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INTRODUCTION
At the request of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Waste Management (letter of request, Appendix A), the Committee on Remediation of Buried and Tank Wastes (hereafter, the “committee”) conducted a general review and evaluation of the Hanford Site Tank Waste Remediation System (TWRS) Draft Environmental Impact Statement (hereafter, the “DEIS”; U.S. Department of Energy and Washington State Department of Ecology, 1996).
The study focused on the decisions facing the nation concerning management of the Hanford Site tank wastes rather than on details of the document. Consistent with the DOE request, the study did not review the extensive data presented in the DEIS, nor did it examine whether the data were properly incorporated into models. The committee assessed the overall approaches of the DEIS, including the means used to identify alternative remediation strategies and evaluate the risks, costs, and technical feasibility of the alternatives. This report addresses the adequacy of the definition of these alternatives; the characterization of the alternatives in terms of risk, environmental impact, and cost; and the path recommended in the DEIS for choosing and implementing a preferred alternative.
The report also provides a broader analysis of the overall approach taken by DOE and the Washington State Department of Ecology in the DEIS, consistent with the statement of task of the committee when it was established in 1992. The committee is charged to provide scientific and technical review and evaluation of the DOE program of remediation of the environment contaminated by buried and tank-contained defense high-level, transuranic, and mixed radioactive wastes, and to address critical generic and specific issues on a broad national (and global) perspective.
The report first gives some brief background information on the DEIS, followed by a discussion of the committee's findings which emphasizes the major concern over uncertainties. The recommendations chapter of this report stresses the phased decision strategy. The last chapter provides some suggestions for the final version of the TWRS Environmental Impact Statement.