Review of the Final Draft Analysis of Supplemental Treatment Approaches of Low-Activity Waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation

In 1943, as part of the Manhattan Project, the Hanford Nuclear Reservation was established with the mission to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons. During 45 years of operations, the Hanford Site produced about 67 metric tonnes of plutonium?approximately two-thirds of the nation's stockpile. Production processes generated radioactive and other hazardous wastes and resulted in airborne, surface, subsurface, and groundwater contamination. Presently, 177 underground tanks contain collectively about 210 million liters (about 56 million gallons) of waste. The chemically complex and diverse waste is difficult to manage and dispose of safely. Section 3134 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 calls for a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) to conduct an analysis of approaches for treating the portion of low-activity waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation intended for supplemental treatment. The third of four, this report provides an overall assessment of the FFRDC team's final draft report, dated April 5, 2019. Table of Contents Front Matter Summary 1 Context and Setting 2 The Committee's Technical Review of the FFRDC's Final Draft Analysis 3 The Committee's Assessment of the Usefulness for Decision-Makers of the FFRDC's Final Draft Analysis References Appendix A: Section 3134 of the Fiscal Year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act Appendix B: Statement of Task Appendix C: Presentations at the Committee's Information-Gathering Meetings Appendix D: Biographical Sketches of the Committee, Technical Adviser, and Study Director Appendix E: Acronyms and Abbreviations