Waste characterization activities at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Radioactive and hazardous wastes are generated at many national laboratories, military sites, fuel fabrication and enrichment plants, reactors, and many other facilities. At all of these sites, wastes must be separated, categorized, possibly treated, and packed into containers for shipment to waste-storage or disposal sites. Prior to treatment, storage or, shipment, the containers must be characterized to determine the ultimate disposition of the contained waste. Comprehensive and accurate nondestructive evaluation (NDE) and nondestructive assay (NDA) methods can be used to characterize most waste containers in a safe and cost-effective manner without opening them. The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is investigating and developing the application of x-ray and {gamma}-ray methods to nonintrusively characterize waste containers and/or items. X-ray NDE methods are being investigated to determine whether they can be used to identify hazardous and nonconforming materials. A {gamma}-ray NDA method is used to identify the radioactive sources within a container and to accurately quantify their strength. In this paper we describe five waste characterization projects being conducted at LLNL that apply both the NDE and NDA methods and present results.