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2.0 PURPOSE AND NEED FOR ACTION

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), in cooperation with the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology), must make decisions on how to manage and dispose of Hanford Site tank waste and encapsulated cesium and strontium to reduce existing and potential future risk to the public, Site workers, and the environment. The waste, which is classified as radioactive high-level and low-activity, hazardous, and mixed waste (radioactive and hazardous waste), is stored in 177 underground storage tanks and approximately 60 other smaller active and inactive miscellaneous underground storage tanks in the tank farm system. DOE also must manage and dispose of waste that may be added to the tanks from current and planned cleanup operations at the Hanford Site. DOE also must address the management and disposal of the approximately 1,930 cesium and strontium capsules, which are either stored in the Waste Encapsulation and Storage Facility in water basins at the Hanford Site or are being returned to the Hanford Site.

The Hanford Site defense activities created a wide variety of waste. Because the tank waste and associated inactive miscellaneous underground storage tank waste contain by-products of reactor fuel processing, they are classified by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as high-level radioactive waste (10 Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] Part 60). The high-level waste presently stored in 28 double-shell tanks (DSTs), 149 single-shell tanks (SSTs), and approximately 60 miscellaneous underground storage tanks came from a variety of operations and includes a variety of waste types. This waste has been processed and transferred between tanks, which has caused the chemical and physical characteristics of the waste to vary greatly among and within individual tanks. In addition, the tank waste contains chemicals or characteristics classified as hazardous waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act regulations (40 CFR Parts 260 to 268 and 270 to 272) and as dangerous waste under the Washington Administrative Code (WAC) Dangerous Waste Regulations (WAC 173-303). Planned future waste to be stored in the tanks includes radioactive high-level and low-activity, hazardous, and mixed waste that will be transferred to the DSTs during deactivation and cleanout of Hanford Site facilities.

In April 1988, the Hanford Defense Waste Record of Decision was published in the Federal Register (53 FR 12449). In this Record of Decision, DOE decided to proceed with preparing DST waste for final disposal and develop additional information before making a final decision on disposal of SST waste. However, several important changes have occurred since the 1988 Hanford Defense Waste Record of Decision. Because of these changes, DOE and Ecology must examine alternative ways to manage and dispose of tank waste and encapsulated cesium and strontium. The changes include the following:

• Upgrading B Plant, which the Hanford Defense Waste Record of Decision proposed as the facility for pretreatment processes to comply with current environmental and safety requirements, was found not to be viable or cost-effective; consequently, B Plant was eliminated from consideration as a waste pretreatment facility.
• Signing the Hanford Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (Tri-Party Agreement) by DOE, Ecology, and EPA in 1989, which established an agreed-upon approach for achieving environmental compliance at the Hanford Site, and included specific milestones for the retrieval, treatment, and disposal of tank waste.
• Identifying tank safety issues for about 50 DSTs and SSTs, which became classified as Watchlist tanks in response to the 1990 enactment of Public Law 101-510.
• Terminating the planned grout project and adopting a vitrified waste form as the proposed approach as a result of stakeholders' concerns with the long-term adequacy of near-surface disposal of grouted low-activity waste in vaults.
• Delaying the construction of the Hanford Waste Vitrification Plant because of insufficient capacity to vitrify the high-level waste fraction of all DST and SST waste in the planned time frame.
• Changing the planning basis for addressing retrieval of the waste from underground storage tanks by DOE to include the SSTs and treating the retrieved SST waste in combination with DST waste.

DOE is addressing the immediate and near-term safety and environmental issues posed by this waste to minimize short-term potential risks to human health and the environment through ongoing safety programs. DOE also must implement long-term actions to safely manage and dispose of the tank waste, associated inactive miscellaneous underground storage tanks, and the cesium and strontium capsules to permanently reduce potential risk to human health and the environment. These long-term actions also are needed to ensure compliance with Federal and Washington State laws regulating the management and disposal of radioactive, hazardous, and mixed waste. Federal and State laws and regulations require DOE to safely manage the tank waste and encapsulated cesium and strontium and to dispose of high-level and low-activity waste.