Savannah River Site
NDAA 3116 Waste Determinations

Section 3116 of the Ronald W. Reagan National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005 authorizes the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, to determine that certain waste from reprocessing spent nuclear fuel is not high-level waste and that it may instead be disposed of as low-level waste if it meets the criteria set forth in Section 3116. Currently, DOE SRS has prepared one final (salt waste) and one draft waste determination (F-Area Tank Farm - one of two underground waste storage tank farms at SRS.)

Initially, SRS drafted a waste determination for two tanks within the F-Area Tank Farm, Tanks 18 and 19. This tank-specific waste determination was rescinded in 2006 due to the recognition that it would be more technically appropriate to develop a waste determination for the entire tank farm. The F-Area Tank Farm waste determination is currently being drafted and scheduled for release for public comment in the Fall 2010. The second tank farm at the Savannah River Site, H-Area Tank Farm, will be undergoing the same procedures within the next few years. The Salt Waste Determination has been finalized and the Secretary of Energy issued that determination on January 17, 2006.