LONG-TERM STEWARDSHIP OF DOE LEGACY WASTE SITES—A STATUS REPORT
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C. www.nap.edu
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
Support for this study was provided by the U.S. Department of Energy under Grant DE-FC01-99EW59049. All opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Energy.
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COMMITTEE ON LONG-TERM INSTITUTIONAL MANAGEMENT OF DOE LEGACY WASTE SITES: PHASE 2
KAI N. LEE, Chair,
Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts
CHRIS G. WHIPPLE, Vice Chair,
ENVIRON International Corporation, Emeryville, California
JOHN S. APPLEGATE,
Indiana University School of Law, Bloomington
SUSAN L. BRANTLEY,
Pennsylvania State University, University Park
THURE E. CERLING,
University of Utah, Salt Lake City
ALLEN G. CROFF,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee
PATRICIA J. CULLIGAN,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
STEVEN N. HANDEL,
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick
ROBERT J. HUGGETT,
Michigan State University, East Lansing
TODD R. LA PORTE,
University of California, Berkeley
P. SURESH C. RAO,
Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
ALLAN C.B. RICHARDSON, Consultant,
Bethesda, Maryland
MILTON RUSSELL,
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
MICHELE STRAUBE,
CommUnity Resolution, Inc., Salt Lake City, Utah
Board on Radioactive Waste Management Liaison
GREGORY R. CHOPPIN,
Florida State University, Tallahassee
Staff
MICAH D. LOWENTHAL, Study Director
DARLA J. THOMPSON, Research Assistant
LAURA D. LLANOS, Senior Project Assistant
BOARD ON RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
JOHN F. AHEARNE, Chair,
Sigma Xi and Duke University, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
CHARLES MCCOMBIE, Vice Chair, Consultant,
Gipf-Oberfrick, Switzerland
ROBERT M. BERNERO,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (retired), Gaithersburg, Maryland
GREGORY R. CHOPPIN,
Florida State University, Tallahassee
RODNEY C. EWING,
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
HOWARD C. KUNREUTHER,
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
NIKOLAI P. LAVEROV,
Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow
MILTON LEVENSON,
Bechtel International (retired), Menlo Park, California
JANE C.S. LONG,
Mackay School of Mines, University of Nevada, Reno
ALEXANDER MACLACHLAN,
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (retired), Wilmington, Delaware
NORINE E. NOONAN,
College of Charleston, South Carolina
EUGENE A. ROSA,
Washington State University, Pullman
ATSUYUKI SUZUKI,
Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan, Tokyo
VICTORIA J. TSCHINKEL,
The Nature Conservancy, Altamonte Springs, Florida
Staff
KEVIN D. CROWLEY, Director
MICAH D. LOWENTHAL, Staff Officer
BARBARA PASTINA, Senior Staff Officer
JOHN R. WILEY, Senior Staff Officer
TONI GREENLEAF, Administrative Associate
DARLA J. THOMPSON, Research Assistant
LATRICIA C. BAILEY, Senior Project Assistant
LAURA D. LLANOS, Senior Project Assistant
ANGELA R. TAYLOR, Senior Project Assistant
JAMES YATES, JR., Office Assistant
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This study was made possible by assistance from many people outside and within the National Academies. DOE staff provided essential support, particularly in setting up useful site visits. At the sites, DOE and contractor staff devoted time and effort in providing presentations, touring the sites, answering questions, and following up on unresolved points. Citizens, public officials, and activist groups in the communities that host the sites were likewise generous with their time and willingness to talk frankly with the committee. The committee specifically acknowledges the following groups: Miamisburg Environmental Safety and Health (MESH), Fernald Residents for Environmental Safety and Health (FRESH), and the Fernald Citizens Advisory Board (FCAB).
In writing and completing this report the study director, Micah Lowenthal, was indispensable: energetic, thoughtful, thorough, and generous in helping at every stage in helping to weave the many strands of expertise in this group into a coherent statement. The committee is also indebted to the Board on Radioactive Waste Management, especially senior project assistant Laura Llanos, research assistant Darla Thompson, and board director Kevin Crowley, who spent much time at our meetings and whose counsel was sensible and precise.
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council (NRC) Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making the published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The content of the review comments and draft manuscript remains confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their participation in the review of this report:
David E. Daniel, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champagne
Carolyn Huntoon, U.S. Department of Energy (retired)
Donald F. Kettl, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Howard C. Kunreuther, University of Pennsylvania
Thomas M. Leschine, University of Washington
John A. Pendergrass, The Environmental Law Institute
Howard Roitman, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
Herman H. Shugart, Jr., University of Virginia
Theofanis G. Theofanous, University of California, Santa Barbara
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations, nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by George M. Hornberger. Appointed by the National Research Council, he was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with NRC procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the NRC.