An overview of the office of environmental restoration and waste management

Conference · Sun Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1989 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States)

OSTI ID:6942376

Duffy, L P ^[1]

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1. Dept. of Energy, Washington, DC (United States)

The US Department of Energy (DOE) oversees one of the largest industrial operations in the US dealing with hazardous materials. Early waste management practices - although considered state of the art - have proven inadequate for long-term environmental protection. The time has come to take technically justified action and to begin to finally dispel the notion and public perception that every DOE facility poses an immediate threat to human health and that the radioactive and toxic wastes that have been generated over the past 40 yr are today migrating into and contaminating surface-water supplies and aquifers. Within the first month after being confirmed as this country's sixth secretary of energy, Admiral James D. Watkins (US Navy, Retired) promised congress that he would deliver a comprehensive plan that outlines specific actions we intend to undertake over the next 5 yr to achieve compliance with US environmental laws and to begin to clean up and restore those sites that we have contaminated over the past 40 yr. The resulting document is the DOE's Environmental Restoration and Waste Management Five-Year Plan, which provides - for the first time - an integrated, life-cycle approach to environmental cleanup, waste management (emphasizing waste minimization), and activities designed to bring DOE facilities into compliance with today's stringent environmental laws and requirements. These activities will be treated as a single, focused, and unified national program. Specific contents of the plan are discussed in this paper.

• OSTI ID: 6942376
• Report Number(s): CONF-901101--
• Journal Information: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States), Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States) Vol. 62; ISSN 0003-018X; ISSN TANSAO
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

053000 -- Nuclear Fuels-- Environmental Aspects
054000* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Health & Safety
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
CONTAMINATION
DOSES
ECONOMICS
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
FINANCING
IMPLEMENTATION
MANAGEMENT
MINIMIZATION
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE
PLANNING
PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
PUBLIC HEALTH
PUBLIC OPINION
RADIATION DOSES
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
REMEDIAL ACTION
US DOE
US EPA
US ORGANIZATIONS
WASTE MANAGEMENT