Quantities of High Level Waste (HLW) Stored at Sites in the United States
| HLW in Tanks (cubic meters) | Vitrified HLW (Canisters) | Total Radioactivity (x 108 Curies) | Percent of Total Volume | Percent of Total Radioactivity | |
| Hanford Site | 200000 | 0 | 384 | 58.9 | 15.8 |
| Savannah River Site | 130000 | 719a | 1730 | 38.3 | 71 |
| Idaho National Engineering Laboratory | 9360 | 0 | 300 | 2.8 | 12.3 |
| West Valley Demonstration Project | 109 | 241b | 23.3 | < 0.1 | 1 |
| Total | 339469 | 960 | 2437.3 | 100.0 | 100.1 |
| HLW in Tanks (million gallons) | Vitrified HLW (Canisters) | Total Radioactivity (x 108 Curies) | Percent of Total Volume | Percent of Total Radioactivity | |
| Hanford Site | 52.9 | 0 | 384 | 58.9 | 15.8 |
| Savannah River Site | 34.4 | 719a | 1730 | 38.3 | 71 |
| Idaho National Engineering Laboratory | 2.5 | 0 | 300 | 2.8 | 12.3 |
| West Valley Demonstration Project | .029 | 241b | 23.3 | < 0.1 | 1 |
| Total | 89.9 | 960 | 2437.3 | 100.0 | 100.1 |
a 1337 as of October 2002
b HLW from the tanks at West Valley has been vitrified in 275 canisters. Residual HLW encrusted on the tanks is being characterized and sluiced.
Reference
An International Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facility -- Exploring a Russian
Site as a Prototype: Proceedings of an International Workshop (2005), National
Academies Press, Glenn E. Schweitzer and A. Chelsea Sharber, Editors, Committee
on the Scientific Aspects of an International Spent Fuel Repository in Russia,
Office for Central Europe and Eurasia, National Research Council, Russian
Academy of Sciences.
The PUREX process uses nitric acid to dissolve the zircaloy cladding, spent uranium dioxide fuel pellets, and fission products. This process had been used at the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant (ICPP) and Hanford to separate plutonium and recoverable U-235 from fuel used in military and production reactors.
| HLW in Tanks (million gallons) | Vitrified HLW (Canisters) | Total Radioactivity (x 108 Curies) | Percent of Total Volume | Percent of Total Radioactivity | |
| Hanford Site | 52.9 | 0 | 384 | 58.9 | 15.8 |
| Savannah River Site | 34.4 | 719a | 1730 | 38.3 | 71 |
| Idaho National Engineering Laboratory | 2.5 | 0 | 300 | 2.8 | 12.3 |
| West Valley Demonstration Project | .029 | 241b | 23.3 | < 0.1 | 1 |
| Total | 89.9 | 960 | 2437.3 | 100.0 | 100.1 |
a 1337 as of October 2002
b HLW from the tanks at West Valley has been vitrified in 275 canisters. Residual HLW encrusted on the tanks is being characterized and sluiced.