The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) disposes of plutonium-contaminated debris from its 27 nuclear weapons facilities at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), an underground repository in Carlsbad, New Mexico. After four years of operational experience, DOE has opportunities to make changes to the costly and time-consuming process of "characterizing" the waste to confirm that it is appropriate for shipment to and disposal at WIPP. The report says that in order to make such changes, DOE should conduct and publish a systematic and quantitative assessment to show that the proposed changes would not affect the protection of workers, the public, or the environment. Table of Contents Front Matter Executive Summary 1 Introduction 2 Remote-Handled Transuranic Waste 3 Regulatory Context for the Disposal of Remote-Handled Transuranic Waste 4 Department of Energy's Proposed Characterization Plan 5 Assessment of the Proposed Characterization Plan References Appendix A: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members Appendix B: Information-Gathering Meetings Appendix C: Excerpt from the Committee's Interim Report: Chapter 5 Appendix D: DOE's Response to the Committee's Interim Report Appendix E: Information About Selected Transuranic Waste Generator Sites Appendix F: Overview of the Contact-Handled Transuranic Waste Characterization Plan Appendix G: Non-Destructive Techniques for Remote-Handled Transuranic Waste Characterization Appendix H: Waste Dose Rates and Characterization Cost Estimates Appendix I: Glossary Appendix J: Acronyms

Table of Contents:
1 Front Matter; 2 Executive Summary; 3 1 Introduction; 4 2 Remote-Handled Transuranic Waste; 5 3 Regulatory Context for the Disposal of Remote-Handled Transuranic Waste; 6 4 Department of Energy's Proposed Characterization Plan; 7 5 Assessment of the Proposed Characterization Plan; 8 References; 9 Appendix A: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members; 10 Appendix B: Information-Gathering Meetings; 11 Appendix C: Excerpt from the Committee's Interim Report: Chapter 5; 12 Appendix D: DOE's Response to the Committee's Interim Report; 13 Appendix E: Information About Selected Transuranic Waste Generator Sites; 14 Appendix F: Overview of the Contact-Handled Transuranic Waste Characterization Plan; 15 Appendix G: Non-Destructive Techniques for Remote-Handled Transuranic Waste Characterization; 16 Appendix H: Waste Dose Rates and Characterization Cost Estimates; 17 Appendix I: Glossary; 18 Appendix J: Acronyms