Waste Forms Technology and Performance

This report examines requirements for waste form technology and performance in the cleanup program. The report provides information to DOE-EM to support improvements in methods for processing waste and selecting and fabricating waste forms.



The Department of Energy's Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM) is responsible for cleaning up radioactive waste and environmental contamination resulting from five decades of nuclear weapons production and testing. A majorfocus of this program involves the retrieval, processing, and immobilization of waste into stable, solid waste forms for disposal.

Waste Forms Technology and Performance places particular emphasis on processing technologies for high-level radioactive waste, DOE's most expensive and arguably most difficult cleanup challenge.
The report's key messages are presented in ten findings and one recommendation.

CONTENTS
Executive Summary
1. Findings and Recommendations
2. Background and Study Task
3. Waste Forms
4. Waste Processing and Waste Form Production
5. Waste Form Testing
6. Waste Forms and Disposal Environments
7. Waste Form Performance in Disposal Systems
8. Legal and Regulatory Factors for Waste Form Performance
9. Possible Opportunities in Waste Form Science and Technology
Appendixes
A: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members
B: Workshop on Waste Form Technology and Performance
C: Interim Report
D: Glossary
E: Acronyms