Mixed Waste - doe-hdbk-1106-97

DOE-HDBK-1106-97

Volume reduction

a. Compaction: May produce reduction factors of up to 5 to 1.

b. Shredding: May produce reduction factors of up to 12 to 1.

c. Incineration: Difficult under present regulations and political climate;

allowed under 10 CFR 20.2004. Currently, scintillation fluids are

incinerated by commercially licensed vendors.

Mixed Waste

Mixed waste is exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to dispose of at this time.

Currently, DOE has a self-imposed moratorium on the off-site shipment of

RCRA/TSCA waste suspected of having radioactivity. This moratorium was

instituted by the DOE Office of Waste Management (EM-30).

1. The EM-30 Performance Objective (PO) for Certification of Non-radioactive

Hazardous Wastes was developed in 1991 and is currently under revision. This

PO was developed to guide DOE sites in addressing the issue of hazardous waste

that contains added radioactivity.

2. Ways to avoid generating mixed waste:

Use non-hazardous cleaning materials for decontamination whenever

possible.

Segregate "radioactive only" from "hazardous only" at the source.

Explore the use of other materials that are non-hazardous for use in

radiological areas to prevent the generation of mixed waste.

Discontinue use of non-biodegradable (organic solvent based) liquid

scintillation media. Biodegradable liquid scintillation media are available.

Some States are more restrictive than the U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) in their listing of those scintillation cocktails that are

biodegradable.