Kenneth Fletcher
WC Monitor
7/11/2014
In yet another issue linked to the incidents at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, Los Alamos National Laboratory last week reported noncompliances in how it processed waste in a batch of drums suspected of contributing to the WIPP release. The Department of Energy and contractor Los Alamos National Security reported the noncompliances to the New Mexico Environment Department in a July 1 letter, stating that they were related to methods used to process waste in drums containing nitrate salts. While LANL is allowed to process waste under its permit, it cannot take further steps to treat the waste. “Some of the methods that they used to neutralize the liquids they encountered during remediation of the nitrate salt drums went beyond the activities that are allowed in their current permit and actually encompassed treating the waste,” NMED Secretary Ryan Flynn told WC Monitor. “They would need to get another permit in order to treat the waste at LANL or they would need to send the waste to a properly permitted site like Idaho National Laboratory.”
Entries into WIPP’s Panel 7 have discovered a Los Alamos waste drum with a breached lid that is believed to have contributed to the Feb. 14 radiation release at the repository. It is uncertain whether the noncompliances played a role in the release, and investigations by DOE and LANL continue to search for the specific trigger of the event. However, some theories have centered on the possibility that a reaction occurred between materials in nitrate-bearing waste drums from LANL, including organic absorbents and neutralizers. The Lab has isolated the remaining suspect drums in domes with fire suppression and is monitoring them hourly for temperature and other properties.
Lab Self-Identified Noncompliances
Officials from the Lab self-identified the noncompliances and first verbally notified New Mexico in early June. “As part of our ongoing internal investigation, we have identified shortcomings in the processing procedures that led to actions not covered by the Los Alamos National Laboratory Hazardous Waste Facility Permit,” a Lab spokesman said in a statement. “The Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Department of Energy formally self-reported instances of non-compliance to the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED). The instances of non-compliance were discovered as part of the internal investigation into the damaged container that originated from the Los Alamos National Laboratory that was placed in Panel 7 at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) where a radioactive release occurred on February 14, 2014. The focus is now on correcting these processes, in addition to ongoing recovery work.”
Processing activities crossed into unpermitted treatment when LANL added absorbents to nitrate salt-bearing drums and also added neutralizers to certain extremely acidic waste, according to a report LANL submitted to NMED July 1. “The processing of the nitrate salt-bearing waste involved adding neutralizing agents to a waste stream and did not qualify for the elementary neutralization treatment permit exemption,” it states, adding, “Further, the second step of the nitrate salt-bearing waste processing involved the addition of absorbents in some deviating locations (e.g., parent drums and glovebox floor) that do not appear to meet the permit exception that absorbent be added ‘the first time’ the waste is placed in a ‘container.’” Additionally, LANL did not re-evaluate an initial hazardous waste characterization undertaken in early 1990s. “The permittees conclude they had an obligation to reevaluate the unconsolidated nitrate salt-bearing waste to assess the accuracy in accordance with the initial waste characterization,” it states.
NMED Conducting Investigation
NMED is currently conducting its own investigation into the events at Los Alamos and WIPP, and is awaiting its results before deciding on any potential penalties related to the February incidents. “We’re not going to wait forever for DOE to come out with their conclusion before we take the actions we believe are appropriate,” Flynn said. “We are currently investigating the regulatory issues associated with the event that occurred in the underground at the WIPP as well as at the laboratory with any of the issues that are beginning to come to come to light right now. Those investigations, both at the WIPP site and at LANL, are underway.”
