Evaluating In Situ Treatment Technologies for Buried Mixed Waste Remediation at the INEEL Page: 2 of 15
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EVALUATING IN SITU TREATMENT TECHNOLOGIES
FOR BURIED MIXED WASTE REMEDIATION
AT THE INEEL'
Douglas K. Jorgensen, David F. Nickelson, Reva A. Hyde,
Richard K. Farnsworth, and James J. Jessmore
Lockheed Martin Idaho Technologies Company
Idaho Falls, Idaho 83415-3710
ABSTRACT
Mixed radioactive and hazardous wastes were buried at the Department of Energy's Idaho National Engineering and
Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) Subsurface Disposal Area from 1952 to 1969. To begin the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) remediation process for the Subsurface
Disposal Area, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) added the INEEL to its National Priorities List in 1989.
DOE's Office of Environmental Restoration is planning several CERCLA treatability studies of remedial
technologies that will be evaluated for potential remediation of the buried waste in the Subsurface Disposal Area.
This paper discusses the in situ treatability studies that will be performed, including in situ vitrification, in situ
grouting, and in situ thermal desorption.
The in situ treatability studies will be conducted on simulated and actual buried wastes at the INEEL in 1999 and
2000. Results from the treatability studies will provide substantial information on the feasibility, implementability,
and cost of applying these technologies to the INEEL Subsurface Disposal Area. In addition, much of the
treatability study data will be applicable to buried waste site remediation efforts across the DOE complex.
INTRODUCTION
From 1952 to 1969, mixed hazardous and radioactive wastes from various sites within the Department of Energy
(DOE) complex were buried at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). A primary
location for burial of these wastes is the Subsurface Disposal Area, located at the INEEL Radioactive Waste
Management Complex. The Subsurface Disposal Area contains numbered pits, trenches, soil vault rows, and
interim storage pads over an area of 38.9 ha (96 acres). In 1989, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) added
the INEEL to its National Priorities List, under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and
Liability Act (CERCLA).
A feasibility study is being performed to support the Subsurface Disposal Area Record of Decision (ROD). The
feasibility study identifies remedial action objectives; identifies potential treatment and containment technologies
that will satisfy these objectives; screens the technologies based on their effectiveness, implementability, and cost;
and assembles technologies and their associated containment or disposal requirements into alternatives. To perform
the feasibility study, there must be sufficient information on remedial technologies to evaluate them. This data is
being obtained from several sources, including existing data and ongoing work at the INEEL and other DOE
laboratories, a planned limited retrieval of the Subsurface Disposal Area Pit 9, ex situ treatability studies, and in situ
treatability studies. The purpose of treatability studies is to fill data gaps for applicable technologies, which will aid
in selecting and implementing a remedy. The results of the treatability study are expected to reduce the uncertainties
associated with selecting the remedy and to develop a sounder basis for the ROD.
The original date for completion of this ROD was 1999. The ROD completion has been extended to 2003 to ensure
that adequate remedial technology data is considered. The schedule extension provides an opportunity to evaluate in
situ treatments that may offer substantial benefits in remediating a major portion of the buried waste sites within the
Subsurface Disposal Area. Hence, DOE's Office of Environmental Restoration is planning several treatability
studies to support the feasibility study and ROD. The treatability studies will be conducted on simulated and actual
buried wastes at the INEEL in 1999 and 2000.
1 Work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management,
under DOE Idaho Operations Office Contract DE-AC07-941D 13223.
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Nickelson, D. F.; Jorgensen, D. K.; Jessmore, J. J.; Hyde, R. A. & Farnsworth, R. K. Evaluating In Situ Treatment Technologies for Buried Mixed Waste Remediation at the INEEL, article, February 1, 1999; Idaho Falls, Idaho. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc791915/m1/2/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.