Title: Relative risk impacts of facility accidents in DOE`s Environmental Restoration and Waste Management Program
Abstract: The Office of Environmental Restoration and Waste Management (EM) within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is formulating an integrated national program to manage the treatment, storage, and disposal of existing and future wastes at DOE sites. As part of this process, a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) is being prepared. A principal focus of the EM PEIS is the evaluation of strategies for remediating DOE sites and facilities to ensure the protection of human health and environment. A specific objective of DOE in implementing an integrated waste management program is to {open_quotes}reduce or eliminate risks to human health and safety and to the environment for environmental restoration and waste operation activities.{close_quotes} The EM PEIS calls for separate evaluations of the risk impacts for managing six different waste types: greater-than-Class-C low-level, hazardous, high-level, low-level mixed, low-level, and transuranic. For each waste type, four categorical strategies have been devised for consolidating wastes for treatment and storage: (a) no action, where existing sites will generally store and treat their own wastes consistent with approved plans, (b) decentralization, (c) regionalization, and (d) centralization. The last three alternatives refer to the degree of consolidation and affect the number of sites that will be usedmore » to treat, store, and dispose of a given waste type. Each consolidation strategy has associated siting options, and each option involves existing facilities, facilities in the design phase, and new facilities. Each siting option also implies unique inventories of waste to be stored and treated at each site and associated facilities. Finally, a number of treatment technologies and storage and disposal options for each waste type are to be evaluated for each alternative.« less
Publication Year: 1994
Publication Date: 1994-12-31
Language: en
Type: article
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