Science and Technology for DOE Site Cleanup Workshop Summary (2010) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 6-24
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From page 6... ...
This committee and its successor committees produced a series of reports addressing technology development in five "focus areas" identified by EM: Contaminant plumes, landfills, high-level wastes, mixed 6 A complete list of NRC reports on waste management and environmental cleanup of the nuclear weapons complex is given in Appendix A 7 Hanford, Oak Ridge, Savannah River, and the National Reactor Testing Station, the latter of which is now part of Idaho National Laboratory.
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Transuranic and mixed waste (NRC 2002c) Excess nuclear materials and spent fuel (NRC 2003a)
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The science and technology gaps were derived primarily from NRC reports on cleanup challenges at the large DOE sites and therefore tend to be biased toward those sites' research and development needs. Some of the identified gaps will require basic research, whereas others will require a combination of applied research and technology development.
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In 2000, DOE estimated that it would cost over $50 billion to complete high-level waste and tank cleanup at its sites.12 Figure 3 provides a graphical illustration of DOE's process for high-level waste cleanup at the Savannah River Site.13 DOE plans to retrieve waste from the underground tanks the site for treatment, immobilization, and disposal. The sludge waste (a precipitate of metal oxides and hydroxides)
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that are difficult, time consuming, and costly to remove. Residual waste retrieval from tanks and ancillary pipelines has been identified as an important technology gap in three NRC reports (NRC 2001d, 2005d, 2006a; see also NRC 2003c)
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While borosilicate glass can probably be used to immobilize all of DOE's high-level waste, there are opportunities to reduce waste volumes and costs through the development of alternate waste forms that allow for higher waste loadings and have less sensitivity to waste stream compositional variations (NRC 2001d; see also NRC 1996f)
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NRC (2001c) concluded that the following DOE facilities will pose the most difficult cleanup challenges: Radiochemical separation facilities at Hanford and Savannah River and the Chemical Processing Plant at Idaho.
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These processes also generate large volumes of secondary wastes and often leave behind unwanted residual contamination. Because of its cost and hazards, cleanup contractors often choose to dispose of contaminated equipment and construction materials rather than decontaminate and recycle them.
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This environmental contamination occurs in two distinct settings: Waste burial grounds. Waste was disposed of in pits, trenches, and auger holes at all major DOE sites.
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for environmental restoration activities at its sites exceeds $10 billion. The following science and technology gaps for soil and groundwater cleanup have been identified in previous NRC reports.
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Waste and Contamination Containment When DOE's cleanup program is completed, many sites will still contain substantial surface and near-surface contamination. These include waste burial sites, both historical sites from weapons production activities and new sites developed specifically for onsite disposal of waste from cleanup activities; stabilized underground tanks; abandoned facilities; and other near-surface release sites.
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84-90) identified the characteristics of a good monitoring system; the report also noted that DOE sites have not yet developed plans for post-closure monitoring of underground waste tank closures.
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. CLOSING THOUGHTS: IMPORTANCE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANUP A recurring theme from many NRC reports published since the Environmental Management Program was created in 1989 is the importance of science and technology development for DOE's site cleanup mission.
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Problems that are not foreseen or appreciated today are likely to be encountered in buried waste retrievals. … Buried waste retrieval and monitoring of disposal facilities provide opportunities for the long-term, breakthrough research envisioned by Congress [when it created the EMSP]
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Most of the future cleanup work will be carried out at the DOE sites that are the focus of this workshop: Hanford, Idaho, Oak Ridge, Savannah River, Paducah, and Portsmouth. It will cost an additional $100 billion and require several decades to complete the currently planned cleanup programs at these sites.
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Another audience member asked whether the cleanup technology roadmap addresses buried waste and spent fuel and nuclear materials management.
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The committee does not understand the reasons for the resistance to new technology utilization. The Energy and Water Development committee agrees that there is a need for more innovative technology in the cleanup program.
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CLEANUP CHALLENGES AT FOUR DOE SITES Panel sessions were organized for each of the four large DOE sites: Hanford, Idaho, Oak Ridge, and Savannah River. For each panel session, a DOE staff member initiated the discussion by providing comments on site science and technology gaps and/or the underlying site technology needs and cleanup challenges.
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