Presentation to IAEA/ANDRA Conference Cherbourg, France. September Thomas C. Pauling Environment Team Leader USDOE Office of Legacy Management

Transcription

1 Overview of United States Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management And Experience and lessons Learned with Monitoring and Surveillance of Repository Post-Closure Performance Presentation to IAEA/ANDRA Conference Cherbourg, France September 2009 Thomas C. Pauling Environment Team Leader USDOE Office of Legacy Management

2 Mission and Goals Mission To manage DOE s post-closure responsibilities and ensure the future protection of human health and the environment. Legacy Management has control and custody for legacy land, structures, and facilities and is responsible for maintaining them at levels consistent with DOE s long-term plans. Goals Protect human health and the environment through effective and efficient long-term surveillance and maintenance Preserve, protect, and make accessible legacy records and information Support an effective and efficient work force structured to accomplish DOE missions and assure contractor worker pension and medical benefits Manage legacy land and assets, emphasizing protective real and personal property reuse and disposition Improve program effectiveness through sound management 2

3 Legacy Management Sites 3

4 Goal 1 Protect Human Health and the Environment Category 1 Requires records-related activities and stakeholder support. Category 2 Requires routine inspection and maintenance, records-related activities, and stakeholder support. Category 3 Requires operation and maintenance of remedial action systems, routine inspection and maintenance, records-related activities, and stakeholder support. 4

5 FY 2009 Budget Conduct long-term surveillance and maintenance at sites and prepare to transfer other sites in FY 2010 and 2011 Manage approximately 100,000 cubic feet of physical records and 6 terabytes of information Oversee the funding of pension plans and postretirement benefits for more than 10,000 former contractor employees from six sites Manage more than 20,000 acres of Federal property and coordinate the reuse or transfer of real and personal property to other agencies or private interests 5

6 FY 2010 Program Budget Request FY 2008 request reflects the addition of the Fernald and Rocky Flats sites and the Nevada Offsites 6

7 Typical Costs at LM Sites Site Type Range of Costs ($) Inspection Only $7K to $11K Ground Water Monitoring $10K to $1.5M Passive Remediation $10K to $40K Active Remediation $1.1M to $1.8M 7

8 Environmental Management/ Legacy Management Transition 8

9 Goal 1 Protect Human Health and the Environment Safely complete required site inspections, environmental monitoring, and maintenance activities (e.g., disposal cell and environmental systems, including groundwater treatment plants, leachate collection systems, and permeable reactive barriers) for LM's current 85 sites. Coordinate with 27 states, Puerto Rico, 6 tribal entities, Federal agencies, local governments, interest groups, and individuals Coordinate the transition of 33 additional sites planned to transfer in next 5 years and eventually another 25 sites 9

10 Goal 1 Protect Human Health and the Environment Sites are categorized under a variety of regulatory regimes; UMTRCA, RCRA/CERCLA, FUSRAP, Other (includes Voluntary Cleanup Programs, etc.) Regulatory and cooperating entities include NRC, EPA, USFWS, USFS, USACE, BLM, US Army, private companies, as well as States, Tribes, Puerto Rico, and local governments 30 disposal cells (plus 8 sites with either entombed reactors or drilling mud pits) Approx half of LM sites have Institutional Controls, usually multiple ICs per site 10

11 LM s other goals Goal 2 Legacy Records and Information - Assume responsibility for all records inventories and information technology systems, manage 150,000 cubic feet of records Goal 3 Work Force Support and Contractor Workers Pensions and Benefits Goal 4 Manage Legacy Lands and Assets - Manage 47,000 acres, including uranium mining lease tracts that generate royalty payments to the U.S. Treasury, explore partnerships with conservation groups and other entities to implement reuse options for legacy sites 11

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13 Tuba City, AZ disposal cell Circa

14 Tuba City, AZ groundwater treatment system 14

15 Grand Junction, CO, Disposal Site 15

16 Fernald, Ohio Site 16

17 Weldon Spring Site, Missouri, disposal cell, native prairie and hiking/biking trail 17

18 Rocky Flats Site, Denver, CO Dam breach project 18

19 Pinellas, FL groundwater site 19

20 Mound, OH Site 20

21 Amchitka Island, Alaska Western Aleutian Islands, AK 21

22 Boiling Nuclear Superheater Decommissioned Reactor (BONUS) Western Puerto Rico 22

23 Uranium Mill Tailings Disposal Cell (Rock Cover) 23

24 Uranium Tailings Disposal Cell (Vegetative Cover) 24

25 Weldon Spring, Missouri 25

26 Weldon Spring high density polyethylene liner installation 26

27 Disposal Cell Covers Ages range from 5 to 25 years old Effective to date in isolating contaminants and mitigating radon Most disposal cells have rock covers to armor compacted soil radon barrier against wind and surface water erosion Several have vegetative covers to improve the water balance and reduce impacts to ground water 27

28 Long-Term Cover Sustainability Issues Rock covers may not always meet design targets for water infiltration Some rock covers create habitat for deep rooted woody plants, removal of which is increasing costs LM has some data that vegetative covers may be more effective at reducing water infiltration LM is continuing the investigation of cover performance including a pilot scale study to measure impacts of renovating some rock covers with evapotranspiration vegetative covers to improve overall water balance performance 28

29 Cover Water Balance: Role of Plants Shrubs ~ mm (15 in) Wheatgrass Cheatgrass Bare / Rock Soil Depth (1.5 m) Loam Soil < Estimated Ranges of Annual Recharge (mm/yr) 29

30 Monitoring Wells Associated with the sites: 1,921 Off-Site Wells: 677 Over 5,300 samples taken last year Over 14,400 analysis done last year 30

31 Typical Ground Water Contaminants Most contaminants are metals associated with uranium milling Most common contaminant is uranium Others include vanadium, nitrate, selenium, molybdenum, manganese, and arsenic Volatile Organic Compounds, usually chlorinated solvents, are found at a limited number of sites 31

32 Types of Active Groundwater Treatment Ion Exchange Permeable Reactive Barrier Phytoremediation Distillation Evaporation Air Stripping 32

33 Permeable Reactive Barriers (PRBs) PRBs using zero valent iron are being used at two LM sites to remediate metal, radionuclide, and VOC contaminants in groundwater Contaminants were effectively removed for several years after which media plugging caused diversion of groundwater around the system Metals and radionuclide contaminants remain in the media requiring proper disposal of the media 33

34 LM website for documents and data Site specific documents searchable by date range, descriptive words, etc Can view, download or print the document in some cases, or request copy to be mailed General information, fact sheets, program information Data available on-line through Geospacial Environmental Mapping System (GEMS) 34

35 Geospacial Environmental Mapping System Legend 35

36 Typical Maintenance Activities Erosion repair Weed and vegetation control Sign replacement Ground water treatment system repair Well replacement Fence and gate repairs 36

37 Typical Post Closure Issues Erosion of land near the disposal cells Stakeholder concerns Vandalism Deviations from predicted ground water modeling concentrations Regulatory issues Institutional Controls Maintenance of active ground water treatment remedies 37

38 Summary LM s mission can only be achieved through close coordination of its activities with stakeholders; Congress; regulators; and state, tribal, and local governments LM continues to develop innovative approaches to enhance the long term sustainability of disposal cell and groundwater remedies LM seeks to improve communication and information sharing by maximizing electronic availability of records and data (visit us at 38