Final Response to the Variance Petition from the U.S. Department of Energy for the Hanford Site
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Notice Summary
On May 1, 2024, EPA approved a treatment variance under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. This final decision authorizes separation, pretreatment, and off-site solidification and disposal of 2,000 gallons of reclassified low-activity radioactive and hazardous waste (mixed waste) from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Test Bed Initiative project at the Hanford site in the State of Washington. Disposal will occur at designated Nuclear Regulatory Commission-licensed landfills that are also permitted under RCRA Subtitle C.
Notice History
The United States Department of Energy operates the Hanford site, a decommissioned nuclear production complex on the Columbia River in Benton County, Washington. The federal government generated over 56 million gallons of mixed waste at the site.
In 1989, the site’s operations shifted to treating and safely disposing of the remaining mixed waste. DOE constructed a vitrification plant to treat a portion of the waste, but it does not currently have the capacity to process all the mixed waste at the Hanford site. DOE is exploring alternate treatment and disposal options that can operate in parallel with vitrification. Congress provided funding to DOE to pursue the TBI, which entails using in-tank separation and pretreatment to remove key radionuclides from Tank SY-101 liquid, followed by off-site stabilization and disposal of the remaining, reclassified, low-activity mixed waste.
On November 28, 2023, in response to DOE’s petition, EPA proposed a treatment variance under RCRA to authorize treatment and disposal of the TBI waste using the treatment technology stabilization with verification that the treated waste meets the LDR concentration-based standards for hazardous constituents, as applicable for the relevant waste codes, prior to disposal in a Subtitle C/Nuclear Regulatory Commission landfill. EPA welcomed public comment on the proposed treatment variance through December 28, 2023. EPA offered consultation on this proposal to the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Nez Perce Tribe, and the Confederated Tribes & Bands of the Yakama Nation. EPA also posted notice of this proposal in the "Tri-City Herald" newspaper. Read the proposal.