An Integrated Site-Wide Assessment of Nuclear Wastes to Remain at the Hanford Site, Washington

Conference · Wed Oct 06 04:00:00 EDT 2004

OSTI ID:841451

Morse, J G; Bryce, R W; Hildebrand, R D; Kincaid, C T

Since its creation in 1943 until 1988, the Hanford Site, a facility in the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear weapons complex was dedicated to the production of weapons grade plutonium and other special nuclear materials. The Hanford Site is located in eastern Washington State and is bordered on the north and east by the Columbia River. Decades of creating fuel, irradiating it in reactors, and processing it to recover nuclear material left numerous waste sites that involved the discharge of contaminated liquids and the disposal of contaminated solid waste. Today, the primary mission of the Hanford Site is to safely cleanup and manage the site's legacy waste. A site-wide risk assessment methodology has been developed to assist the DOE, as well as state and federal regulatory agencies, in making decisions regarding needed remedial actions at past waste sites, and safe disposal of future wastes. The methodology, referred to as the System Assessment Capability (SAC), utilizes an integrated set of models that track potential contaminants from inventory through vadose zone, groundwater, Columbia River and air pathways to human and ecological receptors.

• Research Organization: U.S. Department of Energy, Richland, WA (US); Pacific Northwest National Lab., Richland, WA (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: US Department of Energy (US)
• OSTI ID: 841451
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEFENSE
COLUMBIA RIVER
HANFORD SITE
LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE
NUCLEAR ENERGY
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
PLUTONIUM
PROCESSING
PRODUCTION
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
REMEDIAL ACTION
RISK ASSESSMENT
SOLID WASTES
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTES
WEAPONS