Tank Wastes Planned for On-Site Disposal at Three Department of Energy Sites: The Savannah River Site
Interim Report
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C.
www.nap.edu
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
500 Fifth Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20001
NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
Support for this study was provided by the U.S. Department of Energy under cooperative agreement number DE-FC01-04-EW07022. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.
International Standard Book Number 0-309-09693-6
Cover photograph: Taken from Tank 4 Interior Photo Study - 1954 Pre-Startup. T.B. Caldwell, CBU-PIT-2005-00111. Aiken, S.C. Westinghouse Savannah River Company. May 5, 2005.
Additional copies of this report are available from the
National Academies Press,
500 Fifth Street, N.W., Lockbox 285, Washington, DC 20055; (800) 624-6242 or (202) 334-3313 (in the Washington metropolitan area); Internet, http://www.nap.edu
Copyright 2005 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Wm. A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. Wm. A. Wulf are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council
COMMITTEE ON THE MANAGEMENT OF CERTAIN RADIOACTIVE WASTE STREAMS STORED IN TANKS AT THREE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY SITES
FRANK L. PARKER, Chair,
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee
HADI ABU-AKEEL,
AMTENG Corp., Vienna, Virginia
JOHN S. APPLEGATE,
Indiana University School of Law, Bloomington
HOWIE CHOSET,
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
PAUL C. CRAIG,
University of California, Davis
ALLEN G. CROFF,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (retired), Tennessee
PATRICIA J. CULLIGAN,
Columbia University, New York City, New York
KEN CZERWINSKI,
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
RACHEL DETWILER,
Braun Intertec Corp, Minneapolis, Minnesota
EDWIN E. HERRICKS,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
TISSA ILLANGASEKARE,
Colorado School of Mines, Golden
MILTON LEVENSON,
Bechtel International (retired), Menlo Park, California
PAUL A. LOCKE,
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
MICHAEL H. MOBLEY,
Mobley Radiation Consulting, Clarksville, Tennessee
DIANNE R. NIELSON,
Utah Department of Environmental Quality, Salt Lake City
KEN E. PHILIPOSE,
AECL/Chalk River Laboratories, Ontario, Canada
ALFRED P. SATTELBERGER,
Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico
ANNE E. SMITH,
Charles River Associates, Washington, D.C.
LESLIE SMITH,
University of British Columbia, Canada
DONALD W. STEEPLES,
University of Kansas, Lawrence
Consultant
RODNEY C. EWING,1
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Staff
BARBARA PASTINA, Study Director
MICAH D. LOWENTHAL, Senior Program Officer
JOHN R. WILEY, Senior Program Officer
DARLA J. THOMPSON, Research Associate
LAURA D. LLANOS, Senior Program Assistant
MARILI ULLOA, Senior Program Assistant
NUCLEAR AND RADIATION STUDIES BOARD
RICHARD A. MESERVE, Chair,
Carnegie Institution, Washington, D.C.
S. JAMES ADELSTEIN, Vice Chair,
Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
HAROLD I. BECK,
Department of Energy Environmental Laboratory (retired), New York City, New York
JOEL S. BEDFORD,
Colorado State University, Fort Collins
ROBERT M. BERNERO,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (retired), Gaithersburg, Maryland
SUE B. CLARK,
Washington State University, Pullman
JAMES E. CLEAVER,
University of California, San Francisco
ALLEN G. CROFF,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (retired), Tennessee
DAVID E. DANIEL,
University of Texas at Dallas
SARAH C. DARBY,
Clinical Trial Service Unit (CTSU), Oxford, United Kingdom
SHARON L. DUNWOODY,
University of Wisconsin, Madison
RODNEY C. EWING,
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
ROGER L. HAGENGRUBER,
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
DANIEL KREWSKI,
University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
KLAUS KÜHN,
Technische Universität Clausthal, Germany
SUSAN M. LANGHORST,
Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri
NIKOLAI P. LAVEROV,
Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow
MILTON LEVENSON,
Bechtel International (retired), Menlo Park, California
C. CLIFTON LING,
Memorial Hospital, New York City, New York
PAUL A. LOCKE,
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
WARREN F. MILLER,
Los Alamos National Laboratory (retired), New Mexico
ANDREW M. SESSLER,
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California
ATSUYUKI SUZUKI,
Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan, Tokyo
JOHN C. VILLFORTH,
Food and Drug Law Institute (retired), Derwood, Maryland
PAUL L. ZIEMER,
Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
Staff
KEVIN D. CROWLEY, Senior Board Director
EVAN DOUPLE, Scholar
RICK JOSTES, Senior Program Officer
MICAH D. LOWENTHAL, Senior Program Officer
BARBARA PASTINA, Senior Program Officer
JOHN R. WILEY, Senior Program Officer
CATHERINE S. BERKLEY, Financial and Administrative Officer
TONI GREENLEAF, Financial and Administrative Associate
DARLA J. THOMPSON, Research Associate
LAURA D. LLANOS, Senior Program Assistant
MARILI ULLOA, Senior Program Assistant
COURTNEY GIBBS, Program Assistant
JAMES YATES, JR., Office Assistant
List of Reviewers
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The content of the review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
Edward L. Albenesius, Consultant, Aiken, South Carolina
Michael J. Bell, Consultant, Bethany Beach, Delaware
Robert M. Bernero, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (retired), Gaithersburg, Maryland
Sue B. Clark, Washington State University, Pullman
Edward Lahoda, Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Fred J. Molz III, Clemson University, Anderson, South Carolina
John M. Palms, University of South Carolina, Columbia
Ben Rusche, Management & Technical Resources, Inc., West Columbia, South Carolina
Barry Scheetz, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
Charles D. Shackelford, Colorado State University, Fort Collins
Chris G. Whipple, ENVIRON International Corporation, Emeryville, California
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the report’s conclusions or recommendations, nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Richard A. Conway, Union Carbide Corporation (retired), Charleston, West Virginia, and John F. Ahearne, Sigma Xi and Duke University, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Appointed by the National Research Council, they were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.
