Risk Management of Legacy Material Disposition at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

摘要

UT-Battelle, LLC (UT-B) conducted a Facility Environmental Vulnerability Assessment (FEVA) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in fiscal year 2002 (FY02), which indicated that legacy materials found in and around ORNL facilities, present environmental vulnerabilities and impede ORNL's revitalization. This build up of legacy materials is the result of over 50 years of operations and nuclear and scientific research and development activities at ORNL. Legacy materials include such things as old furniture, equipment, computers and electronics, papers and excess publications, chemicals, hazardous items, and contaminated materials, which can be found in attics, storage areas, labs, abandoned cabinets, etc. Legacy materials are found throughout the Laboratory and affect all ORNL Divisions. Responsibility for legacy materials is not necessarily obvious due to ORNL reorganizations and loss of process knowledge as personnel move on or retire. In many older facilities, ORNL Divisions inherited legacy materials when they took over programs and/or space. Responsibility is often times disputed because of the associated clean up and disposition costs. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) established a budget for waste disposition costs for various waste streams at ORNL, which did not necessarily include the volume of legacy materials identified in ORNL facilities managed by the DOE Office of Science (SC). There is most likely a deficiency in this budget, which will not allow for the disposition of legacy material waste streams from DOE Office of Science managed facilities.