Office of River Protection (DOE-ORP) Hanford Tank Waste Treatment Alternatives March 2000

WODRICH, D.D.

DOE-ORP (United States)

关键词: Financing;    Waste Processing;    Life-Cycle Cost;    Business;    Compliance;   

DOI  :  10.2172/801827
RP-ID  :  DOE/ORP-2000-04, Rev.0
RP-ID  :  AC27-99RL14047
RP-ID  :  801827

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is currently planning to retrieve, pretreat, immobilize and safely dispose of 53 million gallons of highly radioactive waste currently stored in underground tanks at Hanford Site. The DOE plan is a two-phased approach to privatizing the processing of hazardous and radioactive waste. Phase 1 is a proof-of-concept/commercial demonstration-scale effort whose objectives are to: demonstrate, the technical and business viability of using privatized facilities to treat Hanford tank waste; define and maintain required levels of radiological, nuclear, process and occupational safety; maintain environmental protection and compliance; and substantially reduce life-cycle costs and time required to treat Hanford tank waste. The Phase 1 effort consists of Part A and Part B. On September 25, 1996 (Reference 1), DOE signed a contract with BNFL, Inc. (BNFL) to commence with Phase 1, Part A. In August 1998, BNFL was authorized to proceed with Phase I, Part 6-1, a 24-month design phase that will-provide sufficient engineering and financial maturity to establish fixed-unit prices and financing terms for tank waste processing services in privately-owned and -operated facilities. By August 2000, DOE will decide whether to authorize BNFL to proceed with construction and operation of the proposed processing facilities, or pursue a different path. To support of the decision, DOE is evaluating alternatives to potentially enhance the BNFL tank waste processing contract, as well as, developing an alternate path forward should DOE decide to not continue the BNFL contract. The decision on whether to continue with the current privatization strategy (BNFL contract) or to pursue an alternate can not be made until the evaluation process leading up to the decision on whether to authorize BNFL to proceed with construction and operation (known as the Part 8-2 decision) is completed. The evaluation process includes reviewing and evaluating the information BNFL is scheduled to submit in April 2000, and negotiating the best mutually acceptable contract terms. The alternatives studies completed to-date are summarized in Reference 2.