NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competencies and with regard for appropriate balance.
This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.
Support for this study on the Hanford Tanks was provided by the U.S. Department of Energy, under Grant No. DE-FC01-94EW54069. All opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Energy.
Cover art by Brenda Spears
Additional copies of this report are available from:
Board on Radioactive Waste Management
2001 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W.
Harris 456
Washington, DC 20007
202/334-3066
Copyright 1996 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
COMMITTEE ON REMEDIATION OF BURIED AND TANK WASTES
THOMAS M. LESCHINE, Chair,
University of Washington, Seattle
DENISE BIERLEY,
Roy F. Weston, Inc., Albuquerque, New Mexico
ROBERT J. BUDNITZ*,
Future Resources Associates, Berkeley, California
THOMAS A. BURKE,
The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
ROBERT J. CATLIN,
University of Texas (ret.), Houston
GREGORY CHOPPIN*,
Florida State University, Tallahassee
JAMES H. CLARKE,
Eckenfelder, Inc., Nashville, Tennessee
THOMAS A COTTON,
JK Research Associates, Inc., Vienna, Virginia
DONALD R. GIBSON, JR.*,
TRW Environmental Safety Systems, Vienna, Virginia
JAMES H. JOHNSON, JR.,
Howard University, Washington, D.C.
W. HUGH O'RIORDAN,
Givens, Pursley, & Huntley, Boise, Idaho
GLENN PAULSON,
Paulson and Cooper, Inc., Jackson Hole, Wyoming
BENJAMIN ROSS,
Disposal Safety Incorporated, Washington, D.C.
PAUL A. WITHERSPOON,
University of California, Berkeley
RAYMOND G. WYMER,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ret.), Tennessee
NCR Staff
ROBERT S. ANDREWS, Senior Staff Officer
DENNIS DUPREE, Senior Project Assistant
ANGELA TAYLOR, Project Assistant
Consultant
ALLEN CROFF,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee
*Committee member did not participate in this study |
BOARD ON RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
MICHAEL C. KAVANAUGH, Chair,
ENVIRON Corporation, Emeryville, California
B. JOHN GARRICK, Vice-Chair,
PLG, Incorporated, Newport Beach, California
JOHN F. AHEARNE,
Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society, and Duke University, Research Triangle Park and Durham, North Carolina
JEAN M. BAHR,
University of Wisconsin, Madison
SOL BURSTEIN,
Wisconsin Electric Power (ret.), Milwaukee
ANDREW P. CAPUTO,
Natural Resources Defense Council, Washington, D.C.
MELVIN W. CARTER,
Georgia Institute of Technology (emeritus), Atlanta
PAUL P. CRAIG,
University of California (emeritus), Davis
MARY R. ENGLISH,
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
ROBERT D. HATCHER, JR.,
University of Tennessee/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Knoxville
DARLEANE C. HOFFMAN,
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, California
JAMES H. JOHNSON, JR.,
Howard University, Washington, D.C.
CHARLES McCOMBIE,
National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste, Wettingen, Switzerland
H. ROBERT MEYER,
Keystone Scientific, Inc., Fort Collins, Colorado
PRISCILLA P. NELSON,
University of Texas, Austin
D. KIRK NORDSTROM,
U.S. Geological Survey, Boulder, Colorado
D. WARNER NORTH,
Decision Focus, Incorporated, Mountain View, California
PAUL SLOVIC,
Decision Research, Eugene, Oregon
BENJAMIN L. SMITH, Independent Consultant,
Columbia, Tennessee
NCR Staff
KEVIN D. CROWLEY, Director
ROBERT S. ANDREWS, Senior Staff Officer
KARYANIL T. THOMAS, Senior Staff Officer
THOMAS KIESS, Staff Officer
SUSAN B. MOCKLER, Research Associate
LISA J. CLENDENING, Administrative Assistant
ROBIN L. ALLEN, Senior Project Assistant
REBECCA BURKA, Senior Project Assistant
DENNIS L. DUPREE, Senior Project Assistant
PATRICIA A. JONES, Project Assistant
ANGELA TAYLOR, Project Assistant
ERIKA L. WILLIAMS, Project Assistant
COMMISSION ON GEOSCIENCES, ENVIRONMENT, AND RESOURCES
M. GORDON WOLMAN, Chairman,
The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
PATRICK R. ATKINS,
Aluminum Company of America, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
JAMES P. BRUCE,
Canadian Climate Program Board, Ottawa, Ontario
WILLIAM L. FISHER,
University of Texas, Austin
JERRY F. FRANKLIN,
University of Washington, Seattle
GEORGE M. HORNBERGER,
University of Virginia, Charlottesville
DEBRA KNOPMAN,
Progressive Foundation, Washington, D.C.
PERRY L. McCARTY,
Stanford University, California
JUDITH E. McDOWELL,
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts
S. GEORGE PHILANDER,
Princeton University, New Jersey
RAYMOND A. PRICE,
Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario
THOMAS C. SCHELLING,
University of Maryland, College Park
ELLEN SILBERGELD,
University of Maryland Medical School, Baltimore
STEVEN M. STANLEY,
The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
VICTORIA J. TSCHINKEL,
Landers and Parsons, Tallahassee, Florida
NRC Staff
STEPHEN RATTIEN, Executive Director
STEPHEN D. PARKER Associate Executive Director
MORGAN GOPNIK, Assistant Executive Director
GREGORY SYMMES, Reports Officer
JAMES MALLORY, Administrative Officer
SANDI FITZPATRICK, Administrative Associate
SUSAN SHERWIN, Project Assistant
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. William A. Wulf is interim president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth Shine is president of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and of advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce Alberts and Dr. William A. Wulf are chairman and interim vice-chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.
PREFACE
The study described in this report was prepared at the request of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Waste Management by the Committee on Remediation of Buried and Tank Wastes. The committee has gained a considerable amount of background information on the Hanford Site high-level radioactive waste tanks over the past 4 years of its tenure. We extend our thanks to the many representatives of the Department and its contractors, both from its Washington, D.C., headquarters and from its Richland, Washington, office, who provided timely information, including extensive documentation. We also thank Allen Croft; Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and a member of the National Research Council Subcommittee on Tank Wastes of the Committee on Environmental Management Technologies, who assisted in the analysis and contributed to the preparation of this report.
Thomas M. Leschine
Chairman