UMTRCA Title I Disposal and Processing Sites

For Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA) Title I disposal sites managed by the Office of Legacy Management, DOE becomes a licensee to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Inspection, reporting, and record-keeping requirements are defined in Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 40.27, "General License for Custody and Long-Term Care of Residual Radioactive Material Disposal Sites." The general license for long-term custody is indefinite in duration. Usually, title for the land is assigned to an agency of the Federal Government, and the land is administratively withdrawn from unrestricted public use. Sites located on tribal land revert to tribal control, and DOE obtains a site access agreement with the tribe that allows DOE to fulfill its custodial responsibilities.

Title I of UMTRCA designated 22 inactive uranium ore-processing sites for remediation. Remediation of these sites resulted in the creation of 19 disposal cells that contain encapsulated uranium mill tailings and associated contaminated material. Approximately 40 million cubic yards of low-level radioactive material is contained in engineered UMTRCA Title I disposal cells.

Residual radioactive material was removed from some of the Title I processing sites to off-site disposal locations. NRC does not require a license for remediated processing sites that do not have disposal cells, but NRC is the regulator if contaminated ground water remains. Ground water compliance action plans, with compliance strategies that range from natural flushing to active remediation, have been or are being developed by DOE for processing sites that have contaminated ground water. These plans require approval by NRC and concurrence by the state and Native American tribe (when applicable). To date, ground water remedies have been approved and implemented at several former uranium ore-processing sites.

Standards for UMTRCA remedial action, cell performance, and ground water quality are established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 40 CFR 192, "Health and Environmental Protection Standards for Uranium and Thorium Mill Tailings." Upon NRC concurrence that remedial action has been completed and acceptance of the site-specific long-term surveillance plan, each disposal site comes under the general license for long-term care by DOE. If ground water at a particular site was contaminated by former site activities, NRC will accept only the surface improvements under the general license; the site will not be fully licensed until ground water quality meets the applicable regulations. The NRC license mandates annual inspections of the disposal cells.

All but one of the Title I disposal sites are under the general license. A portion of the cell at the Grand Junction, Colorado, Disposal Site will be left open to receive additional contaminated materials and is managed by the Office of Legacy Management.

The following Title I disposal and processing sites are currently managed by the Office of Legacy Management:

UMTRCA Title II Disposal Sites

Uranium processing sites addressed by Title II of the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA) were active when the act was passed in 1978. These sites were commercially owned and regulated under a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) license. For license termination, the owner conducts an NRC-approved reclamation of any on-site radioactive waste remaining from uranium ore-processing operations. The site owner also ensures full funding for inspections and, if necessary, ongoing maintenance. DOE then accepts title to a site for long-term custody and care. DOE administers Title II sites under the provisions of a general NRC license granted under Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations Part 40.28, "General License for Custody and Long-Term Care of Uranium or Thorium Byproduct Materials Disposal Sites."

DOE manages five UMTRCA Title II sites as of 2007. The number will increase as ongoing site reclamations are completed. Ultimately, as many as 27 UMTRCA Title II sites may be managed by the Office of Legacy Management.

The following Title II disposal sites are currently managed by the Office of Legacy Management:

Bluewater, New Mexico, Disposal Site
Edgemont, South Dakota, Disposal Site
L-Bar, New Mexico, Disposal Site
Sherwood, Washington, Disposal Site
Shirley Basin South, Wyoming, Disposal Site

FUSRAP Sites

DOE established the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) in 1974 to remediate sites where radioactive contamination remained from Manhattan Project and early U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) operations. DOE assessed more than 500 candidate facilities and determined that 46 sites required remediation. DOE remediated 25 sites by 1998; thereafter, the U.S. Congress directed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to remediate the remaining 21 designated FUSRAP sites. Remediation of FUSRAP sites follows Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) protocols.

In 1999, DOE negotiated a Memorandum of Understanding with USACE to transfer responsibility for FUSRAP sites to DOE for long-term care two years after remedial action has been completed. Remediated sites become the responsibility of the Office of Legacy Management.

The following 27 FUSRAP sites are currently managed by DOE:

D&D Sites

For sites in the DOE Defense Decontamination and Decommissioning (D&D) Program, the Office of Legacy Management ensures compliance with DOE Order 5400.1, "General Environmental Protection Program" and Order 5400.5, "Radiation Protection of the Public and the Environment." DOE Order 5400.1 stipulates that DOE will comply with applicable federal, state, and local environmental protection laws and regulations, Executive orders, and internal DOE policies. The Office of Legacy Management currently manages four D&D Program sites: Piqua, Ohio; Hallam, Nebraska; Site A/Plot M located near Chicago, Illinois; and the Grand Junction, Colorado, Site.

The decommissioned Boiling Nuclear Superheater (BONUS) research reactor in Rincón, Puerto Rico, will transfer to the Office of Legacy Management in 2006. DOE will manage this facility as a fifth D&D site because the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission constructed and entombed the reactor under a program similar to the one used for the Piqua and Hallam reactors.

CERCLA/RCRA Sites

By 2007, the Office of Legacy Management expects to have long-term management responsibilities for 10 sites that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has placed one or more components on the National Priorities List. The sites were radiologically contaminated by federal milling, processing, and/or weapons manufacturing operations. Site remediation is conducted in accordance with Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) regulations. DOE is required by statute to conduct 5-year remedy performance reviews at these sites because they cannot be released for unrestricted use because of remaining contamination.

The Office of Legacy Management currently manages the Monticello, Utah, Disposal and Processing Sites, the Weldon Spring, Missouri, Site, and the Pinellas County, Florida, Site. In addition, DOE provided a portion of the cleanup costs for the Maxey Flats, Kentucky, Disposal Site and the Federal Facility at the Laboratory for Energy-Related Health Research, California, Site. Five more sites are projected to be transferred to the Office of Legacy Management by the end of 2007, including the former weapons production sites at Mound and Fernald in Ohio and at Rocky Flats in Colorado.

NWPA Section 151 Site

Certain sites with low-level radioactive contamination remediated by the owner under the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Site Decommissioning Management Program can be transferred to the Federal Government under Section 151 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA). NRC will terminate the site license only after concurring with the implemented remedial action, determining that the owner has obtained approval of DOE to accept responsibility for the site, and ensuring future funding for long-term surveillance and maintenance.

Only one NWPA Section 151 site, the Parkersburg, West Virginia, Disposal Site, has been transferred to DOE and is managed by the Office of Legacy Management.

Other – Oakland Operations Office Sites

Remediated research laboratories formerly operated under the DOE Oakland Operations Office, California, were assigned to the Office of Legacy Management for records management and stakeholder support. The following Oakland Operations Office sites are currently managed by the Office of Legacy Management:

Missouri University Research Reactor, Missouri, Site
Geothermal Test Facility, California, Site
General Atomics Hot Cell Facility, California, Site

Missouri University Research Reactor Site – Activities involving radioactive materials used in the Transuranic Management by Pyropartitioning Separation Project were managed under a reactor license issued by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for Missouri University Research Reactor (MURR). MURR’s NRC materials license imposed additional requirements regarding security of special nuclear materials and emergency response. The Federal Facility Compliance Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-386) required DOE to prepare a proposed Site Treatment Plan describing DOE’s course of action for storing and treating mixed waste in compliance with state and federal regulations. The proposed Site Treatment Plan also had to meet state or U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approval. All mixed waste generated during the project was managed according to requirements of the Atomic Energy Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). DOE’s proposed Site Treatment Plan was approved by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, which also has oversight for RCRA wastes in the state of Missouri.

Geothermal Test Facility Site – The Colorado River Basin Regional Water Quality Control Board, a California State agency, was the lead agency in the cleanup effort at the Geothermal Test Facility Site. The Water Quality Control Board issued a Waste Discharge Requirement Order in 1989 that required removal and disposal of all geothermal waste at an approved disposal site. DOE also coordinated with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) as part of the site closure. DOE used the site under a right-of-way agreement with BLM, which BLM had to approve and accept the restoration activities at the site before DOE could terminate the agreement.

General Atomics Hot Cell Facility Site – The General Atomics Hot Cell Facility was regulated under General Atomics’ Special Nuclear Materials License with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and By-Product Materials License with the State of California Department of Health Services, Radiological Health Branch. Release criteria for soil, building materials, concrete, and asphalt were based on criteria in these licenses. The final release guideline values were calculated specifically for the site and represented incremental concentrations above background values. NRC’s Manual for Conducting Radiological Surveys in Support of License Termination (NUREG/CR-5849) provided guidelines for calculating isotopic concentrations in soil that corresponded to maximum permissible gamma exposure rates and dose rates.