Research Needs in Subsurface Science

Research Needs in Subsurface Science PDF

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2000-04-13

Total Pages: 186

ISBN-13: 0309066468

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Research Needs in Subsurface Science provides an overview of the subsurface contamination problems across the DOE complex and shows by examples from the six largest DOE sites (Hanford Site, Idaho Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, Nevada Test Site, Oak Ridge Reservation, Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site, and Savannah River Site) how advances in scientific and engineering knowledge can improve the effectiveness of the cleanup effort. This report analyzes the current Environmental Management (EM) Science Program portfolio of subsurface research projects to assess the extent to which the program is focused on DOE's contamination problems. This analysis employs an organizing scheme that provides a direct linkage between basic research in the EM Science Program and applied technology development in DOE's Subsurface Contaminants Focus Area. Research Needs in Subsurface Science also reviews related research programs in other DOE offices and other federal agencies (see Chapter 4) to determine the extent to which they are focused on DOE's subsurface contamination problems. On the basis of these analyses, this report singles out the highly significant subsurface contamination knowledge gaps and research needs that the EM Science Program must address if the DOE cleanup program is to succeed.

Nuclear cleanup progress made at Rocky Flats, but closure by 2006 is unlikely, and costs may increase.

Nuclear cleanup progress made at Rocky Flats, but closure by 2006 is unlikely, and costs may increase. PDF

Author:

Publisher: DIANE Publishing

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 50

ISBN-13: 1428949038

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The Department of Energy (DOE) hopes to complete a monumental task the cleanup and closure of the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site by December 2006. One of the 16 major facilities that produced the nation's nuclear weapons, the Rocky Flats site (just 16 miles northwest of downtown Denver) made plutonium triggers, or pits, for these weapons. The site s weapons production activities left high-risk radioactive and hazardous materials and wastes, severely contaminated buildings, and large areas of contaminated soil all in close proximity to the 2.5 million residents of Denver and its surrounding communities. The job at hand is huge. For example, the total amount of radioactive waste that the contractor is required to package and ship off-site is enough to fill a 19-story building the size of a football field. Initially, DOE planned to maintain and gradually clean up the site until about 2070. However, in 1995, DOE undertook a more aggressive cleanup approach and signed a contract with Kaiser Hill Company, L.L.C., 2 to begin cleaning up the site. Then, in 1997, the Secretary of Energy designated Rocky Flats, along with several other nuclear sites, as a pilot site for cleanup and closure within 10 years. Subsequently, DOE and Kaiser-Hill set the challenging goal of closing the site by December 15, 2006. If DOE and the contractor can achieve this goal or come close to it, the Department stands to save billions of dollars compared with what it would have spent to continue to.

Full Body Burden

Full Body Burden PDF

Author: Kristen Iversen

Publisher: Crown

Published: 2013-06-04

Total Pages: 434

ISBN-13: 0307955656

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“An intimate and deeply human memoir that shows why we should all be concerned about nuclear safety, and the dangers of ignoring science in the name of national security.”—Rebecca Skloot, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks A shocking account of the government’s attempt to conceal the effects of the toxic waste released by a secret nuclear weapons plant in Colorado and a community’s vain search for justice—soon to be a feature documentary Kristen Iversen grew up in a small Colorado town close to Rocky Flats, a secret nuclear weapons plant once designated "the most contaminated site in America." Full Body Burden is the story of a childhood and adolescence in the shadow of the Cold War, in a landscape at once startlingly beautiful and--unknown to those who lived there--tainted with invisible yet deadly particles of plutonium. It's also a book about the destructive power of secrets--both family and government. Her father's hidden liquor bottles, the strange cancers in children in the neighborhood, the truth about what was made at Rocky Flats--best not to inquire too deeply into any of it. But as Iversen grew older, she began to ask questions and discovered some disturbing realities. Based on extensive interviews, FBI and EPA documents, and class-action testimony, this taut, beautifully written book is both captivating and unnerving.

Making a Real Killing

Making a Real Killing PDF

Author: Len Ackland

Publisher: UNM Press

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 9780826327987

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A chilling, fast-moving study of the nuclear weapons plant in the Denver suburbs, told through the experiences of managers, workers, activists, and neighbors who were all so deeply affected by the hazardous plant.