Audit Report: IG-0527

Idaho Operations Office Mixed Low-Level Waste Disposal Plans

Office of Inspector General

September 28, 2001

September 28, 2001

Idaho Operations Office Mixed Low-Level Waste Disposal Plans

During the 1970s and 1980s, about 65,000 cubic meters of reinsurance waste was sent to the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) for temporary storage. In 1982, the definition of transuranic waste changed and, as a result, 25,400 cubic meters of this waste was reclassified as mixed low-level waste. At that time, mixed low-level waste was considered "orphan waste" since it had no identified path for disposal.

  • Audit Report: IG-0527 (64.54 KB)
    During the 1970s and 1980s, about 65,000 cubic meters of transuranic waste was sent to the
    Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) for temporary storage. In
    1982, the definition of transuranic waste changed and, as a result, 25,400 cubic meters of this
    waste was reclassified as mixed low-level waste. At that time, mixed low-level waste was
    considered "orphan waste" since it had no identified path for disposal.
    To address this situation, in 1995 the Idaho Operations Office (Idaho) decided to "blend-up" its
    mixed low-level waste with about 39,500 cubic meters of transuranic waste so that all 65,000
    cubic meters of waste could be disposed of as transuranic waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot
    Plant (WIPP). Subsequent to Idaho's decision, the Department of Energy (Department) issued a
    Record of Decision in 2000, which designated the Hanford and Nevada Test Sites as disposal
    sites for mixed low-level waste. The objective of our audit was to determine whether Idaho
    should continue with plans to dispose of its mixed low-level waste at the WIPP.