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The Hanford Tanks: Environmental Impacts and Policy Choices (1996)

Chapter: 8 Appendix A: Request for Study

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Suggested Citation:"8 Appendix A: Request for Study." National Research Council. 1996. The Hanford Tanks: Environmental Impacts and Policy Choices. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5403.
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APPENDIX A: REQUEST FOR STUDY

Department of Energy
Washington, DC20585
MAR 0 4 1996
Dr. Michael Kavanaugh

Board on Radioactive Waste Management

National Research Council

2001 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W. 456 Harris Building Washington, D.C.20007

Dear Dr. Kavanaugh:

The purpose of this letter is to provide information on the Hanford Tank Waste Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), and request comments on this document from the National Research Council (NRC) Committee on Remediation of Buried and Tank Waste (the Committee).

The EIS will evaluate the environmental impacts of a broad range of options for addressing the waste in the Hanford tanks. Much of the information contained in the EIS will be based on environmental sampling data, Department of Energy's understanding of tank contents, and models which predict the movement of tank waste into and through the environment.

Our objective in requesting the NRC to review the EIS is for this knowledgeable group to aid in identifying significant inconsistencies, over-simplifications, or errors. We believe this is an appropriate task for the Committee because over the past three years the Committee has become familiar with: (1) the Hanford geology and hydrology and other wastes on the site, (2) the objectives of the Tank Waste Remediation System (TWRS) program and specific programmatic documentation, and (3) the concerns of stakeholders, including the State of Washington and the Environmental Protection Agency, and the commitments contained in the Tri-Party Agreement. Knowledge of all of these factors is key because the EIS will be used as the basis for future Hanford tank waste management decisions.

The EIS will include several hundred pages of data and calculations. A number of technical consultants and experts will be reviewing the EIS to ensure the data was correctly incorporated into the models, the results were correctly interpreted, and uncertainties identified. We welcome any comments in these areas the Committee (or its individual members) may care to offer.

Suggested Citation:"8 Appendix A: Request for Study." National Research Council. 1996. The Hanford Tanks: Environmental Impacts and Policy Choices. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5403.
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We expect to provide the TWRS EIS to NRC by mid-March, and would like your review completed by July 31, 1996.

We hope you will be able to participate in reviewing this document. If you have any questions, please contact John Lehr at 301-903-8621.

Sincerely,
Stephen P. Cowan
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Waste Management

Environmental Management

Suggested Citation:"8 Appendix A: Request for Study." National Research Council. 1996. The Hanford Tanks: Environmental Impacts and Policy Choices. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5403.
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Page 65
Suggested Citation:"8 Appendix A: Request for Study." National Research Council. 1996. The Hanford Tanks: Environmental Impacts and Policy Choices. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5403.
×
Page 66
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The Hanford Site (also known as the Hanford Reservation) occupies approximately 1,450 km2 (560 square miles) along the Columbia River in south-central Washington, north of the city of Richland. The site was established by the federal government in 1943 to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons. Currently, the mission of the site, under the responsibility of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is management of wastes generated by the weapons program and remediation of the environment contaminated by that waste. As part of that mission, DOE and the State of Washington Department of Ecology prepared the Hanford Site Tank Waste Remediation System Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS).

The Hanford Tanks is a general review of the DEIS. Its findings and recommendations are the subject of this report. Selection of a disposition plan for these wastes is a decision of national importance, involving potential environmental and health risks, technical challenges, and costs of tens to hundreds of billions of dollars. The last comprehensive analysis of these issues was completed 10 years ago, and several major changes in plans have occurred since. Therefore, the current reevaluation is timely and prudent. This report endorses the decision to prepare this new environmental impact statement, and in particular the decision to evaluate a wide range of alternatives not restricted to those encouraged by current regulatory policies.

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