Laboratory waste minimization during the operation startup phase

摘要

The Waste Sampling and Characterization Facility (WSCF) Laboratory was opened for occupancy in October, 1994. It is the first of its kind on the Hanford Site, a low level lab located in an area of high level radiological material. The mission of the facility is to analyze process samples from two on-line effluent treatment plants. One of these plants is operating and the other is due to begin operations by the end of 1995. The VSCF also performs air sampling analysis for routine radiological surveillance filter papers drawn from around the Hanford Site. Because this type of laboratory had not been in operation before, there was only speculation about the types and amounts of waste that would be generated. The laboratory personnel assigned to WSCF were assembled from existing labs on the Hanford Site and from outside the Hanford Site community. For some, it was a first time experience working on a site where a twenty mile drive is sometimes required to visit another building. For others, it was a change in the way business is conducted using state-of-the-art equipment, a new building, and a chance to approach issues as a team from the beginning. It is how this team came together and the issues that were discussed, sometimes uncomfortably, that lead to the current success. The outcome of this process is discussed in this paper.