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The Disposal of Radioactive Waste on Land (1957)

Chapter: Appendix A: History of the Committee

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: History of the Committee." National Research Council. 1957. The Disposal of Radioactive Waste on Land. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10294.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: History of the Committee." National Research Council. 1957. The Disposal of Radioactive Waste on Land. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10294.
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Page 9
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: History of the Committee." National Research Council. 1957. The Disposal of Radioactive Waste on Land. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10294.
×
Page 10
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: History of the Committee." National Research Council. 1957. The Disposal of Radioactive Waste on Land. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10294.
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Page 11

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8- APPENDIX A HISTORY OF COMMITTEE: ON DISPOSAL OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE:: ON LAND Fo 11 owing die cus ~ ions between repro ~ entative ~ of the Atomic Energy Commission and the National Academy of Sciences - National Research Council, contract number AT(30-~-1788 was signed on February 2B, 1955. The scope of the agreement was stated as follows: I. The Contractor sham furnish personnel, facilities, and equipment, and do all thigh nece`'sa~ for Me purpose of concluct~ a program of research pertinent to the methods of disposing of radio- active waste materials In geologic structures. The work shall con- sist of the fol1 owing: _~ O a. Setting up a Steering Co~sunittee of leading scientists who willprepare and arrange for conferences on disposal meffzode:; b. Conducting the conferences; Reporting to the Corurnission on the proceedings and comments of these conferences; d. Evaluating Al suggestions and research to ciate on disposal methods that involve lane] surface or under- ground sites, including the surface ~d underground water on the continents but excluding the oceans. . e. Recommending programs of research that should be carried out. The Steering Committee appointed ~ March 1955 consisted of Harry H. Hess, Chairman, John N. Adkins, John C. Frye, M. King Hubbert, Chester R.LongweD, RichardJ.Russell, end ChariesV. Theis. In the fan of 1955, Dr. LongweD resigned because of tile dif- ficulties In attending committee meetings from his location ~ California, and William E. Benson and William B. Heroy were ap- poznted. 6

9- At the first meeting of the Steering Committee ~ held April 15 ~ 1955, at Ames HaH of the Johns Hopkins University, seven members of the Committee met with eight members of the Sanitary Es~g~ee ring Department ~d one representati~re of the Reactor Development Divi- sion, ARC. The entire problem was described and the previous gen- eral studies of disposal reviewed: a conference had been held in August 1954 at Wood-s Hole to explore with oceanographers the possi- bility of ~i8poBai ~ the oceans, and another had been held ~ Washington in November 1954 with geologists to consider underground disport. At We November 1954 conference the following plan was pro- posed ~ticipatsug the signing of a contract with ARC: a steering committee was to secure a proper definition of the problem (~clud- lug as much tec~ologic~ cats as was possible ~ " the restrictions of security ciasaification) and conduct two conferences with the guid- ance ~d assistance of the ARC as`d Hopkins group. The first meeting would have as its objective the generation of ideas and cat~og~g of suggestione for underground disposal of wastes, and the second would be to appraise critically He ideas, documenting He advantages and disadvantages, arr~g:~g the suggestions ~ order of apparent feasi- bility, and ~dicat~ng the lines of research needed to arrive at reliable answers to the more pressing problems. The willingness of the Hopkins group to perform a~ functions for fiche Committee was stated especially as regards compiling the Unclassified te~olo~cal data. The ARC relationships were suzrunarized, Id the desira},ility of the Committee ~nsit~g Oak Ridge was discussed. The mutes of his meeting were prepared by He Hopkins group. .. During the summer of 1955 arrangements were made to hold the Brat coherence at the Graduate School of Princeton University, Princeton, N. J., on September 10-12. Participants were selected and invited, and those who accepted the imitation were sent a digest of the essential data entitled "Radioactive wastes ~ the atomic energy industry't compiled by A. B. Joseph and J. M. Morgan, Jr. ~ of the Hopkins group. The "graybook" summarized tibe info rmabon gener- ~y available up to March al, 1955 on the kinds of waste, treatment and disposal methods, and the projected magnitudes of high level wastes and their ~i8po8:~ problems. The Princeton Conference was attended by 65 persons repre- senUng many scientific and eng~neer~g disciplines, active ~ a ~rari- ety of capacities ~ universities, research institutions, private

10. companies, and government scientific agencies. are listed in Appends E. The participants During the afternoon ant! evening of September lOth, the con;- ferees heard and cliscus`;ed eleven informal talks which presented in considerable detail the various technological, economic, and the- oretical problems of waste disposal. During and after the Gene via Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy (July 1955) a great deal of heretofore classified information was released: the Princeton Conference benefited from the unexpected availability of data on chemical processing and nature of waste solutions pertinent to the conference topic. After the conclusion of the eleventh talk on the morning of September Ilth, a lengthy period of general discus- sion and review followed. Two committees were then appointed to examine carefully the waste problem from two pouts of ~new; see Appendix B. page 75. The committees worked independently through the balance of the morning, the afternoon and evening of September ~ Ith. The conference reconvened on September 12th ~d heard sum- mary reports from the Chairman of each committee. (See Appendix B. pages 76-631.} The Committee reports are given in Appendices C and D. This completed the work of the conference and it was acI- journec3 at ~ ~ :3 0 a. m . The conference deliberations were recorded by the stenotypist, Mids Jean Buricigh, and by a tape recorder provides] by the Hopkins croups and operated by Mr. A. B. Joseph. The edited condensation ~ , . , is presented In Appendix B. The minutes of the Committee meetings were prepared by volunteers and are given in Appendices C and D. . - ~J The Steering Committee met on September 12th to consider the next steps to take ~ the light of the results of the conference. It was decided that it was not necessary to hold a second conference because the first had succeeded in both generating add evaluating ideas as weU as coulid be expected within the limitations of existing knowledge -- significant improvements on the ideas expressed could be made only by direct investigation, not by additional exchanges of opinions. Until the deliberations of the Conference were available, the Commit- tee could do little to document the suggestions or prepare a report: tibe preparation of proceedings from the stenotype record was given first priority, and the mimer ~ which the talks were to be eclited, verifiecl by the speakers, and distributed to the Committee was out- I~ned.

11. - i. The next meeting of the Steering Committee was held in New Orioans on November 9, 1955. By that time the proceedings were complete with one exception. (See Appendix B. page 273. The con- sensus of the Committee was arrived at on the maw points to be embodied ~ the report, add general premises on which it was to be based. Some members of the Committee made independent inquiries on such topics as (a) the distribution, location, ~d dual ~cre- meets to Mae working In salt deposits, (b} economics ~d tech- nology of power transmission, (c) engmeer~ng procedures in oil field Ejection, (~) hydrology of deep aquifers, and (e) effect of carbonate waHrock on simulated waste solution. It was found generally that a great deal more specific information is a~raz~able than was presented at Me Conference but that the additions data do not simplify the prob- lems nor punt to possible solutions Mat had scat been mentioned heretofore. The utilization of cavities In salt deposits for storage and disposal of wastes aroused considerable interest at the Conference so Me location of the main salt mines es' d distribution of the principal salt deposits were documented by Mr. Heroy along with his study of the production and availability of Me wo ricing s in salt. r ~ this period the n' e "Steering Committee" became ~nappro- priate, so the Diction of Earth ScieD.ces referred to the group at the Cotrmiittee on Waste Disposal. Members of the Committee incited He ARC "staHations at Oak Ridge Id BrooRhaven, as follows: Oak Ridge - Feb. 15-16, 1956: W. E. Benson, W. B . Heroy, M. K. Hubbert, R. J. RusseH, C. V. Theis, en c! W. R. Thurston, Secretary. BrooRhaven - March 29, 1956: R. J. Russet and W.-R. Thurston, Secretary; April 19, 1956: J. N. Adkins, W. E. Benson, ~V. B. Heroy, and M. K. Hubbert.

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