Drum fire at Idaho's Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Facility

["Strickert, Rick" <rstrickert@signaturescience.com>]

>From an AP report (http://www.trib.com/AP/wire_detail.php?wire_num=133397):



	"A radioactive waste drum being prepared for shipment to New Mexico caught fire forcing the evacuation of part of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. 

	"The radiation did not escape the container and workers were not injured during the fire Wednesday morning, lab spokeswoman Ann Riedesel said. 

	"Workers in the lab's Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Facility were preparing the drum for shipment to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad when they noticed that the drum was bulging. This indicates some sort of gas buildup inside, Riedesel said. In the past, the problem has been solved by simply venting the drum, allowing the gas to escape, she said. 

	"'We've vented dozens already without incident,' she said. 

	"In this case, however, flames leapt from the drum as soon as it was vented. Riedesel said lab workers have not identified the gas that caused the fire."

The AP report also noted:

	"The fire occurred as the Senate considers a measure by Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., to relax rules requiring testing of gases before shipping. 



Dominici's bill, S.1424 (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/C?c108:./temp/~c10826Szb0) includes the following:



	"SEC. 310. (a) The Secretary of Energy is directed to file a permit modification to the Waste Analysis Plan (WAP) and associated provisions contained in the Hazardous Waste Facility Permit for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). For purposes of determining compliance of the modifications to the WAP with the hazardous waste analysis requirements of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.), or other applicable laws waste confirmation for all waste received for storage and disposal shall be limited to (1) confirmation that the waste contains no ignitable, corrosive, or reactive waste through the use of either radiography or visual examination of a statistically representative subpopulation of the waste; and (2) review of the Waste Stream Profile Form to verify that the waste contains no ignitable, corrosive, or reactive waste and that assigned Environmental Protection Agency hazardous waste numbers are allowed for storage and disposal by the WIPP Hazardous Was!

 te!

 Facility Permit.

	"(b) Compliance with the disposal room performance standards of the WAP shall be demonstrated exclusively by monitoring airborne volatile organic compounds in underground disposal rooms in which waste has been emplaced until panel closure."





Rick Strickert 

Austin, TX

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