Research Opportunities for Managing the Department of Energy's Transuranic and Mixed Wastes

Report from the Committee of Long-Term Research Needs for Managing Transuranic and Mixed Wastes at the Department of Energy Sites, Board on Radioactive Waste Management. Softcover.

About 155,000 cubic meters of waste contaminated with both radioactive isotopes and hazardous chemicals are stored at some 30 DOE sites, and another 450,000 cubic meters are buried. While DOE is making a concerted effort to properly dispose of this waste, the amount translates to a multi-decade effort that will require handling, characterizing, and shipping hundreds of thousands of waste containers at a total cost of billions of dollars. This report describes basic scientific research that can lead to new technologies for performing these tasks more safely and cost effectively.