Re: TRU vs LLW classification

["Ralph E. Wild" <rewild@ATTGLOBAL.NET>]

>

>

>I may be getting confused by the history of the TRU classification, but is TRU waste

>outside of DOE generation (commercial waste) considered TRU, or is it

>classified to an appropriate LLW category?

>

The short answer is that the waste  could, by definition, not be LLW. 

 In the context of LLW, it would be Greater than Class C (GTCC).



TRU waste is defined in 40 CFR 194.  The definition is based on the 

concentration of certain TRU nuclides and not who generated the waste. 

 Paraphrasing, TRU waste is waste that requires geologic isolation, 

contains greater that 100 nCi/g of waste of alpha-emitting TRU nuclides 

with half-lives greater than 20 years, and is not HLW.



LLW is defined in 10 CFR 61 in terms of what it is not.  One of the 

things it is not is TRU waste.  An NRC or Agreement State licensee who 

generates wastes that meets the 40 CFR 194 definition has Greater than 

Class C waste (GTCC).  Since the 10 CFR 61 waste classification table 

for long-lived radionuclides limits the concentration of alpha-emitting 

TRU nuclides with half-lives greater than five years to 100 nCi/g of 

waste, it is possible to have GTCC waste that is not TRU.  This would be 

caused by Cm-244 and/or Cf-250,



Ralph E. Wild, Ph.D.

URS Corporation













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