Oak Ridge Reservation Annual Site Environmental Report, 2003 Page: 93 of 340

                                
Annual Site Environmental Report

consolidated with other spent fuel in storage at the
INEEL.
By the end of CY 2003, all five planned
shipments to INEEL had been completed. The five
shipments completed the removal of more than
100,000 Ci of radionuclides from the ORR. These
shipments also transferred 62 spent-fuel canisters
and 9 intact Peach Bottom Reactor fuel
assemblies with a total of 0.22 metric ton of heavy
metal from Oak Ridge to INEEL.
3.3.1.5 Molten Salt Reactor
Experiment Fuel and Flush
Salts Removal
The Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE)
facility operated from 1965 to 1969 to test the
molten salt concept. Unlike most current
commercial reactors that have fuel confined to
fuel rods, MSRE was fueled by molten salt that
flowed through the reactor chamber, where the
nuclear chain reaction produced heat.
A CERCLA action to remove the fuel and
flush the salt is under way. Testing of fuel salt
removal equipment and a cold trap system was
successfully completed in 2003. Operating
procedures were developed based on results of the
testing, and training of operators was conducted.
Fuel and flush-salt removal will occur in 2004 and
2005.
3.3.1.6 TRU Waste Processing
Facility
The mission of the Oak Ridge Transuranic
(TRU) Program is to provide cost-effective, safe,
and environmentally compliant treatment and
disposal of all TRU waste stored at ORNL. In CY
2003, the   TRU   Program   continued  the
construction of the Waste Processing Facility. The
scope of the facility is to treat and dispose of 900
m3 of remote-handled TRU sludge, 550 m3 of
remote-handled TRU/alpha low-level waste
(LLW) solids, 1600 m3 of remote-handled-LLW
supernate, and 1000 m3 of contact-handled
TRU/alpha LLW solids currently stored in Melton
Valley.
Construction for the Supernate Processing
System of the Waste Processing Facility is
complete, and the operational readiness reviews
are under way. Supernate processing is to begin in

early in CY 2004. Construction and testing of the
contact-handled waste system is scheduled to
resume shortly after supernate operations begin.
Contact-handled waste operations are expected to
start in August 2005. Construction and testing of
the remote-handled solids and sludge systems will
resume early in CY 2006, depending on the status
of the remote-handled waste permit for the Waste
Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) that is currently
expected to be approved and in place by July 31,
2006.
3.3.1.7 22-Trench Area TRU Waste
Retrieval
During the 1970s, packages of TRU waste
were retrievably stored in the 22-Trench. Since
the 1980s, packages of newly generated TRU
waste have been stored in constructed facilities.
Radionuclides in the TRU waste containers
represent some of the most toxic and longest-lived
radioisotopes stored on the ORR. In a consent
agreement signed in September 2000, DOE
committed to the state of Tennessee to retrieve the
TRU waste from the 22-Trench Area under
DOE's Atomic Energy Act authority.
A request for proposals for the 22-Trench
Area retrieval project was issued for bid early in
2003. The proposals were evaluated, and a
subcontract was awarded. The scope of work
consists of retrieving the TRU waste packages,
placing the waste packages in overpacks, and
staging the waste in appropriate areas pending
transport to the TRU Waste Processing Facility
when directed by DOE. There the wastes will be
repackaged to meet the acceptance criteria for off-
site disposal facilities and then shipped off-site for
disposal. Soil exceeding remediation levels in the
Melton Valley record of decision and debris waste
associated with the excavation will be disposed at
the EMWMF or other appropriate facility. Design
documents were submitted to and approved by the
regulators. Field activities will begin in 2004 and
will be completed in 2006.
3.3.1.8 Melton Valley Hydrologic
Isolation
In addition to the SWSA 4 cap, the Melton
Valley record of decision calls for construction of
caps  on   several other   waste  disposal

Environmental Management and Reservation Activities 3-7