**Environmental Management**

**Committee Meeting Minutes**

**Wednesday, June 18, 5:30 p.m.**

**DOE Information Center**

![](media/image1.png){width="1.198611111111111in"
height="1.2034722222222223in"}

+----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| **[Committee Members             | **[Others Present]{.underline}**  |
| Present]{.underline}**           |                                   |
+----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| Darryl Bonner                    | Dave Adler, Department of Energy  |
|                                  | (DOE-ORO)                         |
| Claire Campbell                  |                                   |
|                                  | Daryl Green, DOE                  |
| Susan Gawarecki                  |                                   |
|                                  | Spencer Gross, Spectrum           |
| Charles Jensen                   |                                   |
|                                  | Bob Hunt, Bechtel Jacobs, Co.     |
| Lance Mezga                      | (BJC)                             |
|                                  |                                   |
| Norman Mulvenon                  | John Powell, UT-Battelle          |
|                                  |                                   |
| Gloria Mei                       | Russ Vranicar, DOE                |
|                                  |                                   |
| Ron Murphree, Chair              |                                   |
|                                  |                                   |
| Tim Myrick, Vice-chair           |                                   |
|                                  |                                   |
| ##### Bob Olson                  |                                   |
|                                  |                                   |
| #####                            |                                   |
|                                  |                                   |
| ##### [Absent]{.underline}       |                                   |
|                                  |                                   |
| Rhonda Bogard                    |                                   |
|                                  |                                   |
| John Coffman                     |                                   |
|                                  |                                   |
| Luther Gibson                    |                                   |
|                                  |                                   |
| John Kennerly                    |                                   |
|                                  |                                   |
| ##### Kerry Trammell             |                                   |
+----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+

**[Newly Generated Waste]{.underline}**

Messrs. Adler, Hunt, Green, and Powell briefed the committee on the
status of newly generated waste (NGW) on the Oak Ridge Reservation. The
main points of the presentation are included in Attachment 1. Mr. Green
distributed the organizational charter for the Oak Ridge National
Laboratory (ORNL) NGW Transition Team (Attachment 2).

Mr. Hunt said that in 2002 the Secretary of Energy directed that NGW be
disposed by the waste generators and not by DOE Environmental Management
(EM). Responsibility for low-level waste (LLW) and mixed low-level waste
(MLLW) at Y-12 National Security Complex was transferred from EM to the
National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) in October 2005.
Transition of LLW and MLLW at ORNL is scheduled for completion by
October 1, 2008. EM will still manage transuranic (TRU), and liquid and
gaseous waste operations.

There are currently approximately 1,422 containers (about 1,320 cubic
meters) of newly generated Y-12 LLW in storage. Most of this waste
(1,393 containers) is stored at the East Tennessee Technology Park
(ETTP). Twenty nine containers are stored at Y-12. Twenty-two of the 29
containers of LLW stored at Y-12 are planned for shipment for disposal
to the Nevada Test Site (NTS) in 2008. The remainder of the LLW will be
shipped to either NTS or EnergySolutions in FY 2011. Wastes that
currently meet an NTS profile are being identified. These low level
wastes will be shipped for disposal in FY 2008-10 as funding becomes
available.

Four hundred and sixty containers of Y-12 newly generated MLLW are also
stored at ETTP.

Most of the MLLW are polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) wastes that are
being shipped to EnergySolutions through 2011. What remains will go to
the Toxic Substances Control Act Incinerator (TSCAI).

MLLW at ORNL is PCB waste that is being shipped to EnergySolutions
through 2011. MLLW regulated under the Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act is being shipped to EnergySolutions under steady state
conditions or is being sent to TSCAI for incineration.

There are 99 containers of newly generated contact-handled TRU waste and
23 containers of remote-handled (RH) newly generated TRU in storage at
ORNL. It will be processed at the TRU Waste Processing Center for
eventual disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New
Mexico.

Mr. Mulvenon asked if there was approval for TRU waste from the lab to
go to WIPP because it was his understanding that TRU going to WIPP had
to be defense related. Mr. Adler said he would check on that.

Mr. Olson asked where residue of waste burned in TSCAI is disposed. Mr.
Green said it is sent to EnergySolutions.

Page 10 of Attachment 1 shows the waste disposition map for the various
wastes discussed at this meeting.

Mr. Green discussed the status of NGW transition from EM to the Office
of Science at ORNL. The main points of the transition are noted on page
11 of Attachment 1. Mr. Green pointed out that Oak Ridge is the only lab
in the DOE complex that has not yet transitioned NGW from EM to Science.

Mr. Powell briefed the committee on plans for NGW at ONRL. His points
are noted on pages 12 and 13 of Attachment 1. He said the lab has been
self-performing the disposal of hazardous waste for some time through
commercial vendors. The lab has also been self-performing the disposal
of LLW since 2005. The hope is to use existing DOE-wide contracts where
possible because of favorable rates.

The intent is to dispose waste in real time as much as possible. Mr.
Powell said ORNL waste streams are diverse, but in small quantities.

Mr. Adler provided additional information about Y-12 NGW. He said the
primary oversight of the material is internal, but there is state
oversight by Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. There
is also a self-regulating framework for managing LLW. The overall waste
disposal scale at Y-12 is larger than the lab's and Y-12 is building up
waste faster than it is disposing. Some of the LLW has been put in
barricades, but those are being disposed.

Ms. Gawarecki said because there is no state driver for disposing newly
generated LLW, DOE has historically stored waste until a disposal point
becomes available. She asked when DOE would push for funding for
continuous disposal. Mr. Hunt said the lab is currently building on its
inventory of waste. The baseline for disposal is in the FY 2012
timeframe. He said shipments will be made as money is available.
Disposal at NTS is funded separately from the ORR budget and shipments
are currently being made to NTS.

Ms. Gawarecki said she was concerned that waste management is not a
mission of Science; that it's EM's mission. She didn't feel like Science
was set up to handle waste management nor does it have the funding. She
also said that when waste management is transitioned to science the Site
Specific Advisory Board will no longer have oversight. Mr. Green said
that ORNL has expertise in waste management and that the responsibility
of waste management will not transfer to UT-Battelle without assistance.
He said a team effort is being used through the transition team charter
to make the transition work.

Mr. Adler said the transition is moving back to an established industry
model of those who generate waste are responsible for its disposition.
In terms of oversight, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act waste will
still be overseen by the state. Mr. Murphree said EM is really more
interested in cleaning up past abuses of waste management than dealing
with NGW. Mr. Powell said there is the belief that there is no better
way for a generator to handle waste than to make the generator pay for
the waste. Mr. Mezga pointed out that in terms of technical

competence, expertise is in place. He said UT-Battelle has been shipping
hazardous and LLW. Mr. Hunt agreed saying UT-Battelle has been
characterizing and packaging waste while BJC has been picking up and
disposing.

Mr. Mezga said his concern is similar to Ms. Gawarecki's of not
receiving enough funding to work off current waste and allowing it to
build up again. Mr. Adler said there has been some recent NGW buildup,
but not as much as in previous years. He said if volumes begin to climb
again the SSAB should provide input. Mr. Mezga repeated Ms. Gawarecki's
concern that when the wastes are transferred to Science the board would
not be able to monitor it.

**[Discussion of any possible recommendation on the
presentation]{.underline}**

The committee discussed a couple of possibilities for a recommendation.
One being that the SSAB would have no purview over future waste build up
and that EM would have no oversight. Mr. Adler pointed out that DOE has
orders that it should rid itself of waste annually.

Another possible recommendation would be to ask for periodic updates on
NGW from TDEC, but Mr. Mezga said the board only has overview of EM
concerns.

The committee decided there was no basis for a recommendation.

**[Discussion of draft recommendation on Waste Information Management
System]{.underline}**

The committee reviewed the draft recommendation (Attachment 3). Mr.
Mulvenon moved to accept the version as written. Mr. Olson seconded.
During discussion the committee decided to change the word
'periodically' in the first sentence of the recommendation section to
'routinely.' With that revision the motion passed unanimously.

**[Discussion of Recommendation on Surveillance and
Maintenance]{.underline}**

The committee reviewed the draft recommendation (Attachment 4), which
included two versions of recommendation wording provided by Mr. Olson
and Mr. Murphree.

The main point of discussion, however, was if the recommendation was at
cross purposes or perhaps should be included with a recommendation
Stewardship had passed regarding historic preservation since this draft
recommendation has a historic preservation component.

After considerable discussion it was decided that the two
recommendations were different enough that they should be presented to
the full board separately and there was no conflict in purposes.

The committee did work on final recommendation language. Those revisions
are noted on Attachment 5. The new draft will be submitted to the
committee again in July for a final discussion.

**[Safety Update]{.underline}**

Mr. Adler reported that safety numbers are comparable to previous
periods with the exception of two instances. He said in the process of
taking down a tent in Melton Valley using a track hoe, a piece of metal
flew up and hit the cab, barely missing the operator. He said an
evaluation of the accident was done and the conclusion was made not to
use that type of equipment to do the work.

The second incident involved two workers walking out on the operations
floor at the K-25 Gaseous Diffusion Building at ETTP. That floor is
off-limits to everyone as a result of an accident that injured a worker
when he fell through the floor in 2006. Mr. Adler said two barriers were
violated but no one was injured. He said an investigation of the
incident is underway and a course of action is expected within a matter
or weeks.

Mr. Adler did note one other instance of a crane touching a power line
at ETTP, but there were no injuries.

He said a safety report database is available if committee members were
interested in getting a copy.

**[New Business]{.underline}**

-   Attendance for risk training workshop -- Mr. Murphree and Ms. Mei
    signed up to attend the workshop on July 15.

-   Possible recommendation on using lead-lined canisters to send RH TRU
    to WIPP -- This discussion is the result of a presentation Roger
    Nelson, chief scientist for WIPP, made to the full board about a
    proposal to ship RH TRU in lead-lined canisters to WIPP, which would
    be more expedient than using the current planned shipping and
    storage methods. RH-TRU in lead lined canisters would essentially be
    handled like contact-handled TRU. Mr. Bonner suggested getting
    materials on the permit modification request to WIPP before working
    on a recommendation. He said he would contact Mr. Nelson about
    providing the materials.

-   Environmental Assessment (EA) on disposition of nickel -- Mr.
    Murphree noted a letter (Attachment 6) on an environmental
    assessment for the disposition of nickel in Oak Ridge and Paducah,
    Ky. Since comments are due on the EA July 16 before the committee
    can meet again, Mr. Murphree asked staff to send the EA letter to
    all committee members and asked they provide staff with their
    comments prior to July 16.

**[Action Items]{.underline}**

*Open*

1.  Mr. Adler will check on the status of TRU waste generated at ORNL
    going to WIPP.

2.  Staff will email the EA letter to all committee members and ask for
    individual comments by July 16.

3.  A revised draft of the surveillance and maintenance recommendation
    will be submitted for review at the July meeting.

*Closed*

1.  Mr. Gibson will act as issue manager on developing a recommendation
    on the Waste Information Management System. **Complete.** A draft
    recommendation has been written, and was passed at this meeting

2.  Messrs. Murphree, Myrick, and Olson will revise the draft
    recommendation on surveillance and maintenance. **Complete.**
    Recommendation discussed at this meeting.

3.  Mr. Adler will determine a presenter for the June meeting on K-25
    decontamination and decommissioning progress. **Complete.** Jim
    Kopotic will make the presentation, which has been moved to July.

4.  Messrs. Adler and Kubarewicz will develop a package of topics for
    possible discussion at a risk training seminar. **Complete.**

    The meeting adjourned at 7:25 p.m.

    Attachments (5) are available on request from the ORSSAB support
    office.

    rsg