Operators at the Transuranic Waste Processing Center in Oak Ridge maneuver a hot cell manipulator arm to remotely process legacy oxide waste. A hot cell is a heavily shielded concrete room that provides protection from radioactive material. Image by UCOR

OAK RIDGE, TN - The  Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management  (OREM) and contractor United Cleanup Oak Ridge (UCOR) have achieved the first-year goal for processing oxide waste at the Transuranic Waste Processing Center (TWPC) months ahead of schedule, progressing toward the removal of this legacy material from the Oak Ridge Reservation.

Typical transuranic waste, such as equipment, tools or protective materials, contains low levels of radioactive contamination. However, the oxide waste has bulk quantities of finely divided radioactive particles or powders.

Some of this material is more than 50 years old. It was generated at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) during radiochemical and isotope development operations. Once those activities concluded, the waste was placed in secure storage containers, where it remained until now.

“For decades, this waste has been in storage without a path forward,” said Michael Griswold, TWPC federal project manager. “Through proactive and successful planning, we are successfully advancing work that is facilitating its removal, and we are beating the pace established in our goals."

Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management crews use gloveboxes to vent canisters of legacy oxide waste generated from previous research and development activities at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. A glovebox is a sealed, stainless steel containment enclosure equipped with glove ports and windows, designed to protect personnel from radiological and chemical hazards when handling radioactive materials. Image by UCOR

This marks the first time workers have processed this form of waste at TWPC, requiring facility modifications, procedure updates and readiness assessments. Teams began evaluating approaches to eliminate the material from long term storage in 2018.

UCOR received authorization to begin processing oxide waste in August, and OREM set a first-year goal to process 6.4 cubic meters. The waste consists of fine particles, prompting workers to ensure proper ventilation and packaging to prevent airborne dispersal.

Crews are using gloveboxes and a remote-operated hot cell to protect them from the radioactive material and safely vent the containers as they package them for permanent disposal.

“By using these methods and applying continuous improvements, the waste operations team met the first-year milestone four months ahead of schedule,” UCOR TWPC Area Project Manager Pat Rapp said. “With the processing time significantly reduced, we are minimizing the environmental risk at an accelerated rate.”

OREM and UCOR will continue processing approximately 31 cubic meters of this material before shipping it to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico for final disposal.