Upcoming Virtual Public Meeting on the Draft Waste Incidental to Reprocessing Evaluation for Vitrified Low-Activity Waste Disposed of Onsite at the Hanford Site, Washington

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will host a public meeting on Aug. 26 to present its response to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) Requests for Additional Information (RAI) concerning the Draft Waste Incidental to Reprocessing Evaluation for Vitrified Low-Activity Waste Disposed of Onsite at the Hanford Site, Washington (Draft WIR Evaluation). The Draft WIR Evaluation analyzes whether the Hanford Site’s vitrified low-activity waste meets the criteria in DOE M 435.1-1, Radioactive Waste Management Manual, is waste incidental to reprocessing (WIR) of spent nuclear fuel, and may be managed (disposed of at the Hanford Site) as low-level radioactive waste in the future.

DOE held a public comment period from May 26 to Nov. 27, 2020, and is consulting with the NRC on the evaluation and associated performance assessment. After consultation with the NRC, carefully considering comments received, and performing any necessary revisions of analyses and technical documents, DOE will prepare a final WIR evaluation. Based on the final WIR Evaluation, DOE may determine, in a future WIR Determination, whether the waste is incidental to reprocessing, is not high-level radioactive waste, and may be disposed of onsite (at the Hanford Integrated Disposal Facility) as low-level radioactive waste.

The virtual public meeting will be held on Aug. 26, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. PT. To listen to the meeting via GoToWebinar, please follow the instructions below:

    Aug. 26 Public Meeting Presentation

    Visual (presentation only):
    Click the GoToWebinar link: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6378880896368451596
    ID: 372-312-515

    Audio:
    1. Dial +1 509-372-3087 (local) or +1 800-664-0771 (long distance)
    2. Enter Conference ID: 1333#

The purpose of this virtual meeting is for DOE to provide its response to the NRC’s RAIs as part of the DOE-NRC consultation. Participants will be able to listen to the discussion between DOE and NRC and ask questions regarding the RAIs.

More information, including the Draft WIR Evaluation and the "Performance Assessment for the Integrated Disposal Facility, Hanford Site, Washington," is available on the Hanford Vitrified Low-Activity Waste webpage.

Questions? Please contact Jennifer Colborn, Hanford Mission Integration Solutions, at Jennifer_M_colborn@rl.gov or (509) 376-5840.

To request disability accommodation, please contact Jennifer Colborn, jennifer_m_colborn@rl.gov, (509) 376-5840, at least 10 working days prior to the event. DOE makes every effort to honor disability accommodation requests.