Long-Term Institutional Management of U.S. Department of Energy Legacy Waste Sites (2000) / Chapter Skim
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6 Contextual Factors
6 Contextual Factors
Pages 66-76
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From page 66... ...
In particular, seven factors often constrain the range of decisions and actions realistically available: risk; scientific and technical capability; institutional capability; cost; laws and regulations; values of interested and affected parties; and other sites. The measures of institutional management—contaminant reduction, contaminant isolation, and stewardship were described in Chapters 3, 4, and 5, respectively.
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From page 67... ...
For example, contaminated sediments may be left in place in White Oak Creek at the Oak Ridge Reservation, in part to avoid disruption of the creek's ecology by dredging. Similarly, at the Nevada Test Site managers noted concerns that the surface soil cleanup could disrupt the site's sensitive desert ecology.
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From page 68... ...
SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL CAPABILITY In the context of this report, technical capability refers to whether contaminant reduction and isolation measures can achieve site disposition goals either final, end-state goals, or goals for a desired interim state. Scientific capability refers to our ability to understand and conduct the behavior of residual wastes and the environments in which they reside, thereby determining the efficacy of the contaminant reduction and isolation measures being employed, or to know upon which such measures we should rely.
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From page 69... ...
However, stewardship is likely to remain important because monitoring isolation effectiveness, and intervening if necessary, will have to remain a long-term institutional responsibility, as might additional decontamination of the isolated wastes as technologies capable of doing so become available. In contrast, if the technical capability to achieve either contaminant reduction or contaminant isolation is poor, then stewardship activities become all the more crucial.
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From page 70... ...
contaminated sites acceptable for unrestricted use (Protest and Lowe, 2000~. For the DOE complex as a whole and for individual site disposition decisions, deciding where and how to spend limited financial resources is a critical contextual factor.
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From page 71... ...
, 1 Despite these uncertainties, reasonably accurate cost estimates can, with some effort, be obtained for many site disposition decisions. In general, however, cost estimates for proven technologies to be applied within the near
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From page 72... ...
The disposition of contaminated sites is addressed at the federal and state level through programs and procedures established under statutes such as the Atomic Energy Act, the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) , the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA)
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From page 73... ...
Moreover, at many DOE facilities, groups have formed of their own accord to monitor remediation activity and promote their various interests and viewpoints. Levels at Which Influence is Felt The views of interested and affected parties can have important effects on how other contextual factors, such as cost and risk, are treated in site disposition decisions.
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From page 74... ...
DOE LEGACY WASTE SITES 4. They may help to decide the relative balance of contaminant reduction, contaminant isolation, and stewardship activities to be used in achieving a desired future state for the site.
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From page 75... ...
such as the Nevada Test Site were selected in part on the assumption that nearby population density and water demand would remain low, but the rapid population increase in recent decades in Las Vegas, Nevada, with a consequent expansion of its water demand and settlement boundaries, is clear evidence that this assumption may be wrong. To deal with greater exposure possibilities arising from changes in off-site activities, more elaborate measures (contaminant reduction, contaminant isolation, and/or stewardship)
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From page 76... ...
In other words, at any stage in the long-term disposition of the waste site, both the types of contaminant reduction, contaminant isolation, and stewardship measures and the extent of reliance on any one set of measures will be affected by the contextual factors discussed in this chapter. Moreover, as suggested in this chapter, site disposition decisions often are reached in a climate of uncertainty affecting the available choices as well as the contextual factors.
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