Environmental Management now has responsibility for the Chemical Processing Plant and the Radioactive Waste Management Complex at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, where there are about 350 kg of unirradiated 233 U in various chemical and physical forms and a large number of irradiated nuclear fuel elements. An additional complication results from the role of DOE's Office of Material Disposition in developing strategies for final disposal of excess special nuclear material. By way of contrast to this state of dispersed responsibility, the Board notes the better practice of placing stabilization of plutonium residues under a single project manager, in response to the Board's Recommendation 94-1. Uncertainty as to the condition of many items of stored 233 U generates additional concerns. Review of the original storage and packaging of the items of 233 U reveals wide variations in practices.
Questions exist in some cases as to the original state and composition of stored items.
Furthermore, many of the containers in which U-233 is stored have not been inspected for decades, and in some cases have not even been accessed over this interval. The inactivity leads to additional doubts as to the condition of the stored material, and degrades even further the information base which should be improved before it becomes necessary to process the contents of the containers for ultimate disposal. It also raises questions as to how the storage facilities themselves can be deactivated, cleaned up, and decommissioned, since some will be contaminated with this highly radioactive material. It cannot be ruled out that problems exceeding those which motivated the Board in issuance of its Recommendation 94-1 may be found where 233 U is stored under conditions such that physical deterioration can occur. For this reason it would appear prudent to assess the adequacy of packaging of the items of 233 U as they are presently stored, as well as the state of the storage facilities, and to correct any problems that are found.