Advice on the Department of Energy's Cleanup Technology Roadmap Gaps and Bridges (2009) / Chapter Skim
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Appendix H: Interim Report
Appendix H: Interim Report
Pages 255-272
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From page 255... ...
Appendix H Interim Report 255
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From page 256... ...
The committee began its study with a March 2007 workshop at which DOE site representatives, regulators, and citizens described cleanup challenges and technology needs (gaps) at DOE's four major cleanup sites: the Oak Ridge Reservation, Tennessee; the Idaho National Laboratory; the Hanford Reservation, Washington; and the Savannah River Site, South Carolina.
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From page 257... ...
3 In March 8, 2007, testimony before the House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management James Rispoli reported that the estimated lifecycle cost for the DOE cleanup program had increased to about $235 billion owing to the addition of new projects as well as regulatory and technology development problems [ital. added]
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From page 258... ...
For example, within tank waste processing, the roadmap indicates that there are technical risks and uncertainties involving waste storage, waste retrieval, tank closure, waste pretreatment, and stabilization. Strategic initiatives to address each uncertainty are also listed.
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From page 259... ...
For example, the National Research Council's 2005 report on Improving the Characterization and Treatment of Radioactive Wastes recommends that ‘an improved capability for environmental monitoring would strengthen EM's plans to leave waste and contaminated media at DOE sites,' and, ‘Monitoring systems at EM closure sites have been estimated to be some 25 years behind the state-of-art.' The Committee directs the increase to address the technology short-falls identified by this report."4 After visiting three of EM's major cleanup sites and witnessing both the cleanup accomplishments and the enormity of the remaining cleanup tasks -- as well as potential new tasks to be added from other DOE offices in the future -- the committee judges that existing knowledge and technologies are inadequate for EM to meet all of its cleanup responsibilities in a safe, timely, and cost-effective way. Meeting current and future challenges will require the results of an ongoing R&D program.
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Samsung, for example, describes its R&D funding in three tiers ranging from the business unit for product development, to division-level for core competencies, and corporate for future platform technologies.5 By analogy, the role of DOE headquarters (corporate) would be to provide sufficient funding for integrated medium- to long-term R&D needs identified in collaboration with site cleanup contractors to support major improvements in the sites' cleanup operations.
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From page 261... ...
National laboratories played key roles in supporting large-scale production of materials for nuclear weapons throughout the Cold War. They also built on this expertise by expanding into areas such as nuclear energy and beneficial uses of radioisotopes.7 Although the missions of the national laboratories have expanded to include most areas of cutting-edge science, expertise in basic radiochemistry, radiochemical separations, remote equipment operation and maintenance, nuclear instrumentation, and radiation monitoring remains a forte and is essential to addressing EM cleanup challenges.
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From page 262... ...
In 2006, DOE designated SRNL as the "corporate laboratory" for the DOE Office of Environmental Management.8 In this capacity, SRNL has the responsibility to apply its unique expertise and technology capabilities to reduce technical uncertainties in meeting cleanup requirements across the DOE complex. The EM roadmap can help establish a more direct coupling of national laboratory capabilities and infrastructure with EM's high-priority long- and medium-term R&D needs.
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From page 263... ...
Tank waste cleanup: A very expensive and long-term problem for the EM cleanup program involves retrieval of waste from the tanks at the Savannah River Site (SRS) and Hanford, processing the waste to separate the radionuclides into a high-level waste stream and a low-activity waste stream (intended to contain mostly non-radioactive chemicals)
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Carbon tetrachloride occurs from near-surface to deep in the difficult-to-characterize fluvial gravels underlying the Hanford site, and it also occurs in fractured bedrock aquifers, including one of the fractured aquifers beneath the Oak Ridge Reservation. The complexity of remediating DNAPL contamination at the Oak Ridge Reservation's East Tennessee Technology Park is driving a request for a "technical impracticability" waiver from the State of Tennessee.
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From page 265... ...
Retaining relevant expertise and supporting research programs to develop stabilization methodologies and technologies to limit the effects of building deterioration, while not hindering or complicating the building's future disposition, are important medium- to longterm challenges for EM. Maintaining aging buildings until they eventually undergo D&D will also require monitoring and sensing technologies, some of which could be leveraged from groundwater protection and remediation programs mentioned previously.
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In concluding this interim report, the committee wishes to highlight the following: • The committee generally agrees with the five program areas for strategic R&D presented in EM's draft Cleanup Technology Roadmap. • According to the range of technology needs presented to the committee and the committee's initial observations, the committee judges that existing knowledge and technologies are inadequate for EM to meet all of its cleanup responsibilities in a safe, timely, and costeffective way.
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From page 267... ...
Specifically, the study will identify: • Principal science and technology gaps and their priorities for the cleanup program based on previous National Academies reports, updated and extended to reflect current site conditions and EM priorities and input from key external groups, such as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, Environmental Protection Agency, and state regulatory agencies. • Strategic opportunities to leverage research and development from other DOE programs (e.g., in the Office of Science, Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, and the National Nuclear Security Administration)
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SAYLER, University of Tennessee, Knoxville ANDREW M SESSLER, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (retired)
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We wish to thank the following for their participation in the review of this report: Robert J Budnitz, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California Ken Czerwinski, University of Nevada, Las Vegas Tissa Illangasekare, Colorado School of Mines, Golden Milton Levenson, Bechtel International (retired)
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From page 270... ...
2005. Improving the Characterization and Treatment of Radioactive Wastes for the Department of Energy's Accelerated Site Cleanup Program Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press.
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From page 271... ...
2007. Science and Technology Needs for DOE Site Cleanup: Workshop Summary.
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