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Executive Summary

BACKGROUND

The United States Department of Energy (DOE) has left a legacy of contamination on the Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR), beginning in 1942 with the World War II Manhattan Project and subsequent formation of the secret Clinton Engineering Works.

Four military plants were built in great haste on the massive ORR to create materials for nuclear weapons; these plants were given the code names S-50, K-25, Y-12, and X-10. S-50, a uranium enrichment facility that used a thermal process, was operated for about a year and immediately dismantled. K-25 and Y-12 also enriched uranium, K-25 using gaseous diffusion and Y-12 using electromagnetic separation. X-10 developed technology to produce plutonium. K-25, Y-12, and X-10 still exist as East Tennessee Technology Park, the Y-12 National Security Complex, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, respectively. During the Cold War, these facilities played a key role in maintaining materials and components for nuclear weapons and in preserving a technological lead over the Soviet Union.

Over the last 60 years, DOE and agencies that preceded it contaminated more than 500 sites on or near the 35,545-acre ORR, with contaminated areas making up about 15 percent of the reservation's total area. This contamination is being cleaned up to levels that comply with current environmental laws, particularly the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). Indeed, much of the DOE mission now centers on environmental management.

SCOPE OF THIS STATUS REPORT

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) DOE Oversight Division (the "division") performs independent monitoring and oversight of DOE's cleanup and waste-management actions under the Tennessee Oversight Agreement. This status report summarizes the state of Tennessee's interpretation of federal clean-up progress relating to the ORR. The results of state monitoring and analysis are also evaluated, as are the quality and effectiveness of DOE environmental monitoring and surveillance programs.

MAJOR FINDINGS

Even though several high-risk cleanup projects have been completed on the ORR, massive cleanups remain to be done. The recent signing of major CERCLA Records of Decision has set the stage for 8 to 10 years of remediation.

During state Fiscal Year 2002 the division found no immediate threats to public health from current activities on the ORR. DOE must continue to properly control the dangerous materials and wastes managed on the ORR, in particular uranium hexafluoride, highly enriched uranium, mercury, metallic lithium, uranium-233, and spent nuclear fuel.

DOE has undertaken an accelerated cleanup plan designed to bring sites to final closure on a more aggressive timetable than originally planned. The division agreed to the accelerated cleanup plan because the plan addresses the highest-risk sites earlier than previously agreed. However, if cleanups fail to progress as promised or if DOE is unable to provide sufficient surveillance or maintenance, the potential for harm to the public or the environment would increase.

In past years, cleanup progress has been retarded because DOE was unable to dispose of resulting wastes. This problem was alleviated in the last year with the opening of an on-site mixed-waste landfill, which allowed several projects to begin disposing of wastes in a timely manner. This landfill, known as the CERCLA waste facility or the Environmental Management Waste Management Facility (EMWMF), promises to allow faster cleanups with a lower cost for waste disposal. DOE must, however, demonstrate to the state an ability to manage this facility appropriately to ensure that wastes remain isolated from the environment.

KEY ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

The past year was marked by a massive reorganization of Oak Ridge's cleanup effort, sparked by a top-to-bottom review by DOE Headquarters of site office activities. The accelerated cleanup plan that emerged from this review refocused remediation activities on the highest-risk sites. To implement the plan, DOE renegotiated agreements with the state and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding the sequence and timing of site cleanups. Annual appropriations from Congress are a key indicator of the federal government's commitment to meeting its responsibility for environmental remediation. It remains to be seen whether DOE can maintain the level of funding necessary to ensure the promised high rate of progress or whether this effort will falter and funding will drop back to previous levels. Other major issues, some intrinsic to the accelerated cleanup plan, remain to be addressed by DOE. The division has identified the following as key areas of concern:

• Developing appropriate strategies for managing groundwater contamination, a key issue not addressed in recent Records of Decision.
• Ensuring perpetual funding for stewardship of remediated sites and closed disposal areas to preserve their isolation from the public essentially forever.
• Characterizing wastes to ensure acceptance at the EMWMF or the appropriate off-site disposal facility.

Download the report in PDF format (1.5 MB).

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