Complex-wide review of DOE's low-level waste management ES&H vulnerabiliites. Volume III. Final report

摘要

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) conducted a comprehensive complex-wide review of the environment, safety, and health (ES&H) vulnerabilities associated with its management of low-level waste (LLW) and the radioactive component of mixed low-level waste (MLLW). This review was conducted in response to a recommendation from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB). The DNFSB's recommendation concerning conformance with safety standards at DOE LLW sites was issued on September 8, 1994 and is referred to as Recommendation 94-2. DOE submitted an Implementation Plan for its response to Recommendation 94-2 to the DNFSB on March 31, 1995. DOE has conducted this complex-wide review in accordance with that Implementation Plan and subsequent revisions. Among its conclusions and recommendations, the DNFSB recommended that a complex-wide review of LLW management, similar to that conducted by DOE for spent nuclear fuel, be initiated. As with the Spent Nuclear Fuel assessment and other recent vulnerability assessments conducted by DOE, the goal of the complex-wide review of DOE's LLW management system was to identify vulnerabilities that could lead to unnecessary radiation exposure of workers or the public or unnecessary releases of radioactive materials to the environment. Additionally, the DNFSB stated that an objective of the complex-wide review should be to establish the dimensions of the DOE LLW problem and support the identification of corrective actions to address safe disposition of past, present, and future volumes of LLW.