Year
2013
Abstract
Characterization of large and/or high dose rate waste containers for disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) can be problematical. At the present time, all nondestructive assay (NDA) systems qualified for WIPP characterization are fixed NDA systems. Most fixed NDA systems have been designed for 208L drums or standard waste boxes (SWB). Several of the DOE sites have larger containers of legacy waste which would need to be size reduced to be repackaged into these smaller containers. In order to avoid this expensive and hazardous process, a two detector high purity germanium ISOCS system has been set up at Los Alamos National Laboratory to measure the Standard Large Box (SLB-2) container, as well as other potential containers including SWBs, high dose rate drums, and Ten Drum Overpacks (TDOP). This configuration represents the first configuration of portable instruments to be put into the National TRU Waste Program for qualification. In order to accomplish this, rigorous documentation, performance testing, total measurement uncertainty analysis, and quality assurance documentation must be submitted. The following paper documents how the system has been configured in order to meet the measurement requirements, as well as the QA and configuration requirements defined by the WIPP Waste Acceptance Criteria. Results of the calibration confirmation and performance testing will be reported as well as the total measurement uncertainty evaluation. The success of this program provides a pathway for other sites to move toward disposing of more difficult containers of TRU waste without the need for size reduction.