Www.energy.gov/EM 1 Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Office of Environmental Management REMAINING CLEANUP OVERVIEW David S. Rhodes Acquisition Integrated

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Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)Office of Environmental Management

REMAINING CLEANUP OVERVIEW

David S. RhodesAcquisition Integrated Project Team Chair

Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office

March 3, 2015

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LANL Site

• Approximately 36 square miles• Located on the Pajarito Plateau in Los Alamos County, ~60

miles NE of Albuquerque and ~25 miles NW of Santa Fe• Plateau dissected by nineteen major surface drainages or

canyons and their tributaries running roughly west to east or southeast and drain into the Rio Grande

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Pajarito Plateau

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Site Map

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LANL Site

• Four discrete hydrogeologic zones• Canyon alluvial systems• Intermediate perched water in the volcanic rocks (Tschicome Formation and

the Tshirege Member of the Bandelier Tuff)• Canyon-specific intermediate perched within the Otowi Member of the

Bandelier Tuff, Cerros del Rio basalt and sedimentary units of the Puye Formation

• Regional aquifer.

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LANL Site

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LANL Site History

• 1943 – United States Army Manhattan Engineering District• 1980 – LANL submitted Part A RCRA permit application to U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)• 1985 – State of New Mexico received EPA authorization to

implement State hazardous waste program• 1989 – State issues Hazardous Waste Facility permit to LANL• Late 1980s – LANL provided Potential Release Sites list• 1996 – State of New Mexico receives EPA authorization to

implement its corrective action program• 1995-1999 – LANL submitted General Part B permit renewal

application for permitted and interim status units

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Regulatory Drivers

Compliance Order on Consent - 2005• DOE intends to apply Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)

processes under State of New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) regulatory authority as a contact provision

Individual Permit for Storm Water (IP) - 2010• EPA Permit renewal in-progress to remove sites already completed• NMED Certification will provide additional provisions

DOE Radiological Regulatory Authority under Atomic Energy Act• Several cleanup areas are strictly driven by radiological constituents

Other Environmental Permits • Air emissions, Discharge, etc.

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Major Milestones Remaining for Program

• DOE developing Federal life-cycle baseline to establish internal schedules• This will be used to establish new baselines for work, proposed changes to

regulatory agreements, and contracted work scopes

• Compliance Order on Consent Deliverables• Individual Permit for Stormwater

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Elements of ScopeElements of Scope

• Transuranic Waste Disposition• Groundwater and Surface Water• Aggregate Areas• Material Disposal Areas (MDA)• Decontamination and Decommissioning (D&D)• Project Management, Support, and Integration• Site Infrastructure (EM Areas only)


Transuranic Waste DispositionTransuranic Waste DispositionI. Contact-Handled (CH)-TRU • Safe storage of above-grade TRU including continued isolation, surveillances and regular monitoring, and

maintenance of controls and an appropriate safety basis• Implementation of corrective actions as needed resulting from investigations and additional sampling• Characterize, package and shipment of TRU • Planning for and retrieval of the below-grade CH-TRU for processing

II. Remote-Handled (RH)-TRU • Develop safety handling strategies, project plans, and baselines for retrieval of that buried RH-TRU that must be

extracted, packaged , and processed• Design and build facilities for the safe processing of the RH-TRU• Retrieve buried RH-TRU that must be exhumed, characterize , package and ship.

III. Associated Waste Management• Process and dispose of Low-Level Radioactive Waste (LLW)/Mixed LLW resulting from Legacy TRU waste process

operations including tracking of wastes, RCRA inspections, Department of Transportation (DOT) compliant shipping using DOE’s national treatment and disposal contracts.

• Coordination of the processing of Newly-Generated LANL TRU Wastes from NNSA management and operating (M&O) contractor facilities through the TA-54 process lines until generator facilities have their own characterization, packaging, and shipment capabilities


Transuranic Waste DispositionTransuranic Waste Disposition


Groundwater and Surface WaterGroundwater and Surface Water

I. Interim Facility-Wide Groundwater Monitoring Plan• Planning in coordination with NNSA M&O in response to NMED Hazardous Waste Bureau (HWB) direction on

frequencies, analyts, and locations/screens• Sampling, packaging, and shipping groundwater samples to analytical laboratories and receiving results,

reviewing, and publishing results• Reporting results to NMED-HWB

II. Surface Water Protection Monitoring• Planning and strategizing surface water compliance in accordance with the EPA-issued Individual Permit for

Storm Water• Collecting samples, packaging, and shipping samples to analytical laboratories and receiving results, reviewing,

and publishing results• Installation and maintenance of stormwater controls, comparison to background concentrations, and evaluation

of alternatives

III. Hexavalent Chromium Plume in Mortandad Canyon• Conducting plume control interim measures to prevent off-site migration• Supporting NMED-HWB consideration of alternatives and NMED-HWB development of a draft Statement of

Basis for a remedy• Execution of the selected remedy (possibly as a capital asset project)


Groundwater and Surface WaterGroundwater and Surface Water

IV. RDX High Explosive Plume in Canon de Valle• Surface water corrective actions to address soil contaminant impacts• Subsurface evaluation and studies include cross-hole pump testing and considerations of remedy alternatives

and supporting NMED-HWB drafting of a Statement of basis for a remedy• Execution of NMED-HWB directed remedy actions

V. Surface Water Boundary Protection• Evaluation of watersheds for contaminant migration off-site and redistribution of stormwater sediment

transport with the associated installation of appropriate stormwater controls (beyond requirements of IP for Stormwater

VI. Vadose Zone Gas or Moisture Monitoring• Continuation of soil vapor extraction at MDA-L, pore-gas monitoring at MDA-C, and moisture monitoring at

MDA-T

VII. Wells and Boreholes• Installation of wells and boreholes, maintenance of the equipment and pads, and plugging and abandoning

unnecessary locations


Aggregate AreasAggregate Areas

I. Townsite Historical Properties• Completion of cleanups of historical sites now under private ownership, commercial enterprises, or by the

County of Los Alamos

II. Remaining Aggregate Area Investigations • Completion of approximately ten aggregate areas and obtaining certificates of completion (CoC) from NMED-

HWB• Completion of aggregate area investigations and field cleanups that are in-progress and obtaining CoCs from

NMED-HWB• Initiate and complete investigations and cleanups in ten aggregate areas that have not been initially assessed

III. Risk Assessments and Evaluations • Conducting risk assessments on already characterized or investigated areas to recent NMED-HWB guidance to

obtain CoCs

IV. Field Cleanups• Removal of known contaminants and identification of additional removals from subsequent investigations


Material Disposal AreasMaterial Disposal AreasI. MDA-A at TA-21• Complete a removal action of two 50,000 gallon plutonium solution (General’s )Tanks with sludge heels

• The removal action could be relatively near-term (3-4 years)• Complete investigation and evaluate alternatives of central debris pit and waste trenches, support NMED

development of a Statement of Basis for a remedy• Execute the remedy (following NMED selection); options range from engineered cover to excavationII. MDA-C • Support NMED development of a Statement of Basis for a remedy• Execute the remedy (following NMED selection); options range from engineered cover to excavation

• This might be appropriate for a near-term capital asset project

III. MDAs-G, -H, and L at TA-54 • Support NMED development of a Statement of Basis for each of three potential remedy• Execute the remedy (following NMED selection); options range from engineered cover to excavation• Areas L and G possibly include Soil-Vapor Extraction (SVE) for subsurface volatile organic chemical plume


Material Disposal AreasMaterial Disposal Areas

IV. MDA-T at TA-21• Complete investigation and evaluate alternatives of central debris pit and waste trenches, support NMED

development of a Statement of Basis for a remedy• Execute the remedy (following NMED selection); options range from engineered cover to excavation• Expected to remain under Federal control indefinitely

V. MDA-AB at TA-49• Complete investigation and evaluate alternatives of central debris pit and waste trenches, support NMED

development of a Statement of Basis for a remedy• Execute the remedy (following NMED selection); options range from engineered cover to excavation


Material Disposal Area CMaterial Disposal Area C


Decontamination and DecommissioningDecontamination and Decommissioning

I. TA-21 (4 total)• Isolated from rest of

LANL• Nearest Town and

populous

• Warehouse 286• Sanitary Waste Water

Facility 227, 228, 229, 230

• DP West Slabs• Radiological Liquid

WasteFacility 257

II. MDA-L (8 total)• Soil Vapor Extraction

continues on VOC plume under asphalt

• Several domed buildings

• Several carports• Ancillary structures

III. MDA-G (~80 total)• Many contingent on TRU

operations and RCRA pad closures

• Multiple domed facilities• Several hard-walled

structures• Multiple ancillary structures


Project Management, Support, and Integration

Project Management, Support, and Integration

I. Planning and work control• Supporting detailed work planning for the work scope and supporting DOE in preparation of budget

requests, annual work plans and spend plans, reporting progress against baselines, and planning for subcontracting work

• Development and execution of successful strategies and addressing technical issues through regulator interactions

• Maintaining work control systems and processes to assure the safety of workers, the public, and the environment

II. Document control and records• Complying with DOE document control and records requirements including electronic public reading

rooms, electronic database of environmental sampling including public access

III. Safety processes• Utilization of Integrated Safety Management Systems (ISMS), integration of nuclear safety

requirements, metrics and statistics, etc. to ensure the safety of the workers, the public, and the environment


Site Infrastructure (EM Areas Only)Site Infrastructure (EM Areas Only)

I. EM Infrastructure• Limited EM facility ownership but more equipment responsibilities

• Monitoring well infrastructure, etc.• Gage station and sample equipment maintenance• Treatment systems such as for chromium• Limited access roads to EM structures

II. Maintain and Operate • Facility maintenance for safe conditions where demolition is planned (TA-21)• Facility maintenance for operations for TRU structures (drum and box-lines) (TA-50

and TA-54)


Issues and Challenges

• Interdependencies and Interfaces

• Interfaces with the NNSA M&O for access, utilities, and other functional services as per the agreement between EM and NNSA.

• Interfaces between multiple contractors• Scope is Broad and Geographically Dispersed

• Many of the sites are in the NNSA operating envelop and cleanup must be done in a manner that does not impact NNSA mission operations

• Access to many sites can be from outside the Laboratory instead of through the Laboratory

Documents

Www.energy.gov/EM 1 Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Office of Environmental Management REMAINING CLEANUP OVERVIEW David S. Rhodes Acquisition Integrated