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Mr. Casey Gadbury, Manager 

National TRU Program 

Carlsbad Field Office 

U.S. Department of Energy 

P.O. Box 3090 

Carisbad, NM 88221-3090 

Dear Mr. Gadbury: 

This letter provides the results of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 

(EPA) continued eompliance inspection (Inspection No. EPA-INL-CCP 09.08-24) of the 

Central Characterization Project (CCP) waste characterization (WC) program for contacthandled (CH) transuranic (TRU) waste at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in Idaho 

Falls, Idaho. As a result of this continued compliance inspeetion, EPA confirmed that the 

INL-CCP CH TRU WC program characterizes CH TRU waste consistent with the 

conditions and limitations from EPA's baseline approval granted in November 2005. 

The enclosed report (EPA Air poeket No. A-98-49; I1-A4-112) gives the details of the 

evaluation. 

In accordance with 40 CFR 194.8(b), this on-site inspection occurred at the 

Radioactive Waste Management Complex (RWMC) loeated at INL on September 16-18, 

2008. The onsite inspection covered all TRU waste charaeterization proeesses except 

acceptable knowledge (AK). EPA inspected AK separately by desktop review between 

October and December 2008. 

EPA gave the baseline approval to the INL CCP's CH TRU waste 

eharaeterization program in November 2005, in accordance with 40 CFR 194.8(b). 

During this inspection, the Agency evaluated a sample of the following WC activities: 

• Acceptable knowledge (AK) 

• Two nondestructive assay (NDA) systems, the Waste Assay Gamma 

Spectrometer (WAGS) and the Super High Efficiency Neutron Counter 

(SuperHENC) for eharacterizing CH TRU wastes 

• Real-time radiography (RTR) for CH retrievably-stored TRU debris waste 

• Visual Examination Technique (VET) for newly-generated TRU waste 

• Container Management 

inte:nat Addrass (URL) ® h#to:1(onutv,apa.gev 

itscycleeV6lecyclab8s ~ Pnnfed ;vi!t vegePabie ~,ii Based lr,ks on Recycied Paper (Minimum 30°o Fostcensurner) 
EPA eontinues the approval of the INL-CCP CH TRU WC program in the 

eonfiguration observed during this inspection eonsistent with the limitations described in 

the baseline inspection report (see EPA Docket No.A-98-49; II-A4-59). Since the 

baseline approval, EPA added new Tier I and Tier 2 items to the original baseline 

approval. The attached table below summarizes the EPA's current approvai status of INL 

CCP's CH TRU waste characterization activities. 

If you have any questions, please contact Rajani Joglekar (202 343-9462) or Ed 

Feltcorn (202 343- 9422. 

Since ^ ,~ 

Tom Peake, Director 

Center for Waste Management & 

Regulations 

Enclosure 

ec: electronic distribution 

Alton Harris, DOE EM 

Dave Moody, CBFO 

Vernon Daub, CBFO 

Court Fesmire, CBFO 

Norma Casteneda, CBFO 

Ava Holland, CBFO 

Dennis Miehls, CBFO 

Martin Navarrete, CBFO 

 Jerry Wells, DOE INL 

Orville Green, Idaho DEQ 

Jon Edwards, EPA 

Steve Zappe, NMED 

David Ploetz, WTS 

Allison Pangle, CTAC 

Wayne Ledford, CTAC 
Tiering of CH TRU WC Processes Implemented by INL-CCP (March 2009) 

WC Process Elements INL-CCP WC Tl Ghan es': INL-CCP WC T2 Chan es a 

Acceptable Knowledge Any new sunnnary category group for TRU Notification to EPA upon completion of the 

(AK) and Load waste following: 

Management Changes to W WIS algorithme specific to load Waste Stream Profile Forms including updates or 

management requiring revisions to the load additions to waste stream(s) within an approved 

managetnent provisions of DOE's CH Waste waste category 

Aceeptance Criteria (CH WAC) Changes in load management status of approved 

Changes to the targeted waste(s) from what was waste stream(s) 

( presented in Revision 6 of the AK Summaiy Changes to the W WIS algorithms corresponding to CCP-AK-INL-001 (AK 2) the changes to the load management provisions of 

i 

the CH WAC 

Changes to site proeedures requiring CBFO 

provals 

Praviding any analysis evaluating effectiveness of 

the Waste Ident ftcation Process (AK 1) 

Providing futtrre revisions of CCP-AK-INL-001, 

Revision 6 (AK2) 

~

Providing future Discrepancy Reporrts related to 

radiological and physical characteristics of the IDSDA-SOIL, ID-SDA-SLUDGE, andlD-SDADEBRIS waste streams (AK 6) 

I Providing AK Accuracy Reports for the ID-SDASOIL, ID-SDA-SLUDGE, andlD-SDA-DEBRIS 

waste streams (AK 8) 

A11 forthcoming revisions to AK-NDA memoranda 

that apply to ID-SDA-SOIL, ID-SDA-SLUDGE, 

and ID-SDA-DEBRIS waste streams (AK 10) 

Non Destructive Assay New equipment or substantive changessto Changes to software for approved equipment 

(NDA) approved equipment affecting actual radioassay 

results (e.g., DQO compliance, TMU) Changes to operating range(s) upon CBFO I 

Modification` to approved calibration range for approval 

I approved equipment and/or equipment Changes to site procedures requiring CBFO 

approval 

Real-Time Radiography Not Applicable Changes to site procedures requiring CBFO 

(RTR) approval 

Visual Examination (VE) Not Applicable Same as above 

i WIPP Waste Inforniation 

; System (W WIS) 

Not Applicable Same as above 

" INL-CCP will report all T2 changes to EPA at the end of each fiscal quarter. 

° °Substantive changes" are changes with the potential to impact the site's WC activities or documentation thereof, excluding 

changes that are solely related to ES&H, nuclear safety, or RCRA, or that are editorial in nature. 

`Modifications to approved calibration range for approved equipment and/or equipment" include a11 changes with the potential 

to affeet NDA data relative to waste isolation and exclude minor changes, such as the addition of safety-related equipment.