Year
1994
Abstract
The strategy for the radioassay methods Performance Demonstration Program (POP) is to provide an integrated approach to qualify and certify all Department of Energy (DOE) facilities employing Non-Destructive Assay (NDA) systems as part of an overall waste characterization effort. The program will provide a benchmark whereby participating facilities can evaluate their assay accuracy and precision through feedback from a series of POP cycles. As such it is expected that a reliable and defendable metric to quantify the radionuclide mass contained within defense generated waste will be established. Impetus for this program is provided in large measure by DOE's regulators whose requirements are mandated in part by the draft Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Title 40, Part 194 which specifies the criteria for the certification and determination of the WIPP's compliance with CFR, Title 40, Part 191. Anticipated results of the POP will be improved consistency and credibility of the measured data - particularity as it relates to a determination of the 100 nano-Curies per gram bounding condition which distinguishes low level waste (LLW) from transuranic (TRU) waste. Recognizing that this lower limit for the specific activity of TRU waste is obtained from a summation of the measured average specific activity and two times the standard deviation, it is conceivable that significant quantities of LLW waste may inadvertently be disposed of as TRU waste due to the iarge uncertainly associated with these measurements. Considering the cost differential associated with the disposal of LLW and TRU waste streams in addition to the limited volume available at the WIPP for the disposal of TRU waste, it is expected that improvements in radioassay precision and accuracy resulting from the POP will serve not only to satisfy DOE's regulators but also to provide DOE with a waste management tool which can result in considerable cost savings.