IN AN ON-SITE DISPOSAL FACILITY

After several false starts dating back to the 1980s, on-site disposal at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) became a reality when a Record of Decision was signed in November 1999 authorizing an on-site disposal facility. The facility will be an integral part of the cleanup of the ORR, which is being conducted under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). The cleanup may generate more than 1.5 million cubic meters of radioactive, hazardous, toxic, and mixed waste. Waste matrices will include soil, sediments, building debris, stabilized waste and solidified waste. The characterization of many of the waste streams will not be completed until the remedial action projects finish their remedial investigations, but it appears that over 80 % of the waste to be generated will meet the waste acceptance criteria for the on-site disposal cell, called the Environmental Management Waste Management Facility (EMWMF)