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.
The work was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Contract No. DE–FC01–94EW54069/R. 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.
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COMMITTEE ON REMEDIATION OF BURIED AND TANK WASTES
THOMAS M. LESCHINE*, Chair,
University of Washington, Seattle
DENISE BIERLEY,
Redhorse LLC, Edgewood, 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 (retired), Houston
JAMES H. CLARKE,
ECKENFELDER INC., Nashville, Tennessee
THOMAS A. COTTON§,
JK Research Associates, Inc., Arlington, Virginia
ALLEN G. CROFF,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee
RODNEY C. EWING‡,
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
DONALD R. GIBSON, JR.,
TRW, Suffolk, Virginia
JAMES H. JOHNSON, JR.,
Howard University, Washington, D.C.
W. HUGH O'RIORDAN,
Givens Pursley, LLP, Boise, Idaho
GLENN PAULSON§,
Paulson and Cooper, Inc., Jackson Hole, Wyoming
BENJAMIN ROSS,
Disposal Safety Inc., Washington, D.C.
PAUL A. WITHERSPOON§,
University of California, Berkeley
RAYMOND G. WYMER,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (retired), Tennessee
Staff
ROBERT S. ANDREWS, Senior Staff Officer
DENNIS L. DUPREE, Senior Project Assistant
PATRICIA A. JONES, Senior Project Assistant
BOARD ON RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
MICHAEL C. KAVANAUGH, Chair,
Malcolm Pirnie, Inc., Oakland, California
JOHN F. AHEARNE, Vice-Chair,
Sigma Xi, and Duke University, Research Triangle Park and Durham, North Carolina
ROBERT J. BUDNITZ,
Future Resources Associates, Inc., Berkeley, California
ANDREW P. CAPUTO,
Natural Resources Defense Council, Washington, D.C.
MARY R. ENGLISH,
Energy, Environment, and Resources Center, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
DARLEANE C. HOFFMAN,
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California
JAMES H. JOHNSON, JR.,
Howard University, Washington, D.C.
ROGER E. KASPERSON,
Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts
JAMES O. LECKIE,
Stanford University, California
JANE C.S. LONG,
Mackay School of Mines, University of Nevada, Reno
CHARLES McCOMBIE, Consultant,
Gipf-Oberfrick, Switzerland
H. ROBERT MEYER,
Keystone Scientific, Inc., Fort Collins, Colorado
WILLIAM A. MILLS,
Oak Ridge Associated Universities (retired), Olney, Maryland
D. WARNER NORTH,
North Works, Inc., Mountain View, California
MARTIN J. STEINDLER,
Argonne National Laboratory (retired), Argonne, Illinois
JOHN J. TAYLOR,
Electric Power Research Institute (retired), Palo Alto, California
MARY LOU ZOBACK,
U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California
Staff
KEVIN D. CROWLEY, Director
ROBERT S. ANDREWS, Senior Staff Officer
JOHN R. WILEY, Senior Staff Officer
THOMAS E. KIESS, Senior Staff Officer
SUSAN B. MOCKLER, Research Associate
TONI GREENLEAF, Administrative Associate
ROBIN L. ALLEN, Senior Project Assistant
LATRICIA C. BAILEY, Project Assistant
PATRICIA A. JONES, Senior Project Assistant
LAURA LLANOS, Project Assistant
ANGELA R. TAYLOR, Senior Project Assistant
ERIKA L. WILLIAMS, Research Assistant
COMMISSION ON GEOSCIENCES, ENVIRONMENT, AND RESOURCES
GEORGE M. HORNBERGER, Chair,
University of Virginia, Charlottesville
PATRICK R. ATKINS,
Aluminum Company of America, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
JERRY F. FRANKLIN,
University of Washington, Seattle
B. JOHN GARRICK,
PLG, Inc., Newport Beach, California
THOMAS E. GRAEDEL,
Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
DEBRA KNOPMAN,
Progressive Foundation, Washington, D.C.
KAI N. LEE,
Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts
JUDITH E. MCDOWELL,
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts
RICHARD A. MESERVE,
Covington & Burling, Washington, D.C.
HUGH C. MORRIS,
Canadian Global Change Program, Delta, British Columbia
RAYMOND A. PRICE,
Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario
H. RONALD PULLIAM,
University of Georgia, Athens
THOMAS C. SCHELLING,
University of Maryland, College Park
VICTORIA J. TSCHINKEL,
Landers and Parsons, Tallahassee, Florida
E-AN ZEN,
University of Maryland, College Park
MARY LOU ZOBACK,
United States Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California
Staff
ROBERT M. HAMILTON, Executive Director
GREGORY H. SYMMES, Assistant Executive Director
JEANETTE SPOON, Administrative & Financial Officer
SANDI FITZPATRICK, Administrative Associate
MARQUITA SMITH, Administrative Assistant/Technology Analyst
Preface
The Committee on Remediation of Buried and Tank Wastes was established in 1993 with the general objective of addressing generic and specific issues relevant to the environmental remediation of radioactive waste contamination from a broad national perspective, including the use of systems engineering and risk-based assessment by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management for planning and decision making. This objective was a continuation of one addressed by a predecessor of the committee, the Panel to Review Planned DOE Disposal of Radioactive Waste in Single-Shell Tanks at Hanford, which produced the report, Comments on Draft Systems Engineering Study for Closure of Hanford Single-Shell Tanks, in February 1992.
In August 1993 the committee received briefings on systems engineering activities at the Hanford Site in Washington. At the same time, Thomas Grumbly, then DOE Assistant Secretary for Environmental Restoration and Waste Management, requested that the committee evaluate the extent to which systems-analysis methods and perspectives are being used as inputs to the overall tank remediation program at Hanford. The committee issued a letter report on February 3, 1994 (Appendix B of this report), with its assessment of issues related to program execution and a commitment to continue its study to completion. This commitment was accepted by Mr. Grumbly in a letter acknowledging the report (Appendix C of this report).
As part of its study, in 1996, the committee organized a group of its members having expertise in systems analysis and engineering to gather information, review documents, and prepare a draft of findings and recommendations for the committee to develop into this report. This "systems group," composed of committee members Thomas A. Cotton, Donald R. Gibson, Jr., and Thomas M. Leschine, held a number of meetings at the Hanford Site in Richland, Washington, and examined numerous documents.
The committee acknowledges the contributions of many persons from the U.S. Department of Energy, including those from Headquarters and the Richland Office, as well as Hanford Site contractors, who assisted in providing information needed for the members to complete this study.
This report has been reviewed by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council (NRC) Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the authors and the NRC in making the published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The content of the review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their participation in the review of this report:
Vicki Bier, University of Wisconsin-Madison
B. John Garrick, PLG, Inc. (retired)
Mike Kavanaugh, Malcom Pirnie, Inc.
Edwin Kintner, GPU Nuclear Corp. (retired)
Nejmedin Meshkati, University of Southern California
Warner North, North Works, Inc.
Frank Parker, Vanderbilt University
Chris Whipple, ICF Kaiser Engineers, Inc.
While the individuals listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, responsibility for the final content of this report rests solely with the authoring committee and the NRC.
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