2004•OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information)Requires access
DEVELOPMENT, REVIEW, AND PUBLICATION OF THE HANFORD SITE SOLID WASTE PROGRAM ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT
S.W. Gajewski, Wayne L. Johnson, David R. Payson, K. Rhoads, George H. Sanders
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Abstract
The Hanford Site Solid (Radioactive and Hazardous) Waste Program Environmental Impact Statement (HSW EIS) provides environmental and technical information concerning U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) proposed waste management practices at the Hanford Site. The HSW EIS covers four primary aspects of waste management at Hanford – waste treatment, storage, transportation, and disposal. It also addresses four kinds of solid radioactive waste – low-level waste (LLW), mixed (radioactive and chemically hazardous) low-level waste (MLLW), transuranic (TRU) waste (including mixed TRUW), and immobilized low-activity waste (ILAW) from treatment of Hanford’s tanks waste. The HSW EIS is intended to help DOE determine what specific Hanford Site facilities will continue to be used, will be modified, or need to be constructed to treat, store, and dispose of these wastes. Alternatives for accomplishing DOE’s proposed action, along with an analysis of potential environmental impacts, are detailed in the HSW EIS. The alternatives considered include a wide range of potential disposal configurations and locations, use of onsite and offsite treatment facilities, and continued use of a number of existing waste management facilities (such as the central waste complex for the storage of MLLW and TRU waste). The alternatives are evaluated for a range of waste volumes, representing quantities of waste that could be managed at the Hanford Site. The No Action Alternative is also evaluated as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The HSW EIS examines the potential environmental impacts associated with implementing each of the alternatives for storage, treatment, transportation, and disposal of radioactive and mixed waste at Hanford. For purposes of analysis, the various storage, treatment, and disposal alternatives were combined into “alternative groups.” The analyses of impacts are provided in the following environmental consequence categories: