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LAWRENCE LIVERMORE NATIONAL LABORATORY

Decontamination and Waste Treatment Facility

The Decontamination and Waste Treatment Facility (DWTF) is an integrated facility for storing and processing hazardous, low-level radioactive, transuranic radioactive, and mixed waste at LLNL. It opened in 2003. The complex includes indoor storage areas and a treatment plant. There is a 2,200-square-meter building for processing solid waste. Liquid waste is processed in a 1,600-square-meter building. The liquid waste processing building has a tank farm with nine 17-kiloliter close-top tanks. The previous open-air tank farm had six open-top 5.5-kiloliter treatment tanks and four 17-kiloliter storage tanks.

Previous Waste Management Facilities:

The 514 Area served as the liquid treatment facility for LLNL. Aqueous liquid and radiological wastes were treated in this area by chemical precipitation and subsequent filtration. The liquid treatment facility treated approximately 50,000 gallons of liquid waste each year. Area 514 consisted of buildings and areas for treating and storing hazardous waste. Building 513 was used to store and repackage depleted uranium in drums. Building 514 housed the equipment for the silver recovery and waste water filtration. However, they were being phased out during the construction and activation of the DWTF. According to the comprehensive Closure Plan for the Area 514 Treatment and Storage Facility, dated May 2000 and revised in February 2004, some of the old treatment equipment was to be relocated to the new facility, while some would be decontaminated and disposed.

In the late nineties the 612 complex was used for packaging, storing, treating, and offsite shipping of radioactive, hazardous, and mixed waste.

• Area 612-1B Tent was used for storage of solid mixed waste only (boxes). Liquids, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and asbestos were not allowed in this area. It was also used for storage of low level and transuranic radioactive waste.

• Area 612-1 between the tents was used to store drums (radioactive waste only).

• Area 612-2 (Container Storage Unit) was used for storage of solid and liquid hazardous and mixed waste. There was also ignitable radioactive waste in storage, and frozen biological waste. No PCBs covered under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA PCBs) (PCB > 50 ppm) were allowed in this area.

• Area 612-3 (Drum/Container Storage Unit) was being used for storage of empty but possibly radioactively contaminated containers.

• Area 612-4 (Receiving, Segregation, and Container Storage Unit) was used for storage of liquid, solid, or gaseous hazardous, low level radioactive, and mixed waste. No TSCA PCBs (PCB > 50 ppm) or asbestos was allowed in this area.

• Area 612-5 (Container Storage Unit) was used to store low level radioactive, classified, and solid mixed waste boxes. Liquids, PCBs, and asbestos were not allowed in this area.

• Area 612-5 (Outside) was used to store packed 7A boxes with solid radioactive material only. Liquids, PCBs, and asbestos were not allowed in this area.

• Area 612-PT (Portable Tank Storage Unit) had two bermed areas used to separately store 330 gallon tuff tanks and 660 gallon tanks and smaller.

• Building 612-100 was used for storage and consolidation of hazardous waste. It had a high bay for storage of solid, liquid, and gaseous mixed waste and radioactive waste only. No TSCA PCBs (PCB > 50 ppm) or asbestos was allowed in this area. Waste carriers from the generators were unloaded, labeled, and sorted in the high bay.

• Building 614 East Cells (Container Storage Unit) was used for storage of solid, liquid, and gaseous hazardous waste. Ignitable, reactive, toxic, and corrosive wastes were grouped by compatibility and appropriately segregated in one of four cells. No TSCA PCBs (PCB > 50 ppm) or asbestos was allowed in this area.

• Building 614 West Cells (Container Storage Unit) was used for storage of solid, liquid, and gaseous mixed, hazardous, and radioactive waste only. No TSCA PCBs (PCB > 50 ppm) or asbestos was allowed in this area.

• Building 625 (Container Storage Unit) had an east and west section. Building 625 East was used as a storage facility for transuranic wastes in 55-gallon steel drums (up to 6 curie per drum). Building 625 West was used for storage of TSCA regulated waste, such as PCBs and asbestos.

• Building 693 had four cells for chemical waste segregation of radioactive and mixed waste, and mixed TSCA controlled waste. It was enclosed and also used as a chemical exchange warehouse.

It was expected that the 514 Area, 612 Complex, and Building 693 would continue to support LLNL waste management activities until the completion, which was originally scheduled for 1999, of the new Decontamination and Waste Treatment Facility.