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Appendix C
List of Recommendations from
An End State Methodology for Identifying Technology
Needs for Environmental Management, with an
Example from the Hanford Site Tanks
COMMITTEE ON TECHNOLOGIES FOR CLEANUP OF HIGH-LEVEL
WASTE IN TANKS IN THE DOE WEAPONS COMPLEX
B. JOHN GARRICK, Chair, PLG Inc. (retired), Newport Beach, California
VICKI M. BIER, University of Wisconsin, Madison
ALLEN G. CROFF, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee
MARSHALL E. DRUMMOND*, Eastern Washington University, Cheney
JOHN H. ROECKER, Consultant, Colbert, Washington
CLAUDE G. SOMBRET, Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique (retired),
Villeneuve Les Avignon, France
MARTIN J. STEINDLER, Argonne National Laboratory (retired), Downers
Grove, Illinois
RAYMOND G. WYMER, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (retired), Tennessee
* Resigned from committee May 15, 1998
RECOMMENDATIONS
An end state based approach to establishing an appropriate technology
development program in support of DOE's environmental management program
should be adopted. In particular, this approach should encompass reference end
states for each waste stream, plus plausible alternative end states for each waste
stream to accommodate uncertainty and potential future programmatic changes.
Sufficient technology development resources should be invested in scenarios
involving alternative end states to provide reasonable assurance that a solution
will be available in case unforeseen but all too frequent technical surprises or
externally imposed changes make it impossible to implement the preferred
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56
TECHNOLOGIES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
baseline approach. DOE should consider alternative end states unless the
remediation process is short term and a proven cost-effective technology exists.
Detailed documentation of the steps taken in implementing the end state based
approach should be developed for use by the custodians of the waste, those
engaged in technology development, and oversight groups. Circumstances
where alternative end states are not considered should be well documented as
part of the evidence base justifying the decision made. In addition, executive
level documentation appropriate for decision makers, such as DOE senior
management and the Congress, should be developed.
If initial conditions or end states cannot be specified adequately, a plan leading
to the timely resolution of the open items should be prepared and executed. In
the interim, enabling assumptions regarding the initial conditions and desired
end states of the waste should be developed and clearly stated, preferably by
problem owners, but by technology providers if necessary. End states and
related technology requirements will frequently have to be identified in the face
of major uncertainties about costs, benefits, public acceptability, and other
relevant factors.
Cost-risk studies should be more widely used in remediation decision making
that forms the basis for technology development in an end state based approach.
In particular, such studies should be used both to determine what must be done
to protect human health and the environment at reasonable costs and to identify
activities that yield only minimal risk reduction and hence should be considered
as candidates for possible elimination.
The end state based approach should be applied on a broad scale to
comprehensively identify technology development needs. The need for such an
assessment based on alternative end states is highlighted by the extensive
uncertainty surrounding the entire tank closure program.
The DOE-EM Tank Waste Remediation Technology Development Program
should make an end state based approach a functional part of the process for
defining its work.
Alternative scenarios including defined end states should be formulated and
evaluated, and technology development unique to these scenarios should be
pursued on a basis that is prioritized with the help of performance assessment
results and additional knowledge from relevant scientific research.
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APPENDIX C
57
OST should adopt broadly the end state based method of identifying technology
requirements to reduce sensitivity to future uncertainties such as changes in
regulations, budgets, policies, and program participants. Technology
development activities with long lead times should be designed to transcend the
effects of these inevitable changes.
An end state based framework for making decisions about technology needs
should be used to provide much needed visibility of the relationship of the
various activities (including risk studies) to the final objectives.
Given DOE's lack of experience in privatization of such major functions as
research, development, and cleanup operations, the committee recommends
parallel pursuit of technology development for an alternative to the current
privatization strategy for the Hanford Tank Waste Remediation System. It is not
considered prudent to rely totally on privatization to develop the required
technologies for systems with the history and complexity of high-level
radioactive waste in tanks. The uncertainties are great, and the chances for
failure are too high not to pursue alternatives.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
based approach
