Affordable Cleanup?: Opportunities for Cost Reduction in the Decontamination and Decommissioning of the Nation's Uranium Enrichment Facilities (1996)

1. Committee Meeting, February 3–4, 1994, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Pollard Auditorium, and Site Visit to Oak Ridge Uranium Enrichment Facility, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

The following presentations were made:

At the Oak Ridge Site:

• (a)	Gaseous Diffusion Plant Overview, William D. Adams, Assistant Manager for Environmental Restoration and Waste Management (ERWM), Oak Ridge Operations Office, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE); and Thomas Tison, K-25 Site Manager, Oak Ridge Operations Office, DOE

• (b)	K-33 Demo Cell Tour and K-25, Northeast End, Richard Faulkner, Senior Staff Support, K-25 Site, Martin Marietta Energy Systems (MMES)

At Oak Ridge Associated Universities Meeting Room:

• (c)	Need for the D&D of the Uranium Enrichment Facilities, Roger Patrick (Pat) Whitfield, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office for Environmental Restoration, DOE

• (d)	Current Plans and Approach to the D&D, Robert C. Sleeman, Director, Environmental Restoration Division, Oak Ridge Operations Office, DOE

• (e)	Highlights of DOE's Cost Studies for the D&D, J. Gary Cusack, Vice President and Program Director, Enserch Environmental (Subsidiary of Ebasco)

• (f)	Disposition of Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride, Joseph Parks, Acting Assistant Manager for Uranium Enrichment, Oak Ridge Operations, DOE

• (g)	DOE's Expectations of the Study, Roger Patrick (Pat) Whitfield, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office for Environmental Restoration, DOE

Other DOE representatives in attendance and offering responses to committee questions were the following:

M. Judson Lilly III, D&D Program Manager, Oak Ridge Program Division, Environmental Restoration and Waste Management, DOE

William Daily, Branch Chief, Enrichment Facilities, Oak Ridge Program Division, DOE

Arnold Guevara, Remedial Action Program, Oak Ridge Program Division, DOE

Frank T. Cionek, Jr., Belfort Engineering & Environmental Services (DOE Contractor)

Bill Adams, Assistant Manager for Environmental Restoration and Waste Management, Oak Ridge Operations Office, DOE

Jane Powell, D&D Program Manager, Oak Ridge Operations Office, DOE

Richard Dye, General Engineer, Office of Planning and Development, DOE

2. Committee Meeting, March 28–29, 1994, National Academy of Sciences, Cecil and Ida Green Building, Washington, D.C.

The following presentations were made:

• (a)	The D&D of the Capendhurst Facility, J.R. Cross and David Clements, British Nuclear Fuels

• (b)	The Ebasco Cost Study of the D&D of the Uranium Enrichment Facilities, Bob Lenyk, Deputy Program Director, ERWM, Enserch Environmental

• (c)	Nuclear Regulatory Commission Discussion of Site Endpoints: Draft of D&D Guidance, Robert Meck, Leader, Environmental Policy Section, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, Nuclear Regulatory Commission

3. Committee Meeting and D&D Workship, June 15–17, 1994, National Academy of Sciences, Cecil and Ida Green Building, Washington, D.C.

The following presentations were made:

June 15, Morning:

Plenary Session

• (a)	Overview of DOE's Cleanup Program, RADM Richard J. Guimond, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management, DOE

• (b)	Review of the Ebasco Cost Estimate and Draft Program Planning, Alex Murray, SAIC

• (c)	TLG Preliminary Cost Estimate, Gary Guasco, TLG Services

• (d)	DOE's Current Plans for D&D of the Gaseous Diffusion Plant Sites, Jane Powell, Oak Ridge Operations Office, DOE

• (e)	Site Characterization, Richard Faulkner, MMES

• (f)	Overview of Gaseous Decontamination, Marty Steindler, Argonne National Laboratory (Retired)

June 15, Afternoon:

Focus Session 1: Technology of External Surface Characterization, Monitoring and Gaseous Decontamination [Technology Panel]

• (g)	Large-Scale Surface Characterization and Monitoring, Bradley Richardson, Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Martin Edelson, Ames Laboratory. Participants: Roger Anderson, Farragut, Tennessee; Jim Berger, Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education

• (h)	Gaseous Decontamination, Marty Steindler, Argonne National Laboratory (Retired). Participants: Roger Anderson, Farragut, Tennessee; John Hewes, Allied Signal; Richard Vogel, Calabasas, California

Focus Session 2: Management Issues and Cost Estimates [Cost Analysis Panel]

• (i)	Management Issues and Cost Estimates. Participants: Gary Guasco, TLG Services; Bob Lenyk, Enserch Environmental; Alex Murray, SAIC; Gary Person, MMES; Jane Powell, Oak Ridge Operations Office, DOE; Blynn Prince, MMES

• (j)	Contracting and Procurement, Allen Mynatt, Oak Ridge Operations Office, DOE

Focus Session 3: Physical and Environmental Conditions of the Sites [Decision and Process Analysis Panel]

• (k)	Physical and Environmental Conditions of the Sites. Participants: James Cross, British Nuclear Fuels; Norman Lacy, Burns & Roe Company; Joe Adler, TLG Services; Ray Foley, Oak Ridge National Laboratories; Bob Lenyk, Enserch Environmental

• (l)	Physical and Environmental Conditions of the Sites. Discussion with Richard Faulkner, MMES

• (m)	Portsmouth and Paducah Contamination Data. Portsmouth: Richard Meehan, DOE; and William Lemmon and John G. Crawford, MMES. Paducah: Steve Davis, MMES

June 16, Morning:

Plenary Session

• (n)	Shippingport D&D Experience, Frank Crimi, Committee Member

• (o)	Formerly Utilized Uranium Sites, Gale Hovey, Bechtel Savannah River

• (p)	Babcock & Wilcox's Apollo Fuel Fabrication Cleanup: Lessons Learned, James Barrett and Richard Kingsley, Babcock & Wilcox Nuclear Environmental Services

• (q)	Regulatory Aspects of D&D, Barbara Hostage and Peter Tsirigotis, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

• (r)	Regulatory Aspects for Recycled Materials, John MacKinney, EPA

• (s)	Barriers to Use of Decontaminated Materials, Gordon Geiger, Minneapolis, Minnesota

June 16, Afternoon:

Focus Session 4: Aqueous Decontamination and Melting Technology

• (t)	Aqueous Decontamination, Roger Anderson, Farragut, Tennessee. Participants: Martin Steindler, Argonne National Laboratory (Retired); Rajid Kohli, Battelle Memorial Institute [Technology and Cost Analysis Panels]

• (u)	Efficacy of Melting Technologies for Decontamination, Christopher J. Nagel, Molten Metal Technology. Participants: Richard Fruehan, Carnegie-Mellon University; Ed Joyce, Los Alamos National Laboratory; Gordon Geiger, Minneapolis, Minnesota [Technology Panel]

Focus Session 5: Cost Implications of Gaseous Decontamination Technology [Cost Analysis Panel]

Focus Session 6: Regulatory Issues and Risk Analysis [Decision and Process Analysis Panel]

• (w)

  Regulatory Issues and Risk Analysis. Participants: Bruce Clemens, University of Tennessee; Judd Lilly, DOE; Scott Dam, British Nuclear Fuels; Norman Lacy, Burns & Roe Company; Gary Guasco, TLG Services; Bob Lenyk, Enserch Environmental; Kate Probst, Resources for the Future, Bob Meck, Nuclear Regulatory Commission

• (x)	Regulatory Issues and Risk Analysis, Peter Tsirigotis and John MacKinney, EPA

• (y)	Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement Presentation for the Overall Environmental Management Program, D&D Program at K-25, Portsmouth and Paducah, Curtis Travis, MMES

4. Committee Meeting, Portsmouth Site Visit, August 22–24, 1994, Radisson Airport Hotel and Conference Center, Columbus, Ohio

The following presentations were made:

At the Portsmouth site visit:

• (a)	Site Tour of Plant Exterior and Plant Buildings (on bus), Richard Meehan, DOE; and William Lemmon and John G. Crawford, MMES

• (b)	Introduction, Eugene Gillespie, DOE

• (c)	Plant Overview:

• (1)	Video Presentation and Differences between K-25 and Paducah, William Lemmon, MMES

• • (2)	Future Status and Operations and USEC [U.S. Enrichment Corporation] Involvement in D&D, Lee Fink, USEC

  • (3)	Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Compliance Status of UF6 [Uranium Hexafluoride] Storage, Richard Snyder, MMES

• (d)	Highly Enriched Uranium Suspension (shutdown procedures, contamination levels, and results of ongoing gaseous decontamination work), Jack Crawford, Martin Marietta Utility Services (MMUS)

• (e)	Cascade Improvement and Upgrading Program of the 1970–80s, William Lemmon, MMES

• (f)	Potential Decontamination Technologies, Dave Netzer, MMUS; Ron Parnell, MMES

• (g)	Current Routine Maintenance and Equipment Decontamination, Dave Netzer, MMUS; Ron Parnell, MMES

• (h)	Hazardous Materials Overview (Plant Contamination Overview):

• (1)	PCBs and Asbestos, Pamela Sperling, MMES

• (2)	Chemical Inventory—Plant and Laboratory, William Lemmon, MMES

• (3)	CFCs, Bob Winegar, MMUS

• (4)	Spills at the Plant Site, Dick Snyder, MMES

• (i)	Radiological Overview:

• (1)	Health Physics Surveys and Site Characterization, Gary Medukas, MMUS

• (2)	Technetium, Dave Netzer, MMUS

• (j)	Portsmouth Stakeholder Involvement Program, Sandy Childers, Portsmouth Community Relations Supervisor, SAIC

In Meeting Room at Radisson Airport Hotel and Conference Center, Columbus, Ohio:

• (k)	DOE Plans for UF6 Disposition, Carl Cooley, Senior Technical Advisor, Office of Environmental Management (EM-50), DOE Headquarters

• (1)	Organizational Structure and Schedules for the D&D of the GDPs, Mike Jugan, D&D Program Manager, Oak Ridge Operations, DOE

• (m)	Status of the D&D Fund, Judy Fulner, Financial Analyst, Office of Environmental Restoration, DOE

• (n)	DOE Waste Management Plans and Costs for D&D, William Cahill, Environmental Restoration and Waste Management Coordinator, Oak Ridge Operations Office (EW-913), DOE

• (o)	DOE Stakeholder Involvement Program, Don Beck, Deputy Director, DOE Office of Public Accountability, DOE Headquarters

Panel Breakout Meetings:

Decision and Process Analysis Panel

Short briefings and roundtable discussion with leaders of other stakeholder groups:

• (p)	Fernald Citizen's Task Force, Tom Wagner

• (q)	Fernald Residents for Environment, Safety and Health (FRESH), Lisa Crawford, President

• (r)	Rocky Flats Citizens Advisory Board, Kathryn Johnson, Secretary

• (s)	Hanford Advisory Board, Sue Gould, President

• (t)	Pike County Citizens, Marilyn Knicely

• (u)	Oak Ridge Local Oversight Committee, Amy McCabe, Executive Director

• (v)	Portsmouth Residents for Safety and Security (PRESS), Vina Colley

• (w)	Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers Union, Portsmouth Local, Mike Neal and Jeannie Cisco

• (x)	Ohio Attorney General's Office, Jack Van Kley, Assistant Attorney General, Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section

Technology Panel

• (y)	UF6 briefings, Sanford Rock, Director of Nuclear Services, Allied Signal, Morristown, New Jersey; and William Gumprecht, Dupont Chambers Works

• (z)	Briefings and discussion about commercial recycle, Val Loiselle, American Ecology Recycle Center; and Bill Carder, Westinghouse Scientific Ecology Group (SEG)

5. Committee Meeting, Paducah Site Visit, October 19–21, 1994, The Executive Inn, Paducah, Kentucky

Plant Briefings

• (a)	Plant Tour, Pat Gourieux, Deputy Site Manager and Manager of Environmental Restoration, MMES; and Chris Mason, Deputy Manager, Chemical, Utilities and Power Operations, MMUS

• (b)	Introduction (Plant Briefing), Jimmie Hodges, DOE Paducah Site Office; and Jimmy Massey, Site Manager, MMES

• (c)	Video Overview of PGDP [Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant], Steve Davis, Manager, Decontamination and Decommissioning, MMES

• (d)	Discussion of Plant Operations and Equipment, Parameters Affecting D&D

• • (1) Cascade Improvement and Upgrading, Carl Walter, Manager of the Cascade Operations and Technical Services Divisions (Retired), MMUS; David Gourieux, Manager, UF6 Handling Department, Cascade Operations, MMUS; Steve Penrod, Cascade Division Manager, MMUS; Bill Sykes, Nuclear Regulatory Affairs Manager-Coordinator, MMUS

  • (2) High Assay Project, Paul Kreitz, Program Manager, High Assay Implementation, MMUS

  • (3) Atomic Vapor Laser Isotope Separation (AVLIS), Charles Martin, Site Manager, USEC

• (e)	UF6 Cylinder Considerations

• • (1)	Storage, Ray Fields, Manager, Facilities Management, MMES

  • (2)	Compliance Status, Danny Guminski, Manager, Environmental Management, MMES; Gail Giltner, Deputy Manager, Environmental and Waste Management, MMES

• (f)	Current Routine Maintenance: Equipment Change-Out Cycle Times Cycle Time Reduction, Dale Donohoo, Manager, Cascade Maintenance Department, Cascade Operations, MMUS; Dave Sampson, Manager, General Plant Support, MMUS

• (g)

  Current PGDP Equipment Decontamination Methods and Potential Technologies: Recommendations for D&D Cost Reduction, Walt Whinnery, Chemical Engineer, Chemical, Utilities and Power Operation, MMUS; Phil Brown, Section Head, Production Engineering, Cascade Operations, MMUS; Alice Story, Section Head, Environmental Technology, Materials and Equipment Technology, Technical Services, MMUS

• (h)	Radiological Overview: Health Physics Surveys/Characterization Data/Bioassay Data; Transuranics, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), Steve Meiners, Manager, Health Physics, MMES; Orville Cypret, Assistant Manager, Safety and Health and Radiation Protection Manager, MMUS

• (i)	Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Overview

• • (1)	Polychlorinated Bipenlyls (PCBs), Gary Milne, TSCA Specialist, Environmental Management, MMES

  • (2)	Asbestos, Bob Langston, Asbestos Program Manager, Environmental and Waste Management, MMUS

• (j)	Hazardous Materials Overview

• • (1)	Chemical Inventory, Jerome Mansfield, Emergency Management Staff, Safeguards, Security and Emergency Services, MMUS; Teresa Cooper, Hazard Communication, Industrial Hygiene and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Program, MMUS

  • (2)	Chlorfluorocarbons (CFCs), Paul Kreitz, Program Manager, High Assay Implementation, MMUS

  • (3)	Historic Spill Data, Brad Montgomery, Manager, Program Management, Environmental Restoration, MMES; Danny Guminski, Manager, Environmental Management, MMUS; Gail Giltner, Deputy Manager, Environmental and Waste Management, MMES

• (k)	Waste Management Overviews: Waste Quantities; Current/Future Generation Rates; Offsite Treatment Storage Disposal (TSD) Options, Richard Kuehn, Manager, Waste Management Operations, MMES; Linda Beach, Manager, MMUS

• (l)	Paducah Stakeholder Involvement, Dennis Hill, Manager, Public Affairs, MMES

Committee Briefings

• (m)	The Technetium Issue, Fred Schneider, Committee Member

• (n)	Recent Oak Ridge Site Visit, Fred Schneider and Joe Byrd, Committee Members

Technology Panel Site Visit and Briefing

• (o)	Technology Panel Site Visit to and Briefing from the Allied Signal Facility, Metropolis, Illinois, October 19, 1994, Sandford I. Rock, Director of Nuclear Services, Allied Signal

Decision and Process Analysis Panel

6. Committee Meeting, December 12–14, 1994, Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center, Irvine, California

7. Writing Group Meeting, January 23–25, 1995, Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center, Irvine, California

8. Committee Meeting, February 22–24, 1995, Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center, Irvine, California

The following presentations were made:

• (a)	Management of Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride, Charles E. Bradley, Jr., Office of Uranium Programs, DOE

• (b)	Contract Reform, Gary Boss, General Accounting Office

• (c)	Economic Development and Employment Issues, Steven Carter and Robert Walton, Ohio Valley Regional Development Commission (by conference call)

• (d)	Update on DOE's D&D Program, Judd Lilly, Office of Environmental Management, DOE

9. Writing Group Meeting, April 10–11, 1995, Arnold and Mable Beckman Center, Irvine, California

10. Committee Meeting, May 8–10, 1995, National Academy of Sciences, Cecil and Ida Green Building, Washington, D.C.

The following presentations were made:¹

• (a)	Discussion: Applicability of Capenhurst Experience to the U.S. Gaseous Diffusion Plants, Richard Faulkner, Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Gary Person, MMES; Robert Lenyk, Foster Wheeler

• (b)	Declassification of the Gaseous Diffusion Technology, Gerald Gibson, Office of Declassification, Office of Security Affairs, DOE

• (c)	Waste Management at K-25 Site, Bill Gilbert, Oak Ridge Operations, DOE

• (d)	Landlord Program, Larry Clark, K-25 Site, DOE

• (e)	Update on Stakeholder Involvement Program, Don Beck, Office of Public Accountability, DOE

• (f)	Discussion: Opportunities for Cost Reduction, Gary Bennethum, Energy Branch, Office of Management and Budget; Murray Hitzman, Office of Science and Technology Policy; Dan Burnfield, Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board

• (g)	Shoreham Decommissioning Project, Stephen Maloney, Finance and Administration Department; M. Siva Kumar, Manager, Licensing and Regulatory Compliance Department; Paul Quattro, Shoreham Decommissioning Project, Shoreham Nuclear Power Station

11. Committee Meeting, July 10–12, 1995, National Academy of Sciences, Cecil and Ida Green Building, Washington, D.C.

The following presentations were made:

• (a)	Technologies for Conversion of Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride, William Quapp, Lockheed Martin Idaho Technologies

• (b)	Plans for Management of Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride, Charles E. Bradley, Jr., Environmental Manager, Office of Facilities, Office of Nuclear Energy, DOE

1. Technology Panel Meeting, May 9–11, 1994, Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center, Irvine, California

The following presentations were made:

• (a)	Informal discussion on key technology cost drivers inferred from the Ebasco cost estimate, plus related topics, Blynn Prince, Project Manager for Strategic Planning, K-25 D&D Program, Environmental Restoration Division, MMES, Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

• (b)	Presentation on "Overview of the Oak Ridge Logic Diagram and View of How D&D should Proceed," Roy D. Bundy, Head, Applications and Development, Section, Decontamination and Decommissioning Technology, Technical Division, MMES, Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

2. Cost Analysis Panel Meeting, May 17, 1994, Stanford University, Stanford, California

3. Cost Analysis Panel Meeting, September 20–21, 1994, Stanford University, Stanford, California

1994 International Symposium on D&D, April 25–29, 1994, Knoxville, Tennessee

Classified visit to the Oak Ridge Uranium Enrichment Facility, June 28, 1994, Oak Ridge, Tennessee (two members of the committee and one staff officer with special clearances)

Mahadevan Mani and Tracy Wilson, National Research Council Staff, met with Sam Fowler of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Staff, July 11, 1994, Washington, D.C.

The First Annual Nuclear Decommissioning Decisionmaker's Forum, August 30–September 2, 1994, Amelia Island Plantation, Jacksonville, Florida

Additional briefing and site visit to the Oak Ridge Uranium Enrichment Facility, September 30, 1994, Oak Ridge, Tennessee (with specific emphasis on robotics)

American Nuclear Society's 1994 Winter Meeting, November 12–17, 1994, Washington, D.C.

Site visit and briefing at Westinghouse, February 3, 1995, Columbia, South Carolina

Site visit and briefing at the COGEMA plant facility, March 16, 1995, Pierrelatte, France