Kevin Meyer, Ph.D., CHP
CANBERRA NDA Services Group
The K-770 Scrap Yard stored potentially surface-contaminated
scrap metal, the majority of which was
generated during the operating life of the Oak Ridge
Gaseous Diffusion Plant. Approximately 40,000 tons
of scrap metal in five piles and 75,000 cubic feet of
miscellaneous metals in B25 boxes were stored at
K-770. The primary known radiological contaminants
of concern were low-enriched uranium and 99Tc.
Under the DOE Oak Ridge accelerated cleanup initiatives,
the metal was scheduled for accelerated disposition
in 2004, preferably to the Environmental Management
Waste Management Facility (EMWMF) in Oak
Ridge. DOE emphasized innovative characterization
approaches that significantly reduce costs and increase
characterization flexibility without degrading
data quality.
This Technical Paper describes the strategy
employed by CANBERRA to meet the challenges of the DOE Oak Ridge accelerated cleanup initiatives.