Hanford 100-BC Reactor Area Cleanup

Creator

Columbia Riverkeeper
John R. Brodeur
Greg deBruler, Columbia Riverkeeper

Files

Document Type

Report

Date

9-2005

Description

This review was conducted as a part of a review of the cleanup work at several DOE facilities, including Hanford, Savannah River, Oak Ridge and Idaho National Engineering Laboratory.

The original intent of this multiple-site review was to assess whether the DOE’s current cleanup strategy will protect groundwater, and whether the DOE will restore the groundwater to its high- est beneficial use (in most cases, the Drinking Water Standard [DWS]). We sought to review and describe the groundwater contamination issues at these sites; assess the cleanup approach for the contamination; and critically examine, evaluate and explain the effectiveness of the cleanup, in- cluding a description of the contamination that is left behind and its potential impact or risk. Our intent was to provide an assessment of the effectiveness of DOE’s overall approach and compare it to the stated cleanup goals or remedial-action objectives that inherently consider the projected future land-use and end-states of the sites.

During the review, we determined that to do an acceptably comprehensive job of reviewing the complex and multiple groundwater contamination plumes at each of the sites, we would require much more time and significantly greater effort than was budgeted. So, we changed the focus and scope of our study in order to perform a more comprehensive review of a few key facilities at each of the DOE sites.

For the Hanford Site, the focus of our study is the cleanup work conducted along the Columbia River, including the 100 Areas and the 300 Area. For a more intensive investigation, we chose to review the cleanup of the 100-BC Area because it was the first remedial action area of the 100 Areas. It basically set the pattern for remediation of the rest of the 100 Areas.

The following is a review of the principal documentation in the Administrative Record describ- ing the cleanup work of the 100-BC Area at Hanford. This documentation is reviewed with a critical eye on determining just what was cleaned up and what was left behind.

This research was completed money allocated during Round 5 of the Citizens’ Monitoring and Technical Assessment Fund (MTA Fund). Clark University was named conservator of these works.

If you have any questions or concerns please contact us at digitalrepository@clarku.edu

Publisher

Columbia Riverkeeper

Format

pdf

Keywords

nuclear weapons, nuclear weapons testing, environment, non-governmental organizations, United States Department of Energy, tribal governments, environmental cleanup, radioactive fallout, radioactive waste

Rights

Copyright belongs to the authors. Clark University was chosen by the non-profit peace and environmental groups as the conservator of these reports; our right to distribute these works ensures they remain available to the public in perpetuity as intended. Reuse at your own discretion with with due deference to copyright holders.

Location

Bingen, WA

Recommended Citation

Columbia Riverkeeper; Brodeur, John R.; and deBruler, Greg, "Hanford 100-BC Reactor Area Cleanup" (2005). Columbia Riverkeeper. 2.
https://commons.clarku.edu/riverkeeper/2