QUALITY ASSURANCE PROGRAMS FOR LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT AND DISPOSAL AT U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY SITES - A CONTRACTOR'S PERSPECTIVE

摘要

The low-level radioactive waste (LLW) and mixed low-level radioactive waste (MLLW) management and disposal facilities owned by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) are utilized largely for waste generated as a result of activities onsite. Only three sites, Hanford, the Nevada Test Site, and Savannah River, accept offsite LLW for disposal. Initially, the Department's predecessor, the Atomic Energy Commission, operated the only disposal facilities for both commercial and defense program LLW. In 1979, however, the Department issued a formal policy directive requiring all DOE field offices and the Naval Reactors to stop disposing of LLW at commercial facilities. But policies change, and now the DOE sites ship low activity LLW and MLLW to commercial disposal facilities such as the Envirocare commercial disposal facility in Utah. Historical annual disposal volumes for the various facilities at the six sites are well documented. (1) The Department and its contractors must assure that work is accomplished with minimal potential hazards to the public, site or facility workers, and the environment. Quality assurance (QA) programs are required at all facilities and sites owned by the DOE, and these requirements are set forth in DOE Orders, standards, and rules. QA programs for storage and disposal of LLW and MLLW are also mandated in these requirements. The QA program requirements for nonnuclear facilities are specified by and apply to all departmental elements of the DOE in its Order DOE O 414.1, Quality Assurance, (formerly known as DOE Order 5700.6C). (2) Quality assurance requirements for nuclear facilities are promulgated in Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 830.120, Quality assurance requirements, (3) (known as the "Rule") and contain the same ten criteria as DOE O 414.1. The Rule carries with it, however, the weight of law, including possible enforcement proceedings resulting in criminal and civil penalties, and it applies only to contractors of the DOE.