Tennessee Department of Environment
and Conservation

DOE Oversight Division

Status Report to the Public

2005

Download the entire report as a PDF file (500 kb).

BACKGROUND

In 1942, construction began on enormous complexes across the nation created to support the Manhattan Project, a massive, top-secret effort during World War II to build the atomic bomb. The 35,545-acre Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) in Tennessee remains as a legacy to the Manhattan Project and to the Cold War that followed. The ORR is currently owned by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and approximately 15 percent of its total area is contaminated by hazardous and radioactive materials.

During World War II, four plants were built on the ORR to create materials for nuclear weapons; these plants were given the code names S-50, K-25, Y-12, and X-10. K-25, Y-12, and X-10 still exist as the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP), the Y-12 National Security Complex, and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). In the past decade, the missions of Y-12 and ORNL have continued to evolve, while ETTP has been targeted for cleanup and closure.

Over the last 60 years, DOE and agencies that preceded it contaminated more than 500 sites on or near the ORR. This legacy of 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. The division has performed this role since the Tennessee Oversight Agreement was signed in 1991.

This status report summarizes the state of Tennessee's perspective on federal cleanup progress at 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

DOE has made tremendous progress under an accelerated cleanup plan worked out in 2002 among the state, DOE, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Complex projects have progressed smoothly at ETTP (e.g., decontamination of the K-33, K-31, and K-29 buildings) and ORNL (e.g., capping of burial grounds in Melton Valley). The shipment of uranium hexafluoride from ETTP to the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Ohio has also proceeded without serious incident. In addition, DOE has made progress in correcting administrative failures that allowed two accidents in May 2004: a sodium fire at a company leasing space at ETTP, and a radioactive material spill on Hwy 95, west of ORNL.

DOE faces some daunting challenges, and it must put more effort into the appropriate disposal of radioactive waste and mixed waste (waste that has both radioactive and hazardous materials): Cleanup of the ORR will leave it much less hazardous to people and the environment; nevertheless, continued maintenance, monitoring, and institutional controls will be required even after cleanup is completed.

KEY ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

KEY ISSUES AND CHALLENGES The division has identified several areas of concern that DOE, regulatory agencies, and the community are still wrestling with. In many cases, there are no obvious solutions, and satisfactory resolution may be costly. These are listed below and detailed in Section 5:

Groundwater management strategies,
Long-term stewardship responsibilities,
The federal commitment,
Characterization and disposal of radioactive waste,
Incorporating historic preservation into cleanup activities,
Emergency response preparedness, and
Difficult cleanup decisions.

Download the report in PDF format (500 KB).

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Tennessee Department of Environmentand Conservation