Determination Of Environmental Remediation End States

Sites with radioactive contamination may require action to protect people and the environment and to enable transition to a different future use. To support environmental management of these sites, this publication presents a process to determine the “end state” of the site to be remediated or being remediated, and implications for the site future use and necessary controls. The approach is intended to assist those responsible for a site in making an informed and transparent decision on what is the mutually agreed end state. It provides a common basis for all stakeholders involved in the decision-making process, who are working on achieving consensus, so that the potential for misunderstanding is reduced.

"Sites with radioactive contamination may require action to protect people and the environment and to enable transition to a different future use. To support environmental management of these sites, this publication presents a process to determine the "end state" of the site to be remediated or being remediated and implications for the site future use and necessary controls. The approach is intended to assist those responsible for a site in making an informed and transparent decision on what is the mutually agreed end state. It provides a common basis for all stakeholders involved in the decision-making process, who are working on achieving consensus, so that the potential for misunderstanding is reduced."--Page 4 of cover.

Investigates the potential synergies between decommissioning and site remediation in order to allow for the implementation of both processes in an integrated and cost effective way. The publication reviews the planning procedures for, and operational constraints on, partial remediation of sites.

A major issue in the cleanup of this country's nuclear weapons complex is how to dispose of the radioactive waste resulting primarily from the chemical processing operations for the recovery of plutonium and other defense strategic nuclear materials. The wastes are stored in hundreds of large underground tanks at four U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) sites throughout the United States. The tanks contain hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of radioactive and hazardous waste. Most of it is high-level waste (HLW), some of it is transuranic (TRU) or low- level waste (LLW), and essentially all containing significant amounts of chemicals deemed hazardous. Of the 278 tanks involved, about 70 are known or assumed to have leaked some of their contents to the environment. The remediation of the tanks and their contents requires the development of new technologies to enable cleanup and minimize costs while meeting various health, safety, and environmental objectives. While DOE has a process based on stakeholder participation for screening and formulating technology needs, it lacks transparency (in terms of being apparent to all concerned decision makers and other interested parties) and a systematic basis (in terms of identifying end states for the contaminants and developing pathways to these states from the present conditions). An End State Methodology for Identifying Technology Needs for Environmental Management, with an Example from the Hanford Site Tanks describes an approach for identifying technology development needs that is both systematic and transparent to enhance the cleanup and remediation of the tank contents and their sites. The authoring committee believes that the recommended end state based approach can be applied to DOE waste management in general, not just to waste in tanks. The approach is illustrated through an example based on the tanks at the DOE Hanford Site in southeastern Washington state, the location of some 60 percent by volume of the tank waste residues.

A major issue in the cleanup of this country's nuclear weapons complex is how to dispose of the radioactive waste resulting primarily from the chemical processing operations for the recovery of plutonium and other defense strategic nuclear materials. The wastes are stored in hundreds of large underground tanks at four U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) sites throughout the United States. The tanks contain hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of radioactive and hazardous waste. Most of it is high-level waste (HLW), some of it is transuranic (TRU) or low- level waste (LLW), and essentially all containing significant amounts of chemicals deemed hazardous. Of the 278 tanks involved, about 70 are known or assumed to have leaked some of their contents to the environment. The remediation of the tanks and their contents requires the development of new technologies to enable cleanup and minimize costs while meeting various health, safety, and environmental objectives. While DOE has a process based on stakeholder participation for screening and formulating technology needs, it lacks transparency (in terms of being apparent to all concerned decision makers and other interested parties) and a systematic basis (in terms of identifying end states for the contaminants and developing pathways to these states from the present conditions). An End State Methodology for Identifying Technology Needs for Environmental Management, with an Example from the Hanford Site Tanks describes an approach for identifying technology development needs that is both systematic and transparent to enhance the cleanup and remediation of the tank contents and their sites. The authoring committee believes that the recommended end state based approach can be applied to DOE waste management in general, not just to waste in tanks. The approach is illustrated through an example based on the tanks at the DOE Hanford Site in southeastern Washington state, the location of some 60 percent by volume of the tank waste residues.

Nuclear Waste Management Facilities: Advances, Environmental Impacts, and Future Prospects examines best practices and recent trends in improving nuclear safety and reducing the negative environmental impacts of nuclear waste. With strong emphasis on regulatory requirements, this reference is essential for designing new integrated waste management practices, using lessons learned from historical and current practices. Divided into three key sections, Part One introduces the reader to the safety and environmental impacts of the nuclear industry. Part Two reviews recent technological and methodological approaches to enhancing safety, as well as reducing the carbon footprint of both individual processes and integrated facilities. Topics covered include waste processing, transmutation and decommissioning. Part Three consider potential management schemes for special waste from innovative sources, and wastes that contain emerging contaminants, including waste recycling opportunities. Nuclear Waste Management Facilities: Advances, Environmental Impacts, and Future Prospects is a crucial tool needed to implement the safest and most environmentally considerate best practices within nuclear waste management facilities. Presents recent approaches used to assess and improve the safety and reduce the environmental impacts of nuclear waste management facilities Offers technical guidance to support the development and defense of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) and Safety Cases to support the waste management facilities licensing throughout their lifecycles Highlights the future perspectives for wastes produced from innovative reactors and wastes containing emerging contaminants, and recycling opportunities

This publication presents a set of examples of different approaches for estimating potential exposures in different countries based on participants' experience and considering the IAEA Safety Standard on a generic framework for consideration of radiological environmental impact, including potential exposures.

Over the past decade significant progress has been achieved in the development of waste characterization and control procedures and equipment as a direct response to ever-increasing requirements for quality and reliability of information on waste characteristics. Failure in control procedures at any step can have important, adverse consequences and may result in producing waste packages which are not compliant with the waste acceptance criteria for disposal, thereby adversely impacting the repository. The information and guidance included in this publication corresponds to recent achievements and reflects the optimum approaches, thereby reducing the potential for error and enhancing the quality of the end product. -- Publisher's description.