Oak Ridge Institutes New Process to Treat Transuranic Waste Inventory

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