Jay Rhoderick
Deputy Director, Office of Planning and Analysis
Office of Environmental Management
U.S. Department of Energy

Patty Bubar
Director, Office of Planning and Analysis
Office of Environmental Management
U.S. Department of Energy

The Department of Energy’s Environmental Management program manages one of the largest environmental programs in the world-with more than 130 sites and facilities in over 30 States and territories. A significant portion of this program is the management and disposition of significant quantities of radioactive wastes. The Department of Energy (DOE) Environmental Management (EM) program has several initiatives underway in order to accomplish its mission in a cost effective manner.

The Discussion Draft Accelerating Cleanup: Focus on 2006, is being used by EM as the focal planning tool to develop and integrate a cost effective program. As part of this effort, EM has developed End State Plans for each of the waste types. No single site within the DOE complex can address all of its wastes which have been produced by a single site. The End State plans define an integrated complex-wide program of site missions and inter-site relationships necessary to accomplish the overall mission.

Another key element in developing life cycle plans such as the End State plans is adequate public involvement and input on these efforts. EM has organized and participated in interactions at several levels- workout meetings with regulators and site specific advisory groups, public meetings on the Waste Management Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (WMPEIS), and State/DOE interactions facilitated by the National Governor’s Association.

DOE continues to strive to reduce the overall cost of the EM program. As part of this effort, significant discussions regarding treatment and disposal configurations for low level and mixed low level wastes are currently being worked with the public as part of the 2006 activities. As DOE moves forward in implementing the 2006 plan, it will be important to continue to look for opportunities of both complex-wide integration and cost reduction

In the early days of the DOE’s Environmental Management program, we experienced an unprecedented ramping up of the program. While production facilities were being shut down, cleanup responsibilities were increasing, and infrastructure functions were transferred to EM. For the most part, funding kept pace with the program. Now we are facing the challenges and demands of achieving our mission within a stabilized budget, consistent with the budget agreement between the President and Congress, and with a downsized organization. To reconcile the pressing need to reduce spending in the short term, while also reducing economic and environmental liabilities over the long term, EM established a vision for completing its mission at most sites by 2006. Our 2006 Plan provides the unifying vision to drive budget decisions, sequencing of projects, and actions to meet this program objective.

As the EM program shifts from one projected to span may decades to one designed to complete as much work as possible within the next decade, we are focusing on opportunities for greater productivity and reduced program costs. The Department’s waste management program represents about thirty percent of the total environmental management budget. Our efforts are directed toward moving waste out of storage and into treatment and disposal. We are relying heavily upon integration - that is, working as a unified program rather than independent sites - and upon cost efficiencies to achieve the 2006 vision.

EM is making great progress throughout the waste management program. In the high-level waste program vitrification facilities are now operating at West Valley and Savannah River. Both facilities exceeded their Fiscal Year 1997 production goals -- with West Valley completing 122 canisters -- two over their goal -- and the Defense Waste Processing Facility, DWPF, completing 169 canisters -- 19 over their goal. In total, more than 455 canisters of high-level waste have been vitrified from these two facilities, and are waiting disposal in a Federal repository. At West Valley, almost half of the high-level waste has been vitrified. At Savannah River we have also successfully closed the first high-level waste storage tank and are working on the second tank. In Idaho, the Settlement Agreement operational goal was met by achieving a net reduction of 330,000 gallons of liquid waste in the tank farm, 338 days ahead of schedule.

April of 1998 is expected to be a milestone month for our transuranic waste program. We are looking forward to several key actions and decisions to occur in that month. After EPA completes its rule making process, EM is anticipating in April 1998 to receive a favorable decision from the EPA on the Compliance Certification Application for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant -- WIPP -- which was submitted in October 1996. Work continues with the State of New Mexico to receive a RCRA Part B permit for receipt and disposal of mixed transuranic waste at WIPP. EM remains confident that WIPP will be able to receive waste by May 1998. Leading up to these key actions was the September 1997 certification of the first shipping site: Los Alamos National Laboratory. In addition, the final Supplemental EIS for the WIPP disposal operations was issued in September 1997, and the associated WIPP disposal record of decision was issued in January 1998. The Operational Readiness Review process to assure facility and personnel readiness to handle waste safely at this facility is currently underway.

Along with the WIPP disposal decision, the decision on where to treat and store our transuranic wastes was also issued in January 1997. This record of decision was the first stemming from the Final Waste Management Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement -- EIS -- released in May 1997.

EM has the utmost confidence in this first-of-a-kind geologic repository and view WIPP as fundamental to our nation’s strategy for managing transuranic wastes. Beginning disposal operations at WIPP is a top priority for the Department and critical to the success of the EM program’s commitment to accelerate cleanup in the DOE complex. It will also be a huge step forward in meeting the commitments made by the Department in its binding agreements with States.

One tool being used to help achieve the 2006 Plan is complex-wide integration. In July 1996, Assistant Secretary Alm challenged senior executives of the major EM site contractor organizations to look for innovative breakthrough strategies to achieve the vision of maximizing cleanup in a decade. The result of this challenge was formation of a team of contractors representing a majority of the DOE Environmental Management sites. They independently identified, analyzed, and recommended technical integration opportunities which reduce costs and risks, shorten cleanup schedules, and further EM program goals. Using a systems engineering approach, this contractor team identified many opportunities, which, if adopted, could result in significant potential cost savings over the life-cycle. The team’s recommendations cover mixed and low-level wastes, high-level waste, transuranic waste, environmental restoration activities, and spent nuclear fuel. The team identified approximately $24 billion in life-cycle cost savings if their integration opportunities were accepted by the Department; most of these projected cost savings, about $18 million, would be in the high-level waste area. Assistant Secretary Alm tasked the Waste Management organization to lead the effort to make program integration part of EM’s corporate business culture and to reflect the results of this integration effort, as appropriate, in the 2006 Plan. A summary of the recommendations and estimated cost savings is provided in the paper titled, "Program Integration Across DOE Sites and Programs -- Doing More With Less," which is also being presented in this session.

The contractor team developed their recommendations independently. EM released the contractor report along with our 2006 Discussion Draft to stimulate public thinking and involvement on their recommendations. Although the contractor team’s recommendations do not represent the Department’s position, they do merit further evaluation. EM is now carefully and methodically evaluating these recommendations and discussing them fully with stakeholders. As reported in that Discussion Draft, so far EM has identified three recommendations for implementation: (1) use mobile systems for transuranic waste, (2) accelerate transuranic waste shipments and closure of WIPP, and (3) minimize storage and treatment of low-level waste. Evaluations have not been completed for implementation of the other recommendations. For each recommendation, DOE will prepare an action plan describing our process for evaluation and opportunities for stakeholder involvement. The evaluations should include factors such as: cost and schedule savings; initial investment required; risk to workers, the public, and the environment; and perception of equity on the part of stakeholders. Our Center of Excellence for Mixed and Low-Level Waste Management at Idaho will develop several of the mixed and low-level waste action plans. With the next draft 2006 Plan coming out in February, to be followed by the first initial 2006 Plan later in the year, our goal is to evaluate the highest priority integration opportunities, interact with stakeholders, and incorporate them as appropriate in the 2006 Plan baselines.

It is also believed that by integrating procurement efforts across the complex, and by using privatization, greater efficiencies will be achieved and the private sector will be provided more attractive contracting opportunities. As you probably know, privatization is a key component of EM’s contracting strategy to meet our cleanup challenges. It is an acquisition strategy that can accelerate cleanup and reduce costs through competition, fixed-price contracting, financing by the private sector, and application of private-sector technology and experience. In January 1998, Oak Ridge issued a request for proposals to treat a variety of mixed-waste streams under what is called the "Broad Spectrum" contract. Hopefully, this contract will provide treatment opportunities for several mixed waste streams from several sites. Currently, it is planned to award the contract in May 1998.

The two major privatization efforts for the waste management program include the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Facility at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory and the Tank Waste Remediation System at the Hanford Site. In Idaho, a contract was awarded to British Nuclear Fuels Limited, Inc. -- BNFL -- to treat mixed waste, transuranic and alpha-mixed low-level waste, currently in storage in Idaho and elsewhere within the complex. It is estimated that cost savings from 30 to 50 percent will be realized through this privatization approach. The Hanford Tank Waste Remediation System contracts were awarded to Lockheed-Martin and BNFL, and will continue in phases, consistent with the compliance agreement with the Washington Department of Ecology and the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Pending based on results of litigation, the Department will be moving forward on considerations for a complex-wide procurement, out of our Center of Excellence in Idaho, for disposal of low-level waste and mixed waste in the private sector. This initiative would increase competition among the DOE and commercial sites, as well as give the Department increased flexibility on disposal options.

Built upon our success with the Federal Facility Compliance Act in developing a mature mixed waste treatment program, the mixed and low-level waste programs stand poised to meet our 2006 vision. This and the Waste Management PEIS will provide the basis for moving to the next step -- selecting our mixed and low-level waste disposal configuration, and meeting the 2006 vision.

Two years ago, a major milestone was reached in the mixed waste program. By the October 1995 Federal Facility Compliance Act deadline, 29 of the 35 compliance orders for mixed waste treatment had been successfully negotiated and in place. Today, all but one is in place. [Note: the outlier is between the state of Illinois and the Argonne National Laboratory-East; Illinois was holding on an agreement until DOE made a disposal decision, or at least removed Chicago from the potentials list.] As a result, in fiscal year 1996, we treated 3,500 cubic meters of mixed waste -- more than double the 1,500 cubic meters treated in 1995. And, in fiscal year 1997, we reached our goal of treating 6,000 cubic meters of mixed waste. We are definitely making progress. We now have three DOE treatment facilities on line - the WERF incinerator at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, the TSCA incinerator in Oak Ridge, and the Consolidated Incineration Facility in South Carolina.

Over 36 DOE sites manage low-level waste. Over the last decade, the waste management program has disposed of 940,000 cubic meters of low-level waste, primarily at six operating sites: Hanford, Idaho, Los Alamos, Nevada, Oak Ridge, and Savannah River. In fiscal year 1997, we surpassed our goal of disposing 38,000 cubic meters of low-level waste. Over the next decade, our waste management operations forecast disposing of an additional 430,000 cubic meters, and 1.3 million cubic meters over the next 30 years. In addition, the Department’s environmental restoration activities forecast 62 million cubic meters of contaminated media that are subject to cleanup. Of that amount, over half -- 32 million cubic meters -- are projected to be left in place. Nearly 28 million are expected to be disposed of either on-site in one of our existing 6 low-level waste disposal facilities or in a CERCLA-dedicated disposal cell. That leaves only 2 million cubic meters of DOE contaminated media for possible commercial disposal. However, recent Congressional direction will move half of that amount - approximately 1 million cubic meters -- out of DOE’s jurisdiction. In the fiscal year 1998 Appropriations Bill that funds DOE low-level waste operations, Congress has directed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to take over responsibility for management and disposal of waste from the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program -- FUSRAP.

As a result of the Waste Management Programmatic EIS and ongoing discussions with States, Tribal Nations, and stakeholders, several configuration decisions have already been made via Records of Decision under the NEPA process, but several (including mixed and low-level waste treatment and disposal) remain to be made by the end of the fiscal year.

In July 1997, we met with the state regulators and Governors’ representatives through the National Governors’ Association to kick off the process for selecting our disposal sites. The state representatives at that meeting made it clear to us that DOE must continue substantive discussions with the states, and recommended that the Department propose a preferred configuration for further discussion. This recommendation was adopted and implemented by the Department. Certainly key to our success in the FFCAct process -- to arrive at a mixed waste configuration --was the development of an excellent working relationship with the states, facilitated by the National Governors’ Association. The forum created to negotiate the FFCAct agreements was invaluable.

DOE recognizes the need to maintain direct interactions with state regulators and Governors’ representatives at a national level. We hope to continue that as we move into our disposal decision making process. Discussions at the site level and through the national dialogue workshops held across the country during the summer and fall of 1997 supplemented our discussions with the states. We recognize the impact this disposal decision will have, and we want to be sure that all affected parties have the opportunity to understand the options and provide informed feedback.

DOE is proposing to make the mixed and low-level waste decisions in the 1998 timeframe. The Department is agreeable to revising the timing of this decision, if warranted, to foster valuable input to these milestone decisions.

DOE’s Waste Management Program will continue efforts to reduce risks, reduce fixed costs, meet regulatory commitments, and work collaboratively with regulators and stakeholders. Our focus will continue to be on moving waste from storage to treatment to disposal. We must continue to rely on integration opportunities and cost efficiencies. Through the next decade, we will seek a more integrated system of treatment, storage, and disposal, resulting in cost efficiencies that we can apply to accelerating cleanup and site closures across the EM complex by the year 2006. As part of this entire effort, in the near term, through the Waste Management Programmatic EIS, the Department hopes to "right size" the low-level and mixed low-level treatment and disposal configuration.

Overall, the waste management program has shown significant progress. This progress is a key part of Assistant Secretary Alm’s accelerated cleanup initiative. With the help of stakeholders, Congress, and our sister agencies, we believe we can achieve even greater results in the coming years.

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