Department of Energy Hanford Mixed Radioactive Waste Land Disposal Restrictions Variance

Résumé

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to grant a treatability variance from the Land Disposal Restrictions (LDR) treatment standards for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for approximately 2,000 gallons of mixed low-activity waste from the Hanford Site in Washington State. The petitioner demonstrated that treatment of the waste to the specified standard is technically inappropriate, and the treatment variance is sufficient to minimize threats to human health and the environment posed by land disposal of the waste. If the variance is granted, the waste will be stabilized subject to specified conditions, and disposed at EnergySolutions in Clive, Utah and/or Waste Control Specialists in Andrews County, Texas. The variance would allow DOE, Washington, and EPA to evaluate the regulatory pathways by which separation, pretreatment, stabilization, and offsite disposal could be implemented for other Hanford mixed low-activity waste.