The Office of Science and Technology has represented the DOE Office of Environmental Management in sharing leadership of the Joint Coordinating Committee for Radioactive and Mixed Waste Management (JCCRM) since its founding in a 1996 agreement between DOE and the Argentine Republic’s National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA). Co-chaired by the head of the CNEA Coordination Unit of Projects on Radioactive Waste and the DOE EM Deputy Assistant Secretary for Science and Technology, JCCRM meets annually to share experiences, jointly develop innovative technologies in several areas of mutual interest, review and approve proposals, assess program progress, and evaluate potential future activities.

This bilateral agreement, intended to span 10 years, promotes international scientific cooperation to help DOE meet its environmental restoration and waste management goals by developing and demonstrating safer, more efficient, and less costly technologies in Argentina for use at DOE facilities. OST participation in JCCRM ensures that the areas of technical cooperation address EM’s most critical needs. Projects are reviewed and evaluated by DOE technical staff for scientific merit, applicability to key DOE site needs, and relevance to DOE users. A collateral benefit of the program is encouraging the introduction and use of U.S. environmental technologies and services in international markets.


Two early exchanges of scientific expertise increased understanding of options for vitrifying spent nuclear fuel and helped Argentina shape its strategy to remediate uranium mine tailings. More recent projects have focused on solidification of spent ion exchange resins and treatment of waste streams contaminated with molybdenum-99.

Over the last three years, JCCRM has sponsored four workshops evaluating the potential use of vitrification to treat spent ion exchange resins, the last in May using the hot cells at the Savannah River Technology Center. Tests were performed on resins from two Argentine nuclear plants, Atucha and Embalse, “doped” first with inactive—and finally radioactive—cesium, strontium, and cobalt. In each case, the resins were vitrified while off-gas and other operational data were gathered, as well as data on organic destruction efficiency, waste form durability, and radionuclide retention. A final report detailing the combined results of all four tests will be completed this fall.

Another fruitful JCCRM collaboration has focused on evaluating the use of crystalline silicotitanate (CST) as the ion exchange medium to remove cesium from CNEA’s Mo-99 waste streams. Reducing cesium concentrations would enable the bulk of the waste stream to be disposed of less expensively as low-level waste. After a 1997 analysis indicated that CST could provide the decontamination level needed for LLW classification, DOE provided technical support to CNEA personnel during the setup of “cold” bench-scale tests, and several options have been evaluated, combined with computer modeling of the application. Future project activities include the evaluation of crown ethers and other absorbers to remove both cesium and strontium from the waste streams.


JCCRM projects in the planning stages involve three OST focus areas. The Office of River Protection has called for laboratory study to better understand the effects of radioactive waste chemistry on the corrosion of Hanford’s double-shell storage tanks. Under the auspices of the JCCRM, CNEA and the Tanks Focus Area will collaborate to expand the existing corrosion database by investigating the effect of temperatures both in and out of the tanks’ operating range on waste chemistries and corrosion control. Now that the resin vitrification project is complete, DOE and CNEA are also exploring new possibilities for collaboration in the area of solidification/vitrification. One idea under discussion is to assess long-term performance of glass waste forms.

The Deactivation and Decommissioning Focus Area conducted a planning workshop with CNEA in Argentina last May to develop cooperative projects for implementation under JCCRM. CNEA representatives attended the DDFA Midyear Review and Symposium and toured D&D activities at several DOE sites, including Brookhaven, Argonne, and Hanford. Joint collaborative activities currently under discussion include an academic exchange program, the demonstration of each country’s technologies in the other country, and jointly conducting an International Atomic Energy Agency course on D&D in Argentina. CNEA also plans to submit basic science research and development proposals to DOE.

Several collaborative projects are also under development between CNEA and the Subsurface Contaminants Focus Area. The two organizations have agreed to work together on the physics of fracture flow and transport in the vadose zone, chosen from the SCFA needs list. A proposed collaborative study would improve understanding needed in modeling of liquid flow and contaminant transport in fractured and porous media in the vadose zone. In June, SCFA hosted five representatives of CNEA at the 2001 International Containment and Remediation Technology Conference and arranged for these visitors to tour several DOE sites, including Savannah River, Fernald, Oak Ridge, Rocky Flats, and Grand Junction, followed by a barriers and subsurface contamination workshop. These activities contributed to the development of several new collaborative projects, including one on modeling low-level waste trenches at the CNEA Ezeiza site. CNEA and SCFA are also exploring collaboration in the area of environmental remediation, specifically in the use of barrier systems, caps, and covers.

For further information on the EM International Program, contact program manager Elizabeth O’Malley, (202) 586-0175, elizabeth.o’malley@em.doe.gov or John Wengle, Office of Science and Technology, (202) 586-6382, john.wengle@em.doe.gov.