground storage tanks have been used to 
process and store radioactive and chemical mixed waste generated from 
weapon materials production and manufacturing. Collectively, these 
tanks hold approximately 90 million gallons of high-level and low-level 
radioactive liquid waste in sludge, saltcake, and as supernate and 
vapor.
    Tanks vary in design from carbon or stainless steel to concrete, 
and concrete with carbon steel liners. Two types of storage tanks are 
most prevalent: the single-shell and double-shell concrete tanks with 
carbon steel liners. Capacities vary from 5,000 gallons (19m3) to 
1,300,000 gallons (4920m3). Most tanks are covered with a layer of soil 
ranging from approximately 3 to 10 feet thick.
    Most of the waste is alkaline and contains a diverse mixture of 
chemical constituents including nitrate and nitrite salts 
(approximately half of the total waste), hydrated metal oxides, 
phosphate precipitates, and ferrocyanides. The 784 MCi of radionuclides 
are distributed primarily

[[Page 3567]]

among the transuranic (TRU) elements and fission products, specifically 
strontium-90, cesium-137, and their decay products yttrium-90 and 
barium-137. In-tank atmospheric conditions vary in severity from near 
ambient to temperatures over 93 deg. C. Radiation fields in the tank 
void space can be as high as 10,000 rad/h.
    Hanford has 177 tanks that contain approximately 53 million gallons 
of hazardous and radioactive waste. There are 149 single-shell tanks 
that have exceeded their original design life. Sixty-seven of these 
tanks have known or suspected leaks. Due to several changes in the 
production processes since the early 1940s, some of the tanks contain 
incompatible waste components, generating hydrogen gas and excess heat 
that further compromise tank integrity.
    Radioactive waste at SRS consists of 33 million gallons of salt, 
salt solution, and sludge stored in 51 double-shell underground storage 
tanks, two of which have been closed (emptied of all waste and filled 
with grout). Twenty-three tanks are being retired, because they do not 
have full secondary containment. Nine tanks have leaked detectable 
quantities of waste from the primary tank to secondary containment.
    Unlike the other DOE sites, radioactive waste at INEEL was stored 
in acidic conditions in stainless steel tanks rather than alkaline 
conditions. The 11 stainless steel tanks at INEEL store approximately 
1.2 million gallons of acidic radioactive liquids. Additionally, 
approximately 4000 m3 of calcined waste solids are stored in seven 
stainless steel bin sets enclosed in massive underground concrete 
vaults.
    At the West Valley Demonstration Project nearly all of the original 
600,000 gallon of HLW has been retrieved and vitrified. This site is 
now in the process of cleaning the storage tanks and preparing for 
closure.
    The general process for waste tank remediation involves a number of 
critical steps including:
     Safe waste storage.
     Waste characterization.
     Retrieval of tank waste.
     Pretreatment and separation of tank waste.
     Waste immobilization.
     Tank closure, and
     Immobilized waste disposal.
    Tank remediation problems within these critical process steps are 
described below. Several process steps are combined for the purpose of 
describing related technical issues

Characterization and Safety

    DOE, contractors, and stakeholders have committed to a safe and 
efficient remediation of HLW, mixed waste, and hazardous waste stored 
in underground tanks across the DOE complex.
    Currently, there are only limited fully developed or deployed in 
situ techniques to characterize tank waste. In situ characterization 
can eliminate the time delay between sample removal and sample analysis 
and aid in guiding the sampling process while decreasing the cost 
(approximately $1 million is spent for one tank core extrusion) of 
waste analysis. Most importantly, remote analysis eliminates sample 
handling and safety concerns due to worker exposure. However, analysis 
of extruded tank samples allows a more complete chemical and physical 
characterization of the waste when needed. Knowledge of the chemical 
and radioactive composition and physical parameters of the waste is 
essential to safe and effective tank remediation.
    There are three primary drivers for the development of new chemical 
analysis methods to support tank waste remediation: (1) Provide 
analyses for which there are currently no reliable existing methods, 
(2) replace current methods that require too much time and/or are too 
costly, and (3) provide methods that evolve into on-line process 
analysis tools for use in waste processing facilities.
    Characterization of the elemental and isotopic chemical 
constituents in DOE tank waste is an important function in support of 
DOE tank waste operation and remediation functions. Proper waste 
characterization enables: safe operation of the tank farms; resolution 
of tank safety questions; and development of processes and equipment 
for retrieval, pretreatment, and immobilization of tank waste. All of 
these operations are dependent on the chemical analysis of tank waste.
    Current techniques of tank waste analysis involve the removal of 
core samples from tanks, followed by costly and time consuming wet 
analytical laboratory testing. Savings in both cost and time could be 
realized in techniques that involve in situ probes for direct analysis 
of tank materials.
    Leakage from the single shell tanks at Hanford is among the safety 
concerns. As indicated earlier many of the 149 single shell tanks are 
known or suspected to leak. This presents a grave problem for retrieval 
of waste from these tanks since the baseline method for retrieval is to 
sluice thousands of gallons of water into the tank to dissolve and 
suspend the waste. HLW waste leakage into the environment can threaten 
the ground water. There is a need to develop instrumentation to 
determine the location of a leak, measure the amounts of contamination 
that may have leaked, and assess the environmental impact.
    Another safety concern is the long-term performance of waste forms. 
Performance assessments of radionuclide containment rely primarily on 
the geologic barriers (e.g., long travel times in hydrologic systems or 
sorption on mineral surfaces). The physical and chemical durability of 
the waste form, however, can contribute greatly to the successful 
isolation of radionuclides; thus the effects of radiation on physical 
properties and chemical durability of waste forms are of great 
importance. The changes in chemical and physical properties occur over 
relatively long periods of storage, up to a million years, and at 
temperatures that range from 100 to 300 degrees Celsius, depending on 
waste loading, age of the waste, depth of burial, and the repository-
specific geothermal agent. Thus, a major challenge is to effectively 
simulate high-dose radiation effects that will occur over relatively 
low-dose rates over long periods of time at elevated temperatures. 
Similarly, there is a paramount need for improved understanding and 
modeling of the degradation mechanisms and behavior of primary 
radioactive waste hosts and/or their containment canisters, corrosion 
mechanisms and prevention in aqueous and/or alkali halide containing 
environments, and remote sensing and non-destructive evaluation.
    Examples of specific science research challenges include but are 
not limited to: basic measurement science and sensor development 
required for remote detection of low concentrations of hydrogen inside 
tanks and in containers; basic analytical studies needed to develop new 
methods for chemical and physical characterization of solid and liquids 
in slurries and for development of advanced processing methodologies; 
basic instrument development needed to perform in situ radiological 
measurements and collect spatially resolved species and concentration 
data; basic materials and engineering science needed to develop 
radiation hardened instrumentation.

Retrieval of Tank Waste and Tank Closure

    Underground tanks throughout the DOE complex have stored a diverse 
accumulation of wastes during the past fifty years of weapons and fuel 
production. If these tanks were isolated in a manner that would 
preclude the

[[Page 3568]]

escape of radiation into the environment for thousands of years, there 
would be no reason to disturb them. However, a number of the storage 
tanks are approaching the end of their design life, and 90 tanks have 
either leaked or are suspecting of having leaked waste into the soil 
and sediments near the tanks.
    Recently, dewatering processes have removed much of the free liquid 
from the alkaline waste tanks. The tanks now contain wastes ranging in 
consistency from remaining supernate and soft sludge to concrete-like 
saltcake. Tanks also contain miscellaneous foreign objects such as 
Portland cement, measuring tapes, samarium balls, and in-tank hardware 
such as cooling coils and piping. Unlimited sluicing, adding large 
quantities of water to suspend solids, is the baseline method for 
sludge removal from tanks. This process is not capable of retrieving 
all of the material from tanks. Besides dealing with aging tanks and 
difficult wastes, retrieval also faces the problem of the tank design 
itself. Retrieval tools must be able to enter the tanks, which are 
under an average of 10 feet of soil, through small openings called 
risers in the tops of the tanks.
    Retrieval of tank waste and tank closure requires tooling and 
process alternative enhancements to mixing and mobilizing bulk waste as 
well as dislodging and conveying heels. Heel removal is linked to tank 
closure. The working tools and removal devices being developed include 
suction devices, rubblizing devices, water and air jets, waste 
conditioning devices, grit blasting devices, transport and conveyance 
devices, cutting and extraction tools, monitoring devices, and various 
mechanical devices for recovery or repair of waste dislodging and 
conveyance tools.
    The areas directly below the access risers are often disturbed or 
contain a significant amount of discarded debris. Therefore, evaluation 
of tank waste characteristics by measurements taken at these locations 
may not be representative of the properties of the waste in other areas 
of the tanks.
    To monitor current conditions and plan for tank remediation, more 
information on the tank conditions and their contents is required. 
Current methods used at DOE tank sites are limited to positioning 
sensors, instruments, and devices to locations directly below access 
penetrations or attached to a robotic arm for off-riser positioning. 
These systems can only deploy one type of sensor, requiring multiple 
systems to perform more than one function in the tank.
    Currently, decisions regarding necessary retrieval technologies, 
retrieval efficiencies, retrieval durations, and costs are highly 
uncertain. Although tank closure has been completed on only two HLW 
tanks (at Savannah River), the tank contents proved amenable to waste 
retrieval using current technology. DOE has just begun to address the 
issue of how clean a tank must become before it is closed. Continued 
demonstration that tank closure criteria can be developed and 
implemented will provide substantial benefit to DOE.
    A related problem that retrieval process development is examining 
the current lack of a retrieval decision support tool for the end 
users. As development activities move forward toward collection of 
retrieval performance and cost data, it has become very evident that 
the various sites across the complex need to have a decision tool to 
assist end users with respect to waste retrieval and tank closure. Tank 
closure is intimately tied to retrieval, and the sensitivity of closure 
criteria to waste retrieval is expected to be very large.
    All the existing processes and technologies that could be used as a 
baseline for tank remediation have not yet been identified. Identifying 
these processes is one of EM's major issues in addressing the tank 
problems. The overall purpose of retrieval enhancements is to continue 
to lead the efforts in the basic understanding and development of 
retrieval processes in which waste is mobilized sufficiently to be 
transferred out of tanks in a cost-effective and safe manner. From that 
basic understanding, data are provided to end users to assist them in 
the retrieval decision-making process. The overall purpose of retrieval 
enhancements is to identify processes that can be used to reduce cost, 
improve efficiency, and reduce programmatic risk.
    Basic engineering and separation science studies are needed to 
support tank remediation of liquids, which contain high concentrations 
of solids.

Pretreatment and Separation Processes for Tank Waste

    About 90 million gallons of HLW are stored in tanks at four primary 
sites within the DOE complex. It is neither cost-effective nor 
practical to treat and dispose of all of the tank waste to meet the 
requirements of the HLW repository program and the Nuclear Waste Policy 
Act. The pretreatment area seeks to address multiple needs across the 
DOE complex. The primary objectives are to reduce the volume of HLW, 
reduce hazards associated with treating LLW, and minimize the 
generation of secondary waste.
    The current baseline technology systems for waste pretreatment at 
DOE's tank waste sites are expensive, and technology gaps exist. Large 
volumes of HLW will be generated, while there is limited space in the 
planned Nuclear Waste Repository for HLW from DOE. Even if adequate 
space were made available, treatment and disposal of HLW is still very 
expensive, estimated to be about $1 million for each canister of 
vitrified HLW. Only a small fraction of the tank waste, by weight, is 
made up of HLW radionuclides. The bulk of the waste is chemical 
constituents intermingled with, and sometimes chemically bonded to, the 
radionuclides. The chemicals and radionuclides can be separated into 
HLW and LLW fractions for less costly treatment and disposal.
    Most of the tank waste was generated as a result of nuclear fuel 
processing for weapons production. In that process, irradiated fuel and 
its cladding were first dissolved, uranium and plutonium were recovered 
as products, and the highly radioactive fission product wastes were 
concentrated and sent to the tanks for long-term storage.
    Fuel processing at SRS did not change substantially from the 
beginning of operations in about 1955 to the present. While these 
wastes are fairly uniform, they still require pretreatment to separate 
the LLW from HLW prior to immobilization. Liquid waste at INEEL is 
stored under acidic pH conditions in stainless steel tanks. The 
original liquid high level waste has been calcined at high temperature 
to a dry powder. At Hanford, several processes were used over the years 
(beginning in 1944), each with a different chemical process. This 
resulted in different waste volumes and compositions. Wastes at Hanford 
and SRS are stored as highly alkaline material so as not to corrode the 
carbon steel tanks. The process of converting the waste from acid to 
alkaline resulted in the formation of different physical forms within 
the waste.
    The primary forms of tank waste include sludge, saltcake, and 
liquid. The bulk of the radioactivity is known to be in the sludge 
which makes it the largest source of HLW. Saltcake is characteristic of 
the liquid waste with most of the water removed. Saltcake is found 
primarily in older single-shell tanks at Hanford.
    Saltcake and liquid waste contain mostly sodium nitrate and sodium 
hydroxide salts. They also contain soluble radionuclides such as 
cesium. Strontium, technetium, and transuranics

[[Page 3569]]

are also present in varying concentrations. The radionuclides must be 
removed; leaving a large portion of waste to be treated and disposed of 
as LLW and a very small portion that is combined with HLW from sludge 
for subsequent treatment and disposition.
    Over the years, tank waste has been blended and evaporated to 
conserve space. Although sludge contains most of the radionuclides, the 
amount of HLW glass produced (vitrification is the preferred treatment 
of HLW) could be very high without pretreatment of the sludge. 
Pretreatment of the sludge by washing with alkaline solution can remove 
certain nonradioactive constituents and reduce the volume of HLW. 
Pretreatment can also remove constituents that could degrade the 
stability of HLW glass. The pretreatment area seeks to address multiple 
needs across the DOE complex. The primary objectives are to reduce the 
volume of HLW, reduce hazards associated with treating LLW, and 
minimize the generation of secondary waste.
    The concentration of certain chemical constituents such as 
phosphorus, sulfur, and chromium in sludge can greatly increase the 
volume of HLW glass produced upon vitrification of the sludge. These 
components have limited solubility in the molten glass at very low 
concentrations. Some sludge has high concentrations of aluminum 
compounds, which can also be a controlling factor in determining the 
volume of HLW glass produced. Aluminum above a threshold concentration 
in the glass must be balanced with proportional amounts of other glass-
forming constituents such as silica. There are estimated to be 25 
different types of sludge at Hanford distributed among more than 100 
tanks. Samples from 49 tanks would represent approximately 93 percent 
of the sludge in Hanford tanks. Testing of enhanced sludge washing, the 
combination of caustic leaching and water washing of sludge, on all of 
these samples is needed to determine whether enhanced sludge washing 
will result in an acceptable volume of HLW glass destined for the 
repository and will allow processing in existing carbon steel tanks at 
Hanford and SRS.
    The efficiency of enhanced sludge washing is not completely 
understood. Inadequate removal of key sludge components could result in 
production of an unacceptably large volume of HLW glass. Improvements 
are needed to increase the separation of key sludge constituents from 
the HLW.
    Enhanced sludge washing is planned to be performed batch-wise in 
large double-shell tanks of nominal one million gallon capacity. This 
will generate substantial volumes of waste solutions that require 
treatment and disposal as LLW. Settling times for suspended solids may 
be excessive and the possibility of colloid or gel formation could 
prohibit large-scale processing. Alternatives are needed that will 
reduce the amount of chemical addition required and prevent the 
possibility of colloid formation. Sludge at SRS and Hanford will be 
washed to remove soluble components prior to vitrification. Removing 
suspended solids from the wash solutions is inherently inefficient due 
to long intervals required for the solids to settle out.
    Approximately 1.2 million gallons of acidic liquid waste are stored 
in single-shell, stainless steel, underground storage tanks at INEEL. 
In 1992, a Notice of Noncompliance was filed by the State of Idaho 
stating that the tanks did not meet secondary containment requirements 
of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Subsequently, an 
agreement was reached between DOE, the Environmental Protection Agency, 
and the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare that commits DOE to 
remove the liquid waste from all underground tanks by the year 2015. 
Recent discussions with the state of Idaho have accelerated this date 
to 2012.
    The baseline treatment for INEEL liquid and calcine waste was 
recently reviewed as part of the site's Environmental Impact Statement 
process. The site is now developing a revised roadmap to pursue direct 
vitrification of the liquid waste and determine the best path to treat 
the calcine.
    The transuranic extraction process for removal of actinides, or 
transuranics, from acidic wastes has been tested on actual Idaho waste 
in continuous countercurrent process equipment. The strontium 
extraction process shows promise for co-extraction of strontium and 
technetium and also has been demonstrated on Idaho waste in continuous 
countercurrent operation.
    DOE's underground storage tanks at Hanford, SRS, and INEEL contain 
liquid wastes with high concentrations of radioactive cesium. Cesium is 
the primary radioactive constituent found in alkaline supernatant 
wastes. Since the primary chemical components of alkaline supernatants 
are sodium nitrate and sodium hydroxide, the majority of the waste 
could be disposed of as LLW if the radioactivity could be reduced below 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission limits. Processes have been demonstrated 
that removed cesium from alkaline supernatants and concentrate it for 
eventual treatment and disposal as HLW.
    At Hanford, cesium must be removed to a very low level (3 Ci/m3) to 
allow supernatant waste to be treated as LLW and disposed of in a near-
surface disposal facility. The revised Hanford Federal Facility 
Agreement and Consent Order, or Tri-Party Agreement (between DOE, 
Environmental Protection Agency and the Washington State Department of 
Ecology) also recommends treatment of LLW in a contact-maintained or 
minimally shielded vitrification facility to speed remediation and 
reduce costs. Cesium removal performance data are needed to estimate 
dose rates for this process and provide input to the design of an LLW 
pretreatment facility for Hanford supernatants.
    At SRS, cesium removal from saltcake waste was planned to be 
accomplished through use of an in-tank precipitation process. Due to 
safety and technical challenges, that process was abandoned. Three 
alternatives including alkaline solvent extraction, cesium ion exchange 
using crystalline silicotitanate and small tank tetraphenylborate 
precipitation are currently being evaluated for use in treating the SRS 
saltcake waste. Cesium removal may also be needed to separate cesium 
from Defense Waste Processing Facility recycle, or offgas condensate, 
to greatly reduce the amount of cesium that is routed back to the waste 
storage tanks.
    Technetium (Tc)-99 has a long half-life (210,000 years) and is very 
mobile in the environment when in the form of the pertechnetate ion. 
Removal of Tc from alkaline supernatants and sludge washing liquids is 
expected to be required at Hanford to permit treatment and disposal of 
these wastes as LLW. The disposal requirements are being determined by 
the long-term performance assessment of the LLW waste form in the 
disposal site environment. It is also expected that Tc removal will be 
required for at least some wastes to meet Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
LLW criteria for radioactive content. To meet these expected 
requirements, there is a need to develop technology that will separate 
this extremely long-lived radionuclide from the LLW stream and 
concentrate it for feed to HLW vitrification.
    A number of liquid streams encountered in tank waste pretreatment 
contain fine particulate suspended solids. These streams may include 
tank waste supernatant, waste retrieval sluicing water, and sludge wash 
solutions. Other process streams with potential for suspended solids 
include evaporator products and ion exchange

[[Page 3570]]

feed and product streams. Suspended solids will foul process equipment 
such as ion exchangers. Radioactive solids will carry over into liquid 
streams destined for LLW treatment, increasing waste volume for 
disposal and increasing the need for shielding of process equipment. 
Streams with solid/liquid separation needs exist at all of the DOE tank 
waste sites.
    Some examples of specific science research challenges include but 
are not limited to: fundamental analytical chemical studies needed for 
improvement of separation processes; materials science of waste forms 
germane to their performance; elucidation of technetium chemistry; 
basic engineering and separation science studies required to support 
pretreatment activities and the development of solid/liquid 
separations; fundamental separations chemistry of precipitating agent 
and ion exchange media needed to support the development of improved 
methods for decontamination of HLW; fundamental physical chemistry 
studies of sodium nitrate/nitrite needed for HLW processing; basic 
materials science studies concerned with the dissolution of mixed oxide 
materials characteristic of calcine waste needed to design improved 
pretreatment processes; basic chemistry of sodium when mixed with rare 
earth oxides needed for the development of alternative HLW forms.

Waste Immobilization and Disposal

    Waste immobilization processes convert radioactive waste into solid 
waste forms that will last in natural environments for thousands of 
years. DOE tank wastes requiring immobilization include LLW such as the 
pretreated liquid tank waste and HLW such as the tank sludge. There are 
also a number of secondary wastes requiring immobilization that result 
from tank waste remediation operations, such as resins from cesium and 
technetium removal operations.
    The baseline technologies to immobilize radioactive wastes from 
underground storage tanks at DOE sites include converting LLW to either 
grout or glass and converting HLW to borosilicate glass. Grout is a 
cement-based waste form that is produced in a mixer tank and then 
poured into canisters or pumped into vaults. Glass waste forms are 
created in a ceramic-lined metal furnace called a melter. Tank waste 
and dry materials used to form glass are mixed and heated in the melter 
to temperatures ranging from 1,800 F to 2,200 F. The molten mixture is 
then poured into log-shaped canisters for storage and disposal. The 
working assumption is that the LLW will be disposed of on site, or at 
the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant if transuranic elements are present. 
The HLW will be shipped for off-site disposal in a licensed HLW 
repository, such as the one proposed at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.
    Methods are needed to immobilize the LLW fraction resulting from 
the separation of radionuclides from the liquid and high-level calcine 
wastes at INEEL. LLW is to be mixed with grout, poured into steel 
drums, and transferred to an interim storage facility, but alternatives 
are being considered. Tests must be conducted with surrogate and actual 
wastes to support selection of a final waste form. SRS has selected 
saltstone grout (pumped to above ground concrete vaults and solidified) 
as the final waste form for LLW.
    DOE sites at Hanford, SRS, and INEEL will remove cesium from the 
hazardous radioactive liquid waste in the underground storage tanks. If 
cesium is removed, it costs less to treat the rest of the waste. 
However, cesium removal from tank waste, while cost-effective, creates 
a significant volume of solid waste that must be turned into a final 
waste form for ultimate disposal. The plan is to separate cesium from 
the liquid waste using ion exchange or other separations media, treat 
the cesium-loaded separations media to prepare it for vitrification, 
and convert the cesium product into a glass waste form suitable for 
final disposal. Personnel exposures during processing and the amount of 
hazardous species in the offgases must be kept within safe limits at 
all times.
    The effectiveness of advanced oxidation technology for treating 
organic cesium-loaded separations media prior to vitrification is not 
proven. After a suitable melter feed is obtained, vitrification of the 
cesium-loaded media must be demonstrated. Technology development is 
needed because: (1) Compounds are in the separation media that must be 
destroyed or they will cause flammability problems in the melter and 
decrease the durability and waste loading of the final waste form; (2) 
High beta/gamma dose rates are associated with handling cesium-
containing waste; and (3) Cesium volatizes in the melter and becomes a 
highly radioactive offgas problem.
    Confidence and assurance that long-term immobilization will be 
successful in borosilicate glass warrants research and improved 
understanding of the structural and thermodynamic properties of glass 
(including the structure and energetics of stable and metastable 
phases), systematic irradiation studies that will simulate long term 
self-irradiation doses and spectra, (including archived glasses 
containing Pu or Cm, and over the widest range of dose, dose rate and 
temperature) and predictive theory and modeling based on computer 
simulations (including ab initio, Monte Carlo, and other methods).
    Some examples of specific science research challenges include but 
are not limited to: fundamental chemical studies needed to determine 
species concentrations above molten glass solutions containing heavy 
metals, cesium, strontium, lanthanides, actinides, with and without a 
cold cap composed of unmelted material; materials science studies of 
molten materials that simulate conditions anticipated during 
vitrification and storage in vitrified form of HLW needed to develop 
improved processes and formulations; fundamental physical chemistry 
studies of sodium nitrate/nitrite mixtures needed for HLW 
stabilization.

References for Background Information

    Note: World Wide Web locations of these documents are provided 
where possible. For those without access to the World Wide Web, hard 
copies of these references may be obtained by writing Mark A. 
Gilbertson at the address listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT section of this Notice.


    DOE. 2000. DOE's Research and Development Portfolio for FY 2001. 
http://www.osti.gov/portfolio/.
    DOE. 2000. Paths to Closure--A collection of documents on 
accelerating clean-up. http://www.em.doe.gov/closure/.
    DOE. 2000. Tanks Focus Area References and Bibliography http://www.pnl.gov/tfa/back/reference.stm.
    DOE. 2000. Environmental Management Dynamic Organization Chart. 
http://www.em.doe.gov/orgchart.html.
    DOE. 2000. Environmental Management Science Program. http://www.em.doe.gov/.
    DOE. 2000. Office of Science and Technology (EM-50). http://ost.em.doe.gov/.
    NRC. 2000. Long-Term Research Needs for High-Level Waste at 
Department of Energy Sites: Interim Report. http://www.nap.edu/catalog/9992.html.
    NRC. 2000. Alternatives for High-Level Waste Salt Processing at the 
Savannah River Site. http://www.nap.edu/books/0309071941/html/.
    NRC. 1999. Disposition of High-Level Radioactive Waste Through 
Geological Isolation: Development, Current Status, and Technical and 
Policy Challenges.

[[Page 3571]]

http://books.nap.edu/books/0309067782/html/1.html.
    NRC. 1999. Interim Report--Committee on Cesium Processing 
Alternatives for High-Level Waste at the Savannah River Site. http://books.nap.edu/books/NI000350/html/index.html.
    NRC. 1999. Alternative High-Level Waste Treatments at the Idaho 
National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. http://books.nap.edu/books/030906628X/html/129.html.

(The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number for this program 
is 81.049, and the solicitation control number is ERFAP 10 CFR Part 
605.)
    Issued in Washington, DC, on January 9, 2001.
John Rodney Clark,
Associate Director of Science for Resource Management.
[FR Doc. 01-1184 Filed 1-12-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-U