NONRADIOACTIVE HAZARDOUS WASTE AND GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION INTERACTIONS

In order to comprehend this chapter relating to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), some basic fundamental information on the DOE is initially presented so that a logical systematic flow of information related to groundwater contamination occurs. How the DOE interrelates to hazardous waste, radioactivity, and restorationlremediation groundwater contamination concerns is presented in this chapter and in Chapter 4. After the U.S. Department of Energy information is presented, the Los Alamos National Laboratory and other DOE subcontractor nuclear facilities and national laboratories, are used as main case history models in which information is presented in more depth on how these particular DOE facilities are participating and approaching groundwater contamination problems, i n terms of the past, present, and the future. Internet WWW references that do not always support or agree with the U.S. DOE are also presented [URL Ref. No. 339 (43-101 }l in this chapter.&s; For purposes of this chapter, I have adapted information from U.S. Department of Energy publications (1 995a-19951), the Federal Register, [URL Ref. No. 21, 68-69], and U.S. DOE Baseline Environmental Management Reports [URL Ref. No. 881.