Long-Term Institutional Management of U.S. Department of Energy Legacy Waste Sites (2000) / Chapter Skim
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1 Introduction
1 Introduction
Pages 10-17
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From page 10... ...
For this reason the primary focus of this report is on the need for longterm institutional management of contaminated sites the attributes that long-term management must have to be effective and the conditions necessary for its establishment at these contaminated sites. The committee's conception, detailed in Chapter 2, views the selection, implementation, and periodic reassessment of stewardship mea1 The use in this report of the term "DOE defense complex" or "DOE legacy waste sites" refers to those areas making up a contiguous block of land owned or managed by DOE and containing radioactive and hazardous wastes that are the legacy of nuclear weapons production.
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From page 11... ...
are found as high-level waste at DOE sites that performed chemical separations Savannah River Site in South Carolina, Hanford Site in Washington, and the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. In terms of waste volume (about 36 million cubic meters)
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From page 12... ...
. In other cases, consideration of residual risks and the costs of removal dictated that wastes could be safely left in place if isolation caps or other protective barriers were properly constructed and maintained (e.g., this was the decision reached concerning uranium mill tailings left at many former mining and milling operations in the western U.S.~.
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From page 13... ...
outlines data for such a report requested by DOE Headquarters from its operations and field offices (see Sidebar 1-1~. The fiscal year 2000 National Defense Authorization Act directs DOE to prepare, on a site-specific basis, a report on existing and anticipated long-term stewardship responsibilities, including cost estimates where available.
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From page 14... ...
DOE's own analysis suggests that the total cost of cleanup is sensitive to the cleanup goals selected for contaminated sites, a point that is illustrated in the 1996 Baseline Environmental Management Report. By far the biggest cost increment between scenarios occurs when a "modified greenfields" scenario (in which the most contaminated areas within the five largest sites are left in a condition requiring highly restricted access)
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From page 15... ...
During this study the committee visited the following sites: Hanford Site, Richland, Washington; Nevada Test Site, Mercury, Nevada; Grand Junction Office Site, Grand Junction, Colorado; several Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) sites in Colorado; Mound Plant, Miamisburg, Ohio; Fernald, Cincinnati, Ohio; Oak Ridge Reservation, Oak Ridge, Tennessee; and Savannah River Site, Aiken, South Carolina (see summary of meetings and visits in Appendix C)
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From page 16... ...
However, among the current most hazardous radioactive materials with respect to risk that are found in the DOE defense complex are the fission products found in high-level waste (such as cesium-137 and strontium-90. These radionuclides, currently stored in tanks, drums, capsules, trapped within processing facilities, or contaminating the soil and groundwater where they have been released or leaked, must be very carefully managed for at least the next 300 years, a period extending beyond the projected closure date for most sites by DOE.
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From page 17... ...
An integrated overall approach that coordinates activities across the responsible entities and assures that site management measures are complementary rather than conflicting. Incentives both within and outside the institutional management organization to encourage diligence in carrying out mission objectives.
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