Abstract
Management of nuclear materials, including nuclear waste, is a global issue that must be addressed to assure the benefits of nuclear energy while protecting workers, the public and the environment. A key tool in gaining acceptance of nuclear technologies is transparency. Transparency is a combination of technologies and processes that monitor the use, storage, packaging, transportation and disposition of nuclear materials. It provides information to stakeholders for independent assessment of safety and security of the nuclear energy cycle. Application of transparency technology simultaneously promotes non-proliferation and the safety of nuclear energy and waste management.
The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is a deep geologic repository for safe disposal of long-lived, transuranic (TRU) waste. While the WIPP does not require transparency monitoring, its waste management system and operational infrastructure do present excellent opportunities for realistic demonstrations to develop and test transparency strategies and technologies at the back end of the nuclear materials cycle. This paper provides an overview of an integrated set of transparency demonstrations conducted at WIPP. These demonstrations included: 1) tracking of waste shipment, and 2) monitoring of waste containers and environmental parameters in the repository.
