Science and Technology for Environmental Cleanup at Hanford

Science and Technology for Environmental Cleanup at Hanford

  • Publisher: National Academies Press
  • ISBN: 9780309075961
  • eISBN Pdf: 9780309565615
  • Place of publication:  United States
  • Year of digital publication: 2001
  • Month: October
  • Pages: 193
  • Language: English

The Hanford Site was established by the federal government in 1943 as part of the secret wartime effort to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons. The site operated for about four decades and produced roughly two thirds of the 100 metric tons of plutonium in the U.S. inventory. Millions of cubic meters of radioactive and chemically hazardous wastes, the by-product of plutonium production, were stored in tanks and ancillary facilities at the site or disposed or discharged to the subsurface, the atmosphere, or the Columbia River.

In the late 1980s, the primary mission of the Hanford Site changed from plutonium production to environmental restoration. The federal government, through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), began to invest human and financial resources to stabilize and, where possible, remediate the legacy of environmental contamination created by the defense mission. During the past few years, this financial investment has exceeded $1 billion annually. DOE, which is responsible for cleanup of the entire weapons complex, estimates that the cleanup program at Hanford will last until at least 2046 and will cost U.S. taxpayers on the order of $85 billion.

Science and Technology for Environmental Cleanup at Hanford provides background information on the Hanford Site and its Integration Project,discusses the System Assessment Capability, an Integration Project-developed risk assessment tool to estimate quantitative effects of contaminant releases, and reviews the technical elements of the scierovides programmatic-level recommendations.

  • SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANUP AT HANFORD
  • Copyright
  • Preface
  • Reviewer Acknowledgments
  • Contents
  • Summary
    • CHARGE 1: ASSESS THE TECHNICAL MERIT OF THE S&T WORK TO BE CARRIED OUT UNDER THE PROGRAM, INCLUDING ITS LIKELY CONTRIBUTION…
    • CHARGE 2: ASSESS THE RELEVANCE AND TIMELINESS OF THE PLANNED S&T WORK TO DOE REMEDIATION DECISIONS AT THE HANFORD SITE
    • CHARGE 3: ASSESS THE POTENTIAL APPLICABILITY OF S&T RESULTS TO CONTAMINATION PROBLEMS AT OTHER DOE SITES
  • 1 Introduction and Task
    • SCOPE OF THIS STUDY
    • REPORT CONTENT AND ORGANIZATION
  • 2 Hanford Site Background
    • WASTE PRODUCTION AND MANAGEMENT
      • Releases to the Atmosphere
      • Releases to the Ground
        • Solid Waste Disposal
        • Liquid Waste Disposal
        • Accidental Releases and Discharges
        • Releases to the Columbia River
    • CLEANUP OF THE HANFORD SITE
    • DISCUSSION
  • 3 Overview of the Integration Project
    • BACKGROUND AND HISTORY
    • SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM
    • SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM PLANNING THROUGH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT “ROADMAPS”
    • IMPLEMENTATION OF INTEGRATION PROJECT ROADMAP
    • SCHEDULE AND BUDGET
    • DISCUSSION
  • 4 System Assessment Capability
    • SCOPE OF THE SYSTEM ASSESSMENT CAPABILITY
    • SCHEDULE AND BUDGET
    • DISCUSSION
  • 5 Inventory Technical Element
    • SCOPE OF INVENTORY TECHNICAL ELEMENT
    • EVALUATION OF WORK PLANNED UNDER THE INVENTORY TECHNICAL ELEMENT
  • 6 Vadose Zone Technical Element
    • THE VADOSE ZONE: WHAT IS IT, AND WHY IS IT POORLY UNDERSTOOD?
    • SCOPE OF VADOSE ZONE TECHNICAL ELEMENT
    • EVALUATION OF WORK PLANNED UNDER THE VADOSE ZONE TECHNICAL ELEMENT
      • Field Investigations of Representative Sites
        • Can the objectives of the planned work be achieved?
        • Does the planned work represent new science?
        • Can the planned work have an impact on cleanup decisions at the Hanford Site?
        • Does the planned work address the important issues?
        • Are there other concerns, comments, or suggestions that should be considered by the Integration Project in executing the plan
      • Transport Modeling
        • Can the objectives of the planned work be achieved?
        • Does the planned work represent new science?
        • Can the planned work have an impact on cleanup decisions at the Hanford Site?
        • Does the planned work address the important issues?
        • Are there other concerns, comments, or suggestions that should be considered by the Integration Project in executing the plan
      • Waste and Sediment Experiments and Models
        • Can the objectives of the planned work be achieved?
        • Does the planned work represent new science?
        • Can the planned work have an impact on cleanup decisions at the Hanford Site?
        • Does the planned work address the important issues?
        • Are there other concerns, comments, or suggestions that should be considered by the Integration Project in executing the plan
      • Vadose Zone Transport Field Studies
        • Can the objectives of the planned work be achieved?
        • Does the planned work represent new science?
        • Can the planned work have an impact on cleanup decisions at the Hanford Site?
        • Does the planned work address the important issues?
        • Are there other concerns, comments, or suggestions that should be considered by the Integration Project in executing the plan
      • Advanced Vadose Zone Characterization
        • Can the objectives of the planned work be achieved?
        • Does the planned work represent new science?
        • Can the planned work have an impact on cleanup decisions at the Hanford Site?
        • Does the planned work address the important issues?
        • Are there other concerns, comments, or suggestions that should be considered by the Integration Project in executing the plan
    • DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
  • 7 Groundwater Technical Element
    • SCOPE OF THE GROUNDWATER TECHNICAL ELEMENT
    • EVALUATION OF WORK PLANNED UNDER THE GROUNDWATER TECHNICAL ELEMENT
      • Can the objectives of the planned work be achieved?
        • Does the planned work represent new science?
        • Can the planned work have an impact on cleanup decisions at the Hanford Site?
        • Does the planned work address the important issues?
        • Are there other concerns, comments, or suggestions that should be considered by the Integration Project in executing the plan
    • DISCUSSION
  • 8 Columbia River Technical Element
    • COLUMBIA RIVER HISTORY
    • SCOPE OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER TECHNICAL ELEMENT
    • EVALUATION OF WORK PLANNED UNDER THE COLUMBIA RIVER TECHNICAL ELEMENT
      • Conceptual Model Development
        • Can the objectives of the planned work be achieved?
        • Does the planned work represent new science?
        • Can the planned work have an impact on cleanup decisions at the Hanford Site?
        • Does the planned work address the important issues?
        • Are there other concerns, comments, or suggestions that should be considered by the Integration Project in executing the plan
      • Information Management
      • Characterization
      • Groundwater-River Interface
        • Can the objectives of the planned work be achieved?
        • Does the planned work represent new science?
        • Can the planned work have an impact on cleanup decisions at the Hanford Site?
        • Does the planned work address the important issues?
      • Fate and Transport
        • Can the objectives of the planned work be achieved?
        • Does the planned work address the important issues?
        • Are there other concerns, comments, or suggestions that should be considered by the Integration Proj ...
    • SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION
  • 9 Monitoring, Remediation, and Risk Technical Elements
    • MONITORING AND REMEDIATION TECHNICAL ELEMENTS
      • Evaluation of Work Planned Under the Monitoring and Remediation Technical Elements
      • Discussion
    • RISK TECHNICAL ELEMENT
      • Evaluation of Work Planned Under the Risk Technical Element
        • Can the objectives of this work be achieved?
        • Does the planned work represent new science?
        • Can the planned work have an impact on cleanup decisions at the Hanford site?
        • Does the planned work address important issues?
        • Are there other concerns, comments, or suggestions that should be considered by the Integration Project in executing the plan
      • Discussion
  • 10 Improving S&T Program Effectiveness
  • References
  • A Biographical Sketches
  • B Information-Gathering Meetings
  • C Scaling Issues Applicable to Environmental Systems
    • UPSCALING TRANSPORT BEHAVIOR
    • GEOCHEMICAL HETEROGENEITY AND SYSTEM SCALING
    • SCALE ISSUES AND WATERSHEDS
    • REFERENCES
  • D Acronyms

Subjects

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER

By subscribing, you accept our Privacy Policy