Nevada Crews Meet Regulatory Commitment, Improve Waste Disposal
Office of Environmental Management
October 1, 2019
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LAS VEGAS – The EM Nevada Program’s radioactive waste disposal crews are helping DOE make progress in legacy cleanup after fulfilling a regulatory commitment ahead of schedule and improving the efficiency of their operations at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS).
“On a daily basis, disposal operations staff demonstrate their commitment and dedication as they perform highly complex tasks safely and efficiently,” EM Nevada Program Manager Rob Boehlecke said. “We are extremely proud and grateful for the work they do to support DOE’s complex-wide EM mission and U.S. national security activities.”
The disposal operations team achieved early completion of a commitment to increase real-time radiography on waste shipped to NNSS for disposal — several months ahead of the deadline. The X-ray technology is among the visual inspection methods used to verify waste container contents comply with NNSS waste acceptance criteria.
The team also used technology for precision waste placement at the Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Complex (RWMC). The disposal crew’s ingenuity led to use of a remotely-operated crane hook for disposing an additional 125,000 cubic feet of mixed low-level radioactive waste in areas of Area 5 RWMC previously inaccessible due to industrial safety hazards. The additional waste disposed in the unit known as Cell 18 would fill a football field a little more than two feet high.
While the Area 5 RWMC is the primary radioactive waste disposal facility at NNSS, the team also supports the Area 3 Radioactive Waste Management Site (RWMS) when needed. That was the case during an 11-month period in support of cleanup activities at the Clean Slate III site on the Tonopah Test Range. The waste generated by environmental corrective actions at the Clean Slate III site — primarily soil and large concrete debris — was disposed at the Area 3 RWMS since it provided the extra space needed to efficiently offload multiple shipments simultaneously.
Disposal of the Clean Slate III site waste at the Area 3 RWMS saved valuable disposal space at the Area 5 RWMC, which supports cleanup across the DOE complex.