Peter Sanders

1
Environmental Management (EM) Overview

• Peter Sanders
• Environmental Management
• Nevada Site Office
• September 18, 2007

2
The Nevada Test Site

• Approximately 1,375 square miles of federally
  owned and controlled land surrounded by
  approximately 4,500 square miles of federally
  owned and controlled land
• Located 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, NV
• Location of 928 nuclear tests

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Site Comparisons
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Nevada Site Office EM Projects

• Environmental Restoration
• Underground Test Area (UGTA)
• Industrial Sites
• Soils

• Waste Management
• Low-Level Waste (LLW)
• Mixed Low-Level Waste (MLLW)
• Transuranic (TRU) Waste

Activities not within contract scope of work
5
UGTA Sub-Project

• 828 underground nuclear tests released 132
  million curies directly into the subsurface
  environment including the aquifers at the Nevada
  Test Site
• Project must define corrective action
  unit-specific hydrologic boundaries to reduce
  risk to the public and environment from potential
  groundwater contamination downgradient from
  historical nuclear testing sites

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UGTA Sub-Project (continued)

• Path Forward
• Use peer-reviewed groundwater models to define
  contaminant boundaries around each of the five
  Corrective Action Units

• Design and implement a monitoring network to
  ensure that the public/workers are not exposed to
  groundwater exceeding 4 millirem/year within
  1,000 years (EPA drinking water standard)
• Drill wells, analyze data from existing wells,
  and conduct geophysical studies to collect data
• End-date is 2027

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Industrial Sites Sub-Project

• NTS and Tonopah Test Range (TTR) facilities such
  as gas stations, machine shops, equipment yards
  and research buildings were used in direct
  support of nuclear testing
• Activities resulted in some environmental
  contamination and subsequent hazardous and
  radioactive waste generation

• Contaminants of concern may include hazardous
  chemicals, unexploded ordnance, and low-level
  radionuclides

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Industrial Sites Sub-Project (continued)

• Federal Facilities Agreement and Consent Order
  (FFACO) is an agreement with the State of Nevada
  that outlines a series of activities that must be
  completed before an Industrial Sites can be
  designated as clean or closed in place with
  restrictions
• End-date is 2012

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Industrial Sites Status
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Soils Sub-Project

• Atmospheric nuclear weapons tests, nuclear safety
  experiments, and evaluation tests for peaceful
  uses of nuclear explosives conducted at the NTS
  and Nevada Test and Training Range resulted in
  the radioactive contamination of surface soils

• Soils sub-project is responsible for
• Characterizing and/or remediating surface soil
  contamination
• Ensuring appropriate controls (i.e., postings,
  barriers, etc.) are in place at the sites
• Conducting long-term monitoring of sites
• State of Nevada oversight provided under the
  FFACO
• End-date is 2025

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Radioactive Waste Disposal at the NTS

• LLW and MLLW generated throughout the DOE Complex
  is disposed at the NTS at two disposal sites

• Other destinations are available (i.e., the
  Hanford Site), however due to pending resolution
  of issues, the NTS is the ONLY federal site
  disposing off-site generated LLW and MLLW

Activity not within contract scope of work
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NTS Approved LLW Generators
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TRU/Mixed TRU Waste Sub-Project

• Complete the characterization and shipment of TRU
  waste to the Central Characterization Facility
• Awaiting HQ issuance of Supplement Analysis to
  the Waste Management Programmatic Environmental
  Impact Statement before remaining TRU waste can
  be shipped.
• Planning focused on meeting Nevada Site Office
  TRU sub-project end-date of September 30, 2008

Activity not within contract scope of work
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Program Support GroupActivities/Responsibilities

• Provides program planning, budgeting, project
  control, quality assurance, safety, regulatory
  support, contracts, administration, database
  management, and public involvement support for
  all EM projects
• Directly funds AE contractor fee, business
  functions, document production, IT support,
  internal contractor project control, quality
  assurance, and health and safety support

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Stakeholder Involvement

• State of Nevada Division of Environmental
  Protection (NDEP) provides programmatic and
  regulatory oversight of Environmental Restoration
  and Waste Management activities conducted by the
  DOEs Environmental Management in the state of
  Nevada
• Active Community Advisory Board (CAB) 15 to 20
  citizen volunteers from Las Vegas, Beatty,
  Amargosa Valley and Pahrump

Activity not within contract scope of work
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Program Requirements

• Currently there are almost a dozen contractors
  supporting the EM program
• Security Clearances required for certain key
  technical positions
• Unique Health and Safety Issues
• Active National Nuclear Security Administration
  Facility requires coordination of activities

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EM Bottom Line

• Committed to accelerating cleanup and reducing
  risk to workers, the public and the environment
  with a timely, cost-effective approach for the
  sites under Nevada control
• Committed to working cooperatively with
  regulators and keeping the public informed of its
  activities
• Committed to supporting accelerated cleanup by
  providing waste disposal services to the entire
  DOE complex

Activity not within contract scope of work