Oak Ridge Reservation
Environmental Health Archives
Current as of 10FEB99
Compiled by
Captain John R. Stockwell, M.D., M.P.H.
U.S. Public Health Service
Radioactive Waste Campaign Press Release —
Contamination from Oak Ridge Reservation
Spreading Off-Site, Charges Radioactive Waste
Campaign
26FEB87
Oak Ridge Reservation
Environmental Health Archives
(ORREHA)
Document Number
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Oak XiHge-Pollucion
Radioactivp contamination at Oak Ridge: c- n;nrp pp.^r'/j
Forty /ears nf neglect, a legacy for ^ ^ ; 'r\ ,n \/
generations. February 26, 1987. OA;'- ' ¦"l- ¦-1
/ ^ " (• 1 ' 1; i •'*/¦ r, ' . ¦ ,-p" £- l.' J »¦ ; •
£ r,'- j ^ ^ ^ '625'Broadway, 2nci "Floor
¦sjP) Radioactive Waste Campaign N*wYo(r2\2^York 10012
>-7390
EMBARGO FOR RELEASE FEBRUARY 26, '.987, jj A.M. For sore information,
contact:
PRESS RELEASE
Dana Coyle, 212/473-739G
Steve Becker, 212/473-7390
Marvin Resnikoff, 201/841-9529
On ¦ 2/26-2/27,
Dana Coyle, 615/637-8018
CONTAMINATION FROM OAK RIDGE RESERVATION
SPREADING OFF-SITE, CHARGES RADIOACTIVE WASTE CAMPAIGN
In a 65-page report released today, the Radioactive Waste Campaign charged
that a proliferation of waste dumps set in the water table at the Oak Ridge
Reservation is leading to increased radioactive contamination off-site. Accord-
ing to the report, potential health effects to downstream communities from
strontium-90 and uranium releases, particularly leukemia, polycythemia vera and
genetic effects, have not been accurately assessed by"the Department of Energy.
The Campaign called for a comprehensive health study by an independent agency.
The study's findings and implications will be presented at a press confe-
rence February 26, 11 A.M. at the hall of the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile
Workers Union, 1124 N. Broadway, Knoxville.
The Oak Ridge Reservation, owned by the Department of Energy and operated
by its contractor Martin-Marietta Corporation, is located 24 miles west of ^ 2* ^ S
i_j r*j (/J
PSOpj
Kna>:v; l;s. Strea-s off the s: t e foc-d :r.i; th;j Clinch The Kt-sc : <•*! S H
w
cade up of three large facilities: Oak Ridge National Laboratory; the Y-12 ^ S
nuclear weapons component plant; and the gaseous diffusion plant, recently put ^ O
Wm flz
on standby. For the past 40 years, waste from the three plants has been placed w W ^
S h O g
in unlined trenches and ponds on the 92 square mile site. 1/3 2 Sd
The Campaign report charges that Oak Ridge is one of the most severely ^
contaminated government facilities in the nation. Accordina to the report, the
k
p}ak Ridge landfills are in successive stages of breakdown; there is a build-up
of the radionuclide, cesium, behind White Oak Dam, downstream from Oak Ridge
National Laboratory (ORNL); millions of pounds of uranium have been dumped in
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Radioactive Viastt Ca r ;. £ : g r. Add One
nuclide, techr.et i u rr; - 9 -I*, from cor.t a ~ i nd I ed equipnert piaced in trie supposedly
"secure" burial ground at the shut down gaseous diffusion plant. The report
concludes tr.at a vast area of the 92-sc-.«:«f rr.: 1 c- C?..- ^idc* Reservation has
become seriously contaminated, perhaps irretrievably, posing both short ar.d
long-term health and environmental hazards for the State and citizens of Tenr..
Started in the 19-SO's under war-time urgency, the Oak Ridge site was never
chosen with radioactive waste disposal in mind. With over 58 inches of precipi-
tation a year, a highly corr.plex geology, a large network of streams and rivers,
and a shallow water table, the Campaign report maintains the ground in the area
is unsuitable for disposing of wastes.
According to geologist Dana Coyle, one of the report's authors, "Though
production at Oak Ridge is down from its 1940's peak, leakage of radioactive
contamination from the burial grounds is actually increasing, and will continue
|to increase, unless positive steps are taken by the U.S. Department of Energy to
remedy the problem." "Because of the long life of these radioactive materials,"
she continued, "we are concerned about the lorg-tem implications of the situa-
tion. The basic problem is that radioactive waste is sitting in the water table
and the site receives over 58 inches of precipitation a year."
Noting that the Department of Energy has launched a new Low Level Waste
-tvf lorc.fr t , De" cn-i rs : cr. c v.3 s: irsi . r: r j r cr , L:'. K;rvir. Ke^ r. i k0*1, p r.': ^ i ~
cist, called or. the Department to exhume a portion of onecf the r.ost severely
contaminated burial grounds as a demonstration pro>ect. The burial ground, No.
4, was in operation frcrr. 1951 to 1959, and is leaking large amounts of stron-
tium-90 into White Oak Creek, which feeds the Clinch River. "The Department
could use burial ground four as a means of developing the technology to exhure
Iadioactive waste and place it in above ground storage, while minimizing expo-
ures to workers." According to Dr. Resmkcff, "The Departnent has already
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Radioactive Waste Ca^.paiqr. Ad:; Tvc
Engineering Laboratory. Ey.'nurr.at ion technology coo Id also be used at poc.il1,
performing commerci a 1 facilities."
Because large quantities of st ront iuni-90 and urariurr. are released fro:r, the
Reservation, the Campaign report expressed concern about health effect's to
downstream communities. When ingested, both radionuclides reside in the bone
providing a radiation dose to bone marrow and increasing the probability of
leukemia, polycythemia vera and genetic effects. The Campaign report, entitled
"Radioactive Contamination at Oak Ridge: Forty Years of Neglect, A Legacy for
Generations," is the result of an eight-month study of radioactive waste dispo-
sal practices at the Oak Ridge Reservation, and is part of a larger study of all
Department of Energy facilities. It is based on visits to the site, discussions
with government officials and local citizens, and the examination of over 100
government and contractor documents.
The Campaign and local groups, Tennessee Valley Energy Coalition, Natural
Rights Center, Rural Cumberland Resources, Americans for a Clean Environment,
and LEAF, sent copies of the report to U.S. Representatives M. Lloyc, J.
Dingell, T. Luken, J. Sharp, E. Mar key, R. Wyden, M. Synar, L. AuCoin, N. Dicks,
and J. Clark, and Senators J. Gie-n, J. Ses?sr a'-.o S. Aiftrs, f!-:--;.:r.c tr.it th<=
U.5. Congress look into the charges. The report was also sent to tne Tennessee
Department of Health and Environmenta 1 Control, and the Attorney General.
The Campaign and local groups are also sponsoring a public meeting on
Saturday February 28, 2 to 4 P.M. at the Kingston Community Center in Kingston
Tennessee, to discuss the report in greater detail.
Tr.e Radioactive Waste Canpsigr, is a New York-based public interest organi-
sation that does research and public education on radioactive waste issues.
Copies of the report can be obtained from the Radioactive Waste Can.paign, 625
Broadway, New York, NY 10012.
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Radioactive Contamination
at Oak Ridge:
Forty Years of Neglect,
A Legacy for Generations
OAK RIDGE PUBLIC LIBRARY
Civic Center
Oak Ridge, TN 37830
A Special Report by the
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Radioactive Waste Campaign
625 Broadway, 2nd Floor
New \brk, New tork 10012
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ACK NOWLEDGEMENTS
This report was researched and written by Dana Coyle and Marvin Resnikoff
of the Radioactive Waste Campaign. Ms. Coyle is a geologist and Dr. Resnikoff
is a physicist. The report was edited by Steven Becker.
The Radioactive Waste Campaign is a non-profit public interest organization
which works to promote greater public awareness of the dangers radioactive waste
poses to human health and the environment.
The study is part of a larger project on Department of Energy landfills
that is funded by the Ploughshares Fund, the Max arid Anna Levinson Foundation,
Rockefeller Family Associates, the Rockefeller Family Fund, the Conservation and
Research Foundation, the Public Welfare Foundation, the Ruth Mott Fund, the Mary
Reynolds Babcock Foundation, John Harris IV, the New-Land Foundation and the
George Gund Foundation.
Special thanks to Bruce Gluck, who prepared the report's graphics. Helpful
comments on earlier drafts were provided by Albert Bates, Del Bender, Gary
Davis, Mma Hamilton, Jeannine Honicker, Ken Hudnut, Jennifer Tichenor, Susan
Williams and Sr. Rosalie Bertell.
Thanks also to the U.S. Department of Energy, which generously provided
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Radioactive Waste Campaign is a non-profit public interest organizati.cn
which works to promote greater public awareness of the dangers radioactive waste
poses to human health and the biosphere.
This report is the result of an eight-xonth study of radioactive waste
disposal practices at the Oak Ridge Reservation in eastern Tennessee. It is
based on visits to the site, discussions with government officials and local
citizens/ and the examination of over 100 government and contractor documents.
Oak Ridge, located near Knoxville, was originally constructed in tr.e 1340's
a"s'part of t'he U';S.' effort" to "build the first atomic bomb. Since that time, it
has continued to play a central role in nuclear weapons production, and it nas
also become a major site for research on nuclear energy.
The Oak Ridge Reservation is made up of three large facilities: Oak Ridge
National Laboratory; the Y-12 nuclear weapons component plant; and the Gaseous
Diffusion Plant, which was recently put on stand-by.
The Oak Ridge site was selected at a time when the hazards of radioactivity
were poorly understood, and it was not chosen with radioactive waste disposal in
mind. In fact, with over 58 inches of precipitation a year, a highly complex
geology, a large network of streams and rivers, and a shallow water table, the
ground in the area is unsuitable for the disposal of wastes.
Over the past four decades, though, colossal amounts of radioactive waste
have been generated and disposed of at Oak Ridge. Hundreds of thousands of
curies of waste have accumulated at the site.
A review of the history of radioactive waste disposal practices at Oak
Ridge Reservation produces a disturbing picture:
•From the oeginning of solid radioactive waste disposal in 1944, waste from
the Oak Ridge National Laboratory was dumped into unlined trenches up to 400
feet long. Little effort was made to isolate the waste from the environment,
and many trenches were actually located directly in the water table. No records
of contents were kept for some of the earliest burial grounds, while records of
some of the later disposal grounds were destroyed by fire. One burial ground
alone contains an estimated 110,000 curies of waste. Little monitoring for
leakage was done before the 1970's. Now, over the last decade, more and more
contaminated areas have been discovered and more studies have been done. It is
increasingly evident that leakage from the burial grounds has contaminated not
only nearby roclc3 and soil, but that ground and surface water have carried
tremendous amounts of radionuclides long distances from the site.
•A 664 curie concentration of cesium and other radionuclides has built up
behind White Oak Dam on the Reservation." During periods of heavy precipitation,
unknown quantities of cesium-contaminated silt have flowed over the dam and
downstream into the Clinch River. Engineering reports show that the dam has
eroded internally and could fail, and the water level behind it has been lowered
to relieve pressure. If the dam fails, a large amount of cesium-137 would be
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•At the Y-12 Plant, over 35 million pounds of uranium sit in landfills. In
the 40-year operation of the plant, over 430,000 pounds of uranium (128 curies)
have been released into Bear Creek and East Fork Poplar Creek, more than 20
percent of which-has come from leaking ponds and landfills. A large number of
monitoring wells in Bear Creek Valley, one as deep as 140 feet, are seriously
contaminated with uranium.
•Including Knoxville, an estimated 350,000 people live within a 25-mile
radius of the Oak Ridge Reservation. The 4400 inhabitants of Kingston,
Tennesssee obtain their drinking water from the Clinch River, into which radio-
active effluents from Oak Ridge flow.
In brief, Oak Ridge is one of the most severely contaminated government
facilities in the nation. Its landfills are in successive stages of breakdown;
there is a build-up of the radionuclide, cesium, behind White Oak Dam, down-
stream from Oak Ridge National Laboratory; millions of pounds of uranium have
been dumped in landfills at the Y-12 plant; and there have been leaks of the
long-lived radionuclide, technetium-99, from contaminated equipment that had
been placed in the supposedly "secure" burial ground at the shut down Gaseous
Diffusion Plant. A vast area of the 92-square mile Oak Ridge Reservation has
become seriously contaminated, perhaps irretrievably, posing both short-term and
long-term environmental hazards for the State and citizens of Tennessee.
Though production at Oak Ridge is down, and the number of employees is less
than 15,000, down from a high of 80,000 in the 1940's, this leakage of radioact-
ive contamination from burial grounds is increasing, and will continue to in-
crease, unless positive steps art taken by the U.S. Department of Energy to
remedy the problem. Because of the long life of these radioactive materials, we
are concerned about the long-term implications of the situation. The legacy of
40 year3 of poorly planned and executed radioactive waste disposal will continue
to plague the people of the Clinch River and Tennessee River Basins for genera-i
tions to come unless the Federal Government takes more decisive action at Oak '
Ridge.
The Department of Energy has taken some tentative steps to address parts of
the problem. In instituting a new Low Level Waste Disposal, Development and
Demonstration program at Oak Ridge, the Department is attempting to employ
improved disposal technologies, including some which are in use in Canada and
France. Volume reduction technologies will allow the Energy Department to more
efficiently employ above-ground storage methods such as vaults, which are far
preferable to the present method of directly placing waste in the water table.
While volume reduction technologies such as supercompaction and decontamination
look promising, we have strong reservations about incineration of mixed waste,
which will release radionuclides such as tritium, carbon-14 and iodine into the
air, and have the potential for creating the potent carcinogen, dioxin.
But much more than this Demonstration program must be done at Oak Ridge to
sequester large quantities of radioactive'wastes and to properly safeguard the
environment and human health. The site must b* cleaned up with the same dedica-
tion and Federal commitment as went into the Manhattan Project in the 1940's.
Since most of the leakage occurs at burial ground four, we recommend, as a
start, that a portion of this burial ground be exhumed as part of the Demonstra-
tion program and that these wastes be placed in an above ground vault. Remote
equipment should be developed as necessary to ensure that workers are not ex-
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Department's Hanford and Ohio facilities should be useful in this repect. Be-
yond this, all burial of wastes in the water table should be halted.
In addition, the Department of Energy should develop an environmental
impact statement which more precisely calculates the health effects due to Oak
Ridge emissions. Further, a study of leulcemias and other cancers, polycythemia
vera, and genetic effects in downstream communities should be conducted by an
outside and independent health agency. Finally, since each addition of
radioactivity to the environment and to humans increases the chances that
cancers and genetic effects may occur, it is prudent for remedial actions to be
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
I. BACKGROUND 1
II. GEOLOGY, TOPOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE 3
III. OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY 4
IV. 3URIAL GROUND FOUR: A CASE STUDY 12
V. ' ^HY DO BURIAL GROUNDS LEAK? '15
VI. Y-12 PLANT 17
VII. GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT 20
VIII. HEALTH EFFECTS 21
IX. RECOMMENDATIONS 26
TABLES 23
FIGURES 3 3
APPENDIX A. ORNL BURIAL GROUNDS 46
APPENDIX B. Y-12 WASTE DISPOSAL AREAS 50
APPENDIX C. GLOSSARY 55
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Sad ioa ct l ve Waste Carcpa tgn/Oak Ridge Report
Page
I. BACKGROUND
Oak Ridge Reservation came into existence during World War II, when it was
selected as one of the principal sites for the U.S. Government's all-out effort
to produce the atomic bomb. The Reservation originally came under the juris-
diction of the Manhattan Engineer District of the Army Corps of Engineers, more
widely known as the Manhattan Project, which directed the top secret bomb pro-
ject.
The Mannattan Project, unique among all wartime efforts, brought together
physicists, engineers, chemists, metallurgists and ,other specialists from across
the country. The opportunity to work among Nobel Laureates and the chance to
help bring World War II to an earlier end drew some of the nation's best scient-
ific minds.
Urgency characterized the project. Scientists working on other high prio-
rity wartime projects were reassigned to the Manhattan Project. Under the
command of General Leslie Groves all requests for supplies and personnel were
expedited. Driven by the impression that German physicists were closer to
creating and deploying the world's first nuclear weapon, dedicated teams of
energetic engineers and scientists grappled with the difficult problems of
developing the bomb.
Although several universities and engineering firms were actively working
on the theoretical aspects of the project, what was needed most were places
where experimental theories could be transformed into actual production of the
bomb.
Colonels J.C. Marshall and K.D. Nichols recommended Oak Ridge, Tennessee as
the site for the nation's first atomic plants. To all those involved, the site
seemed ideal: it was in an isolated area, had ample electrical power and an
abundant water supply, was accessible by rail and road, and the area's temperate
climate permitted.outdoor work throughout the year.
Oak Ridge, America's first "Atomic City," virtually sprang up overnight.
The New York architects Skidmore, Owens and Merrill were contracted to design a
community for 13,000 families from scratch, and it was to be designed in 72
hours (Groueff, 1967). Less than two year3 after the Federal Government pur-
chased the site in 1942, Oak Ridge, operating with some 80,000 employees, became
the equivalent of Tennessee's fifth largest city.
In the process, though, the small community of Wheat, Tennessee was dis-
placed. Wheat was known for having the area's best schools and as a center of
cooperative activity spurred by the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Tennessee
Extension. Wheat's residents had an organized cooperative, a school hot lunch
program and a water distribution system between farms. They had also establish-
ed a community playhouse and had plans for a co-op electrification and refrige-
ration program. The community of Wheat,Tennessee no longer exists.
The primary function of the newly created Oak Ridge Reservation was to
produce sufficient uranium-235 to create a bomb. This was no small feat, as
large amounts of uranium-235 had never been separated from uranium-238, and this
had only been shown theoretically possible (Groeuff, 1967). Ridge was also the
site of an experimental plutonium production reactor which served as the model
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Radioacdve ^aste Caitpa iqn/Oan Hiaqe Heport
Page 2
In 1945, two types of atomic bomD were dropped on Japan, one fashioned fm-
uranium-235 and the other from plutonium. The uranium bomb was fabricated from
uranium-235 enriched at the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, while the pluto-
nium weapon was made from plutonium produced at Hanford. All modern nuclear
weapons now employ plutonium.
The Oak Ridge Reservation is made up of three large facilities: Oak Ridge
National Laboratory (ORNL) ; the super secret nuclear weapons comoonent plant (Y-
12); and tne recently shut down gaseous diffusion plant (ORGDP). [See Figure !!
Only the Y-12 Plant continues to play a significant, role in the manufacture or
development of nuclear weapons.
During World War II, the plants were given code names which referred to a
coordinate system developed by the government. The weapons component plant, "Y-
12," the gaseous diffusion plant "K-25," and the Laboratory "X-10" are still
commonly referred to by their wartime code names.
Although the Federal Government owns the land and the facilities, it con-
tracts out the work to private companies, which bid for the opportunity to
manage the operations. The contractors are responsible for creating budgets for
submission to the Department of Energy (DOE), which in turn asks Congress for
appropriations based on the contractors recommendations. Contractors must also
prepare and comply with the appropriate licenses and permits, monitor the fac-
ility, and report their findings to the government annually.
Including Knoxville, an estimated 350,000 people now live within a 25-mile
radius of the Reservation. The city of Oak Ridge, with a population of 28,000,
borders the Reservation to the north. The Federal Government has dominated all
activities in the area since purchasing the 54,000 acre Reservation in 1942.
The majority of Oak Ridge's inhabitants are economically dependent on the
Federal Government for their livelihoods (Sanders, 1977).
In the decades since Oak Ridge was set up, colossal amounts of nuclear
waste have been generated and disposed of at the Reservation. Hundreds of
thousands of curies of waste have accumulated at the site.
In the pages that follow, we examine radioactive waste disposal practices
at the Oak Ridge Reservation. Section I presents a brief history of Oak Ridge,
as well as other useful background infcrmation. Section II provides an overview
of the area's geology, climate and topography. Sections III through VII examine
in detail the waste disposal issues connected with the various facilities making
up the Oak Ridge Reservation. Our focus in these sections is on problems
associated with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which we investigated exten-
sively. However, problems at the Y-12 weapons components plant and the Gaseous
Diffusion Plant are also explored. Section XIII looks at the potential health
effects of radioactive leaks from Oak Ridge, while Section IX recaps our recom-
mendations for remedial action to better safeguard the environment and human
health.
A glossary of the technical terms used in this report may be found in
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Radioactive Waste Campaign/Oak Ridge Report
Page 3
II. GBOIOGY, CLIMATE AND TOPOGRAPHY
Geology. The major rock types found at the Oak Ridge Reservation are Lime-
stones, shales, sandstones and dolomites. The layering and faulting of more
erosion-resistant sandstones, Limestones and dolomites with the weaker, more
easily eroded shales, creates the valley and ridge topography that gives rise to
the physlograpnic province name.
The four major rock formations on the Reservation are the Knox, Chicka-
mauga, Rome and Conasauga. The Knox and the Chickamauga are tne major water-
bearing units in the region. Overall, the rocks in the region are not very
permeable, tnough solution cavities have created by circulating water. These
huge cavities aid in groundwater movement. Much of the precipitation runs off
as surface water.
The rocks throughout the Reservation are highly faulted. Faults in this
area have created a stacking of rock sheets, some of which moved tens of miles
to the northwest millions of years ago. Consequently, normally expected groups
of rocks with younger strata on top of older strata are not always found. This
makes the geology complex and groundwater flow patterns difficult to decipher
without extensive testing.
Climate.The Cumberland Mountains to the northwest and the Smokey Mountains
to the southeast protect and moderate the climate at Oak Ridge. The mountains
shelter the Reservation from severe storms such as tornadoes and high-velocity
windstorms and divert hot southerly winds from the Atlantic. The mean annual
temperature is a mild 58 degrees fahrenheit. The annual 58.8 inches of rain
(10-year average) drives the hydrologic system, creating a shallow water table
and replenishing the extensive surface water system (USGS, 1984).
The large amount of rainfall weathers the limestones and dolomite rocks
creating large amounts of calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) in surface and ground-
water. These two elements in water interfere with sorption of strontium-90 on
soils and sediments, which increases the mobility and aggravates the management
of strontium-90 at the Reservation (Boyle, 1982; NAP, 1985; Spalding, 1979).
Site Drainage. Numerous small creeks flow throughout the Reservation, as
seen in Figure 1. The drainage pattern is trellis, typical of the Valley and
Ridge province. The Reservation is in the Tennessee River Basin and the Clincn
River drainage system. All the streams at the Reservation flow to the Clinch
River. Twenty-three miles downstream from the Reservation the Clinch River
joins the Tennessee River, which eventually flows into the Mississippi. Three
large dams, the Melton Hill and the Norris on the Clinch River, and the Watts
Bar on the Tennessee River, influence the flow of the Clinch River. Melton Kill
Dam, completed in 1963, controls the flow in the Clinch River near the
Reservation. Its main purpose is power generation, not flood control. Cons-
equently, the flow of the Clinch River is pulsed, according to power demands.
The average discharge of streams in the Clinch River and Tennessee River Basins
is shown in Table l.(EMR, 1986).
Nearly all the streams in the Reservation receive waste either by direct
discharge, surface runoff or groundwater discharge. Five tributaries of the
Clinch River drain the Reservation. The different chemical composition of
surface water through the Reservation reflects the contamination added to the
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Radioactive '«aste Canpa Lgr./Oak Ridge Report
Page 4
drain Che Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Bear Creek, East Fork Poplar Cree'k. and
Poplar Creek drain the Y-12 Plant; and Poplar Creek drains the Gaseous Diffusion
Plant. The Clinch River forms the southern boundary of the Reservation, where
the Department of Energy must adhere to more stringent offsite regulations.
Groundwater.Groundwater at Oak Ridge generally flows through fractures,
joints and solution channels in the rock rather than through the rock matrix.
The rocks' low permeability and the area's high rainfall create an extremely
shallow water table with wide seasonal variation. Groundwater is most plentiful
in the upper weathered portion of all the formations. It is not uncommon to
find the water table just six to ten feet below the surface. Not much water
circulates below 200 feet.
The distinctive valley and ridge topography with many closely spaced
streams results in snort pathways from groundwater source to surface water
discharge (NAP, 1985).
'As expected, groundwater in the area generally follows the topography,
northeast trending parallel valleys and ridges. Waste in the weathered zone
normally moves parallel to water table contours. The limestone and dolomite in
the region, however, have the tendency to form solution cavities and channels
when they erode. The randomness of the cavities, channels and fractures created
in the rocks as they erode makes prediction of groundwater and contaminant flow
directions extremely difficult. Groundwater flow cannot always be inferred from
water table contours. For instance, in Bethel Valley, below the weathered zone
of the Chickamauga limestone, the water path depends on the three-dimensional
geometry and mterconnectedness of cavities of lower hydraulic head. The direc-
tion of groundwater flow may have little or no relation to water table contours
and may even leave the drainage basin though no tests to confirm this have been
performed. (Webster, 1976).
III. OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY
Background
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (X-10) functions as a research institute to
"expand knowledge, both basic and applied, in all areas related to energy." It
conducts research in "all areas of modern science and techno logy"(EMR, 1986).
The Laboratory's facilities include nuclear reactors, chemical pilot plants,
research labs, radioisotope production labs and support labs.
Originally the site was selected as the location of the graphite reactor,
which was to serve as the prototype for-the Hanford plutonium production react-
ors. The graphite reactor, the world's first uranium chain reactor with pro-
duction potential, went critical on November 4, 1943, and weighable quantities
of plutonium were soon produced in the facilities (Coobs, 1986). Another faci-
lity, the "Hot Pilot Plant", now Building 3019, was constructed to dissolve
irradiated fuel elements and to separate plutonium from the solution.
The Laboratory has changed its scope and direction from the years of Man-
hattan Project work. Today the Laboratory serves as the Department of Energy's
national center for isotope development, production, sale and distribution.
Over the past four decades, the Laboratory has made some 400,000 isotope ship-
ments valued at $187 million to industry, hospitals universities and government
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Radioactive Waste Campaign/Oak Ridge Report
Page 5
was S400 million, with S50 million appropriated to waste management and remedial
actions. At present, 5,093 people work at the Laboratory.
The expansion of Euel processing research, large scale production of
radioactive isotopes and the operation o£ a variety of reactors produce trie
majority of radioactive waste the Laboratory must dispose of or store.
The radioactive waste generated is in many forms: gaseous, krypton (^Kr),
xer.on 1"'xe, and tritium (^H); solid, settling pond sludge; and liquid, such as
strontium-90, cesium-137, tritium and ruthenium-106.
Hydro logy
ORNL, White Oak Creek and Melton Branch. Near the Laboratory, 1.6 miles
from its source m Chestnut Ridge, White Oak Creek enters Bethel Valley. White
Oak Creek is the major tributary from Oak Ridge National Laboratory to the
Clinch River. Figure 2 shows the streams which flow through the Laboratory
site. Nearly all the waste released to surface water from Laboratory opera-
tions, the waste pit3, trenches, and burial grounds, flows to the Clinch via
white Oak Creek. Most groundwater in Melton Valley flows toward White Oak
Creek, with the small exception of a groundwater divide where water flows toward
Raccoon Creek. White Oak Dam is located 0.6 miles above its confluence with tne
Clinch River. This 0.6 mile section is the last portion of White Oak Creek that
remains within the Department of Energy's controlled area. A substantial part
of the flow of White Oak Creek is liquid waste discharged from the Laboratory
directly into the creek.
Throughout the Laboratory's 43-year history/ several dams have been built
on the Reservation. Their function was two-fold. First, highly contaminated
water in streams would become diluted in the large impoundments created by tr.e
dams; secondly, impounding the water would allow time for radionuclides to bind
to particles and settle out. Both functions served to lower the total radiation
in waste streams emanating from the Laboratory. Thus, the Laboratory was able to
take advantage of this primitive and inexpensive means to reduce the level of
radiation contamination to the level'required by lax Federal standards. Several
proDlems have resulted from the use of these dams, however. First during rain-
storms the system fails. The lake behind the dam no longer can act as a
settling pond, thus allowing large amounts of radionuclides to move over the dan
and offsite. Second, the lakes beds over time have became filled with radioact-
ive sediment, which also undermined their purpose.
White Oak Lake. The largest impoundment on the reservation is White Oak
Lake. The lake was created in 1943, ¦ when an earthen dam was placed on white Oak
Creek. At that time/ the lake's elevation was 750 feet and it covered 25 acres.
In the fall of 1944, a flood raised the lake level to 753.6 feet, one foot over
the dam. Following the storm, a study was undertaken and several recommend-
ations were made:
1. Maintain the lake elevation at 746 feet, since little
could be gained by maintaining the lake level below 740
feet.
2. Stabilize the rocks of the downstream face and place rip
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Radioactive Waste Campaign/Oak Ridge Report
Page 6
3. Open both gates during storm events.
The Lake Level remained at 746.3 feet untiL 1948, when it was Lowered to
"745.3 feet to fadLitate mud sampling.
Opening both gates during flood conditions has served to substantla 1Ly in-
crease the amount of radioactivity passing oeyond White Oak Dam. Most radioact-
ive releases could not be acurately assessed during high flow stages because
monitoring stations could not function under the nigh flow conditions. Because
of this, it has been suggested that the officially reported figures for tne
amount of radionuclides released annually over White Oak Dam should be increased
by 25 to 50 percent to account for radionuclides like cesium which are trans-
ported on sediment, and" that the annual'figure for other radionuclides' which are
more soluble should be increased by a slightly lesser amount (NAP, 1985).
Between 1943 and 1954, so much radioactivity was flushed down from White
Oak Creek from the waste pits and burial grounds that the lake no longer had t.-.e
capacity to dilute the radioactivity coming down the creek. Since the lake no
longer served its purpose, the Laboratory management thought it would be better
to have a larger area for hold radionuclides in the event of a large release. A
decision was made to drain the lake. The fish population was poisoned to
prevent the escape of highly contaminated fish. In October 1955, the lake was
drained, resulting in large releases of radioactivity (See Figure 3), par-
ticularly cesium, downstream (Coobs, 1986).
By 1956 most of the lake bed was covered with vegetation. Ecological
studies were performed and several measurements of the level of radioactivity
were made on White Oak Lake sediments. All studies confirmed that cesium-137
was the most widespread radionuclide in the sediment. The reason: cesium-137,
unlike other radionuclides, is transported in tiny particles rather than in
solution. Large amounts of sediment contaminated with cesium-137 travel down
White Oak Creek to White Oak Lake where it settles to the lake bottom and
accumulates in Lake sediments behind White Oak Dam. Of the 664 curies of radio-
activity estimated to be in sediments behind White Oak Dam, cesium-137 accounts
for 591 curies. See Figure 3 for the annual cesium discharges over White Oak
Dam. The large spike in 1956 was caused by drainage of White Oak Lake.
In 1962 the Laboratory re-established White Oak Lake. The reasons given
were the need for a larger settling basin and the desire to stem ecological
communities from migrating to and from the lake bed. In 1983, Tennessee offi-
cals reported White Oak Lake could be the most highly contaminated lake in the
country (KJ, 1983).
White Oak Oaa. In 1979, Department of Energy subcontractors, Geotek en-
gineers, evaluated White Oak Dam. They judged the dam to be unsafe and feared
the dam could experience a failure at any time and with Little or no warning.
Their study of borings within the dam and the dam's foundation showed fluid or
soft soil conditions, evidence of internal erosion. The engineers strongly
recommended getting the dam to an acceptable risk level at the earliest possible
time (Geotek, 1979).
As a result of the Geotek investigation, the Laboratory decreased the lake
level from 746 feet to 742 feet to reduce the hydrostatic pressure on the dan.
The water released to decrease the lake level released an unknown amount of
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RadioactLve Waste Campaign/Oak Ridge Report
Page 7
root systems were weakening the dam cleared, and they began to monitor the dam's
honzontaL and vertical, alignment. After several options were considered, tne
Laboratory built a sand berm on the downstream side of the dam. The berm was
meant to serve three functions: to add structural integrity and stability to the
dam; to act as a filter to stop soil erosion; and to protect the downstream
face from erosion if the dam were overtopped during a storm. A remaining
proDlem - that the dam's discharge structure did not accommodate the 100-year
storm - was being addressed during 1982.
The remedial measures taken to strengthen the dam were made for a "Low-
Hazard" dam. The classification of a dam as "Low-Hazard" is based strictly on
conventional legal definitions of safety. The standard usually depends only on
the potentia1 -loss of life or property due to.flooding. However, given the large
quantities of radionuclides, particularly cesium, in the lake water and sedi-
ments, a "High Hazard" risk should be applied, and greater measures to prevent
the dam from washing out should be taken. The sand berm would do little to
prevent the dam from collapsing in a major flood. In addition, the dam's
discnarge structure could not accommodate the 100-year flood. Higher hazard
risk dams are usually required to withstand at least 150 percent of the 100-year
flood.
Recommendation: During periods of heavy runoff, cesium-137 contaminated
silt is washed over the White Oak Dam, and downstream. Unless remedied, this
process of downstream contamination during periods of heavy runoff will continue
indefinitely. To prevent this washout of radioactively-contaminated silt, two
alternatives are recommended:
i) White Oak Creek can be diverted, with the White Oak Lake
sediments stabilized in place, or
n) the cesium-contaminated silt can be exhumed, packaged and stored
above ground. Remote equipment should be developed to mini-
mize occupational radiation exposures.
Water Under the Dam. In addition to the radionuclides that are released
over the dam annually, an untold number of more soluble radionuclides may be
seeping under the Dam. One study has estimated that up to an additional 10
percent of the annual amounts reported of the more soluble radionuclides, such
as strontium-90, may be seeping under White Oak Dam (Boyle, 1982).
The Upper Oik* and Interaediats Pond. An earth impoundment, the Upper
Dike, also on White Oak Creek, was built in early 1944. It was washed out,
however,, in the fall of 1944. Although' the earth impoundment was gone, a large
settling pond remained until 1951. This area, adjacent to burial ground four,
accumulated 1.5 feet of sediment and is referred to as the former Intermediate
Pond, or flood plain #1. The laboratory had not realized the flood plain's high
contribution of strontium-90 to White Oak Creek until 1978, when an in-depth
study was performed. Prior to the study, the strontium-90 was thought to eman-
ate solely from burial ground four (Stueoer. 1978).
The sediment from the former Intermediate Pond contains:
8-3,000 pCi/g Strontium
4.5-7200 pCi/g Cesium
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Radioactive waste Campa ign/.Oak Ridge Report
Page 3
Laboratory officials attempted to stabilize burial ground four before
worrying about the Intermediate Pond. However, large amounts of loose sedimer.*-
from the Intermediate Pond could be washed downstream in large storms. This
process accounts for part of the total strontium-90 released at white Oak. Dam.
The drained lake left one million cubic feet of contaminated sediments
containing
1038 Curies Ruthenlum-106
704 Curies Cesiucn-137
152 Curies CoDalt-60
L7 Curies rare earths
15 Curies Strontium-90
Liquid Radioactive Waste at the Laboratory. Liquid waste at Laboratoryis
classified as low-level, intermediate level, or high-level Dy the relative
amount of curies.
o Low < 1.1 mCi/1, 4mCi/gal
o Intermediate >1.1 mCi/1 < 1.3 Ci/1 or 5 Ci/gal
o High > 1.3 Ci/1 or 5 Ci/gal
This is the only site in the country which divides its liquid radioactive
waste into three categories. Waste is generally classed as high or low-level.
The intermediate level classification allows some waste to be handled with fewer
precautions than if it were high level waste. What might seem like a more
careful classification, then, actually allows some highly radioactive waste to
oe handled less carefully.
From 1951 through 1965 the Laboratory disposed of liquid radioactive waste
in unlmed pits and trenches. These pits and trenches are located along tributa-
ries to White Oak Creek between burial grounds five and six. These pits were
intentionally designed to leak the radioactive waste dumped into them. The
success of these pits was measured by their rate of leakage, with low leakage
rates viewed as "failures." Pit number 2, the most "successful," leaked at an
intermediate rate, but in all directions. The contents of these pits and the
times they were in use are listed in Table 2.
In 1966, the Laboratory stopped disposing of liquid waste in pits and
trenches and began disposing of the waste by hydrofracture. Hydrofrature begins
by drilling deep hole3 (1000 feet) down to the Pumpkin Shale of Melton Valley.
Once the holes are drilled, water is forced down them at high pressure to
fracture the shale. After these artifical fractures have been made in the
shale, a grout is mixed using a special- cement and liquid radioactive waste.
The grout is then £orced down the 1000-foot deep shafts where it spreads out
into the fractured shale (NAP, 1985).
Hydrofracturing was halted in 1985 for several reasons: numerous
pieces of machinery and buildings had become contaminated, the state of Tennesse
was changing the permit requirements and radioactive waste had migrated from the
"permanently stablized" hydrofracture site3.
Waste Disposal. Bethel and Melton are the two valleys at Oak Ridge
National Laboratory where burial grounds were established. Bethel Valley is
underlain by limestones, while Melton Valley is underlain by interbedded shales
-------
From the beginning of soLid -waste disposal in 1944, the Reservation manage-
ment used shallow cut-and-fill techniques, similar to those of municipal land-
fills, for solid radioactive waste disposal. Barrels of radioactive waste were
dumped into unlined trenches. Little or no effort was made to isolate the waste
from the environment. Across the Reservation in Bethel, Melton and Bear Creek
Valleys, long unlined disposal trenches were excavated. The trenches varied in
length from 50 feet to 400 feet, in width from 8 feet to 30 feet, and in deoth
from 3 feet to 14 feet. The variable trench size depended on the local topo-
graphy (hills, oedrock and stream patterns), the snape of the burial ground ar.d
the mechanical limits of the back hoes, rather than scientifically predetermined
dimensions calculated to prevent leakage. Alpha-emitting waste was generally
placed in auger holes (one to two feet in diameter, and fifteen feet deep) and
capped with concrete; however, records.state that alpha-emitting.was.te was also
placed in unlined trenches and generally capped with native soil.
Burial grounds one, two and three were established in Bethel Valley under
Army jurisdiction. Burial grounds four, five and six were established under the
jurisdiction of the Atomic Energy Commission and were dug in Melton Valley. No
records were kept on the contents of burial grounds one and two and the early
records for burial grounds three, four and five were destroyed in a fire in
1961 .
Solid Radioactive Waste Disposal at the Laboratory. Solid low-level waste
disposal began at the Laboratory with a memorandum, dated January 5, 1944, from
Dr. S.T. Cantril of the Medical Department of the Central Safety Committee to
Mr. B. Smith, Secretary of the Central Safety Committee:
"It would seem that provision has not been made for the disposal of act-
ively contaminated broken glassware, of materials not sufficiently clean to be
used in other work. I am suggesting that a metal trash can with cover, with red
lettering on the can, be provided for the disposal of such materials as can be
placed in the trash can. Mr. Schwertfeger has suggested that a suitable loca-
tion for the burying of this material could be provided over on the burning
ground. A suitable pit with enclosed fence could be made."
Following up on Cantril's recommendations, burial ground one was opened in
early-1944. Over the next 42 years, waste disposal continued in the same man-
ner. As radioactive waste was created, more land was sacrificed for radioactive
waste disposal. As one burial ground filled up the next was opened. Larger and
larger tracts of land were designated as waste disposal areas. So far, over 200
of the Reservation have been sacrificed for radioactive waste disposal.
The first three burial grounds were sited in Bethel Valley, which is under-
lain by limestones. The areas were selected for their proximity, accessibility
and convenience to the Laboratory. The geologic and hydro logic characteristics
of the areas had no influence whatso ever in the siting process.
A geologic investigation from 1948-1^950, conducted by Professor P.B. Stock-
dale of the University of Tennessee, concluded that underground radioactive
contamination of the limestone of Bethel Valley seemed a geologic inevitablili-
ty. He recommended that all future contaminated solids be buried in the
Conasauga shale belt of the Melton Valley. He reasoned "such rock (Conasauga
shale) was generally quite impermeable and not subject to solution. Hence, the
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Radioactive Waste Campaign/Oak Ridge Report
Page 10
stones . "
Stockdale's advice was accepted. The three much larger burial grounds
(four, five and six) created after his report were all located in the Conasauga
shale belt in Melton Valley. Unfortunately, the sorptive characteristics of the
shale were misunderstood (Webster, 1976). The shallow water table and the ubi-
quitous creeks and streams have proven Melton Valley to be a far more dangerous
location for waste disposal than Bethel Valley was.
What was originally seen as a safe, secure and inexpensive way to handle
radioactive and hazardous waste has turned into a nightmare. Leakage from all
the burial grounds mentioned here has irretrievably contaminated not only tne
nearby rocks and soils, but. groundwater and,surface water flow, have,carried-
tremendous amounts of radionuclides long distances from the site. It is douDt-
ful tnat the areas will ever return to their natural state.
The successive contamination of the Laboratory site is shown on Figures 4
through 7, illustrating contamination in the 1950's to the L980's. The figures
dramatically show how more and more land at the site has been devoted to waste
disposal and/or has become contaminated.
Groundwater Surveillance. Monitoring for radionuclides around the burial
grounds at the Laboratory has been poorly done and is monitoring and is inade-
quate for the amount of contamination on the site. Little monitoring was done
before the 1970's because of the widespread belief that these areas did not pose
a serious threat to the environment. Consequently, funds were not allocated to
initiate and maintain a program of routine burial ground surveillance. Webster
asserts that the few efforts after P.B. Stockdale's 1950 study, and prior to
Webster's own in 1976, were accomplished with funds assigned to other activi-
ties .
The earliest record of burial ground surveillance is from in 1946, when
seven soil samples were taken from burial ground one to determine alpha activi-
ty. The first subsurface monitoring began with Stockdale's 1950 investigation,
after which 51 exploratory wells were drilled in Bethel Valley (the site of the
first three burial grounds). Samples were taken to determine the spread of
contamination from burial grounds one and three. Nine years later, wells were
drilled in Melton Valley near burial ground four to determine the hydrologic
conditions after the burial ground had closed. During the following two years,
1960 and 1961, the study was continued as wells were installed near White Oak
Creek and its tributaries to determine the amount of contamination coming from
burial grounds three and four. At that time, the Laboratory discharge was so
highly contaminated with radionuclides that the levels of contamination from
burial ground four seemed relatively small. Well3 at burial ground three, four,
and five were sampled in 1964 to investigate the movement of contamination.
Four years later> in 1968, a large amount of tritium was discovered in White Oak
Creek. Wells* seeps and surface drainages near burial ground five were sampled
to identify the sources of contamination. Wells were not sampled again until a
large burial ground study by Duguid was undertaken in late 1973 and early 1974
(Webster, 1976).
In the 1970's, as the amount of contamination released from the Laboratory
decreased, the contamination leaching out of burial grounds tooJi on greater
relative significance. Over the last decade, the discovery of contaminated
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Radioactive wasce Campaign/ga< Riage Report
Page 11
releasing radionuclides to the environment. The problem of waste management has
grown from one of just disposing of waste created during the previous calendar
year to monitoring and pinpointing the numerous sources of radionuclides re-
leased to the environment.
Information concerning the leakage from the burial grounds came mainly from
surface water monitoring.
Groundwater Monitoring at the Laboratory. The groundwater monitoring net-
work at ORNL was much more extensive than the one at Gaseous Diffusion Plant (K-
25), or at the Y-12 Plant, but it, too, was expanded in 1985. Eighteen ground-
water monitoring wells were sampled for the first time near surface impoundments
.3524, 7905-7908, ,,and 3509-3540. All ,18. wells sampled, exceeded, the Environmental
Protection Agency's interim drinking water standard for the gross beta. One
well, 31-3003, near surface impoundment 3524, exceeded gross beta standard by
1,457,140 %. That same well exceeded the EPA's interim drinking water standard
for gross alpha by 9,333 percent.*
* The Environmental Protection Agency's interim drinking water standard for
gross beta is 4 mrem/yr, yet the Department of Energy employs a conversion
factor Of 0.35 pCi/1 (EMR, 1985; p.181), sometimes 3.5 pCi/1 (EMR, 1985; p.
163). We believe both DOE conversion factors are erroneous, but nevertheless
employ the figure 0.35 pCi/1 to compare releases to the standard.
In the groundwater monitoring network around the burial grounds at the Oak
Ridge National Laboratory, the water was tested for cobalt-60, strontium-90,
cesium-137, tritium, gross alpha and gross beta.
In 1985, cobalt-60 and cesium-137 levels were highest in the waste pit and
trench areas, with 20,000 pCi/ml and 32 pCi/ml levels respectively.
Gross alpha and strontium-90 highest levels were highest in burial ground
four. Burial ground five had the highest recorded levels of tritium.
Surface Mater Surveillanes. Surface drainages received much greater at-
tention and surveillance than the burial grounds. A potential health hazard
resulted from the Laboratory's continuous discharges, and the Department of
Energy needed to stay within the maximum permissible levels for effluents dis-
charged to the Clinch River. The Laboratory's daily grab monitoring began in
1944. Flow proportion sampling, a more accurate method became operational in
1961.
Between 1943 and 1948, only gross alpha and gross beta emissions were
sampled. Since then, a wider variety of radionuclides had been tested for, but
the present sampling regime should be even more comprehensive.
Surface Hater Monitoring at the Laboratory
The Laboratory's 1985 surface stream monitoring showed increased levels of
contamination for several radionuclides. Strontium-90, the radionuclide in
Laboratory affluents that poses the greatest health threat, totaled 3 Curies, a
15 percent increase over 1984 (see Figure 8). Cobalt-60 had the most dramatic
increase of any radionuclide monitored at the entire Reservation. The amount of
cobalt-60 found in surface water in 1985 increased 265 percent over 1984. Two
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Radioactive Waste Campaign/Qak Ridge Report
Page 12
'The decrease in tritium found in surface water streams was not credited to
remedial actions taken by the Laboratory. The decrease was due in part to less
precipitation in 1985 (EMR, 1986). The relative contribution of various areas
of the Laboratory to the total effluent is shown in Table 2. As is seen, the
burial grounds are the major contributors to strontium-90 releases from the
Laboratory, sometimes accounting for 85 percent of the total strontium-90 re-
lease .
IV. BURIAL GROOND FOUR: MUOR CONTRIBUTOR OF STR0NTI0M-90
A CASE HISTORY
• Buria-1 ground four was supposed .to represent the beginning of a new era in
waste disposal at the Laboratory. Following Stockdale's recommendation, burial
ground four was the first of all subsequent burial grounds to be sited in the
Conasauga shale belt in the Melton Valley. Burial ground four was over three
times as large, and in use three years longer, than burial ground three. Number
four is also the largest contributor of strontium-90 to surface and groundwater
of all of the Laboratory's burial grounds or operations.
Opened in February 1951, burial ground four was in use while the Laboratory
was designated the U.S. southern regional burial ground. The offsite radioact-
ive waste increased the annual amount of land taken from 1.5 acres to five.
Incoming offsite waste shipments are estimated to have accounted for approx-
imately 50 percent of the waste by volume placed in burial ground four. The
amount of radioactivity was supposed to have been monitored, but few records,
especially on the larger shipments, were kept. Today less than 5 percent of
solid waste disposed of at ORNL is from neighboring Department of Energy facili-
ties, and less than 1 percent comes from other sites (NAP, 1985). The few
records on the contents of burial ground four that were made were destroyed in a
fire in 1961. Recent reports estimate that 110,000 curies are buried there (NAP,.
1985). 1
The construction practices for burial ground four varied little from pre-
vious or present operations. Simply dumping waste into long, unlined trenches
was and is the primary method of waste disposal. In addition to the trenches,
fifty auger holes along Lagoon Road were filled with materials contaminated by
fission products with relatively short half-lives. Beta- and gamma- contami-
nated waste was placed in trenches and covered with native soil. Trenches con-
taining alpha-contaminated waste were capped with concrete.
Burial ground four reached capacity in 1959, but the surface continued to
receive uncontaminated fill and construction debris, which raised the land
surface and the water table. This brought the waste into continuous contact
with groundwater.
Cowser et £l, in a 1961 report on solid waste disposal at the Laboratory,
noted, "most of the waste in burial ground four is in contact with underground
water, and radionuclides have been detected in wells, seeps and streams in the
area." At that time, the problem at burial ground four did not seem serious
enough to waste managers to warrant a new policy, and nothing was done to stem
the release of radionuclides.
In 1962, the amount of radionuclides discharged directly from the Labor-
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Radioactive iVasce Campaign/Oak Ridge Report
Page 13
portion of White Oak Creek below burial ground four took on greater relative
significance. Higher levels of strontium-90 were found below burial ground four
than were in present effluents from the Laboratory. At that time no in-depth
studies were undertaken to determine why the levels were so high below the
burial ground.
Prior to 1975, the runoff north of Lagoon Road passed over burial ground
four through three natural channels. These channels then entered a small tribu-
tary near the Intermediate Pond, which then flowed east to White Oak Creek. In
1975, several recommendations were made to remedy this condition:
o Construct a paved interceptor ditch along the northern side of Lagoon
Road'to collect 'surface water ¦'running'over the'buria 1 ground.
o Pave the three natural channels.
o Cap the burial ground with a bentonite seal to prevent water from infil-
trating.
The interceptor ditch and the three drainage channels where subsequently
paved, but budgetary constraints prevented the seal from being constructed.
A study of sources of strontium-90 between sampling station 2 and 3 on
White Oak Creek (Stueber, 1978) found burial ground four to be the major contri-
butor, Dut the former Intermediate Pond's flood plain sediments were found to
make a significant contribution as well.
Also, in 1978 D. Edgar found that the existing stream flow monitoring
system in the White Oak Creek watershed was unable to track the amount of
radionuclides flowing past it during high floods. He calculated that between
1972 and 1977 there were a total of 29 days when the migration of radioactive
waste down White Oak Creek went unmonitored. These days are crucial because
large amounts of radionuclides are mobilized during high flow stages. Conse-
quently, the Reservation could not accurately determine how much radioactive
waste was leaving the Reservation.
Tamura et_ a_l, 1980, showed that no significant decline in radionuclide
release resulted from the 1975 remedial efforts to stem the flow of water and
radionuclides.
A paper by Steuber et_ a_l in 1981 attempted to evaluate the source of
strontium-90 in White Oak Creek Basin.. It concluded that burial ground four wa
a major nonpoint source of radionuclide contamination, but found that different
areas released different amounts of radionuclides depending on the amount of
rainfall and onwhether the contamination resulted from surface or groundwater
flow. For example, burial ground four released by far the greatest amount of
strontium-90 during periods of normal to high rainfall, but during periods of
low rainfall, burial ground five and the ,Laboratory discharges were found to
contribute equal amounts, the sum of which totaled more than that coming from
burial ground four.
The study was also able to show that strontium-90 assumed to have come fro
burial ground four actually emanated from several different areas. The two new
areas identified were the Northwest Tributary and the remains of the Interme-
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Radioactive waste Campa Lgrr/Oak Ridge Report
Page
diate Pond contributed greater amounts of contamination because surface water
rushing over Che area was picking up contamination from the sediments.
(Stueber, 1981b).
Huff £t a_L, 1982, investigated the hydrologic factors and transport mecnan-
isms Leading to migration of strontium-90 from burial ground four. They esti-
mated that groundwater flow through the burial ground accounted for 20 percent
of the strontium-90 flux from burial ground four. They predicted an 30 percent
reduction of strontium-90 influx from burial ground four if the runoff from the
ups lope area could be reduced. Based on Huff et aTs findings, a surface water
diversion system was designed and constructed in SeptemDer, 1983. The diversion
system included a paved interceptor channel to collect the runoff north of
Lagoon-Road,- four catch' basins to collect runoff from interceptor channels and
upslope areas, and a storm drainage system which diverts the runoff around trie
burial ground.
The diversion system suggested by Huff et_ ad decreased the average total
flow by 56 percent in the burial ground tributaries and decreased the flux of
strontium-90 by 44 percent. Thus the actions suggested by Huff et_ al have
modified, but not solved, the problem. The full extent of strontium-90
contamination at the Laboratory site is shown on Figure 9 which records
contaminated sediments. As is clearly seen, the sediments near burial ground
four are severaly contaminated with strontium-90.
Groundwater Data Near Burial Ground Four
Well 191 (in the middle of burial ground four) showed concentrations of
about 10 pCi/1 in 1961. No monitoring data are available from then until 1973,
but measurements since then show concentrations have been about 30-40 pCi/1
(Huff, 1982).
The National Research Council interpreted the groundwater data from burial
ground four as "representing a relatively 'mature' badly-managed burial ground
-- one in which extensive surface and near surface flow have caused radionuc-
lides to migrate downgradient, bypassing sorption by the shale."
Because changes in burial grounds four, five and six may only alter the
time of initial discharge of radionuclides, burial ground four serves as the
example against which present and anticipated performance of other existing and
proposed burial grounds can be measured (NAP, 1985).
Unfortunately, the groundwater data available are insufficient to derive a
more quantitative analysis of migration as a function of time.
Burial grounds four, five and six lie over the same rock units, have
received waste in the same manner and are in the same drainage basin. One dif-
ference, however, is that burial grounds five and six each cover a much larger
area than number four. This, of course, will present greater problems for
monitoring and containing contamination. As burial grounds five and six mature,
they will mimic the pattern of surface and groundwater contamination now dis-
played by burial ground four. A detailed description of the six burial grounds
at the Laboratory is contained in Appendix A.
Recoaaendatlon. As part of the Department of Energy's Low Level Waste Disposal,
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.Radioace Lve ^aste Campa iqn/Oak Ridge Report
Page 15
exhumed, its contents repackaged and placed in above ground vaults. Equipment
should be developed to minimize occupational exposures. Important exhumation
and repackaging techniques, applicable to commercial and other Department of
Energy sites, such as Fernald, Ohio would thereby be demonstrated. With this
experience in hand, the Department of Energy should then proceed to exhume the
remainder of burial ground four. Burial grounds five and six should be comple-
tely characterized in order to evaluate the prognosis for exhumation and above
ground storage.
V. WHY DO BURIAL, GROUNDS LEAK?
There are numerous reasons, some natural and other caused by man, that have
led to high.levels of contamination throughout the Reservation. Some,of these
are discussed below.
Hydro logy and Geo logy
The migration of radionuclides from landfills through any lithology is
controlled mostly by the ability of the rocks to absorb or bind to radionuc-
lides, and also by how fast the groundwater flows through them. The speed of
groundwater flow is affected by several parameters, including: the amount of
weathering affecting the porosity (the amount of rock that is pore space); the
permeability (the ability of a rock to transfer water or other fluids through
cracks and pore spaces); the ground water gradient; and the bedding planes (the
planar surfaces separating different grain sizes or compositions indicating
different depositional surfaces).
The rocks underlying the Reservation are limestones and Low permeability
shale. Limestones dissolve easily in acids. The acidic soils and high annual
rainfall in the area make the surface water and groundwater acidic, causing
decomposition and dissolution of the limestones. As the limestones have dis-
solved through geologic time, an enormous number of underground pathways (sol-
ution channels) have been created for radioactive waste to escape through. The
high annual rainfall, combined with the rocks' low permeability, creates a
shallow water table. Throughout most of the Reservation, water is in the upper
portion, or "weathered zone." The shallow water table makes it impossible to
isolate waste in shallow trenches from the groundwater. The extensive surface
water system criss-crosses the reservation, forming transport networks from the
burial grounds to distant creeks and rivers.
Geochemistry
Calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) iri the surface and groundwater, by products
of the natural dissolution of limestones and dolomites in the area, interfere
with the binding of strontium-90 on soils and sediments. This increases the
mobility of strontium-90 which aggravates its management on the Reservaton (NAP,
1984).
Chemi3try
Complexing agents, such as the organic chelates used in decommissioning
operations and the natural organic acids in the soil, promote the formation of
strong complexes with certain radionuclides. These reduce the capacity of the
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Radioactive Waste Campa Lgrr/Oak Ridge Report
Page '.6
EDTA (ethylenediaminetetracid), an extremely strong complexing agent com-
monly used in decontamination operations at Reservation, is potentiating the mi-
gration of radionuclides. After decontamination efforts were completed, EDTA,
along with intermediate radioactive waste, was disposed of in intermediate
liquid waste pits and trenches at the Laboratory. EDTA has mobilized the radio-
active waste so that It is migrating from the waste pits (Means, 1978). EDTA is
particularly effective in mobilizing cobalt.
Yet another strong complexing agent is tnbuty 1-n-phospnate, employed in
cnemically separating plutonium from uranium and fission products. Placed in a
burial ground, TBP serves to mobilize plutonium.
The disposal of'these-types of complexing agents with radioactive waste
creates a perilous situation, allowing radioactive waste to move rapidly from
landfills into the surrounding environment.
Disposal Method
Burial grounds also leak as a result of the crude method of waste disposal.
Long trenches dug within or below the water table are left unlined and are
subsequently filled with radioactive waste. Burial grounds leak most severely
wnen water infiltrates the trenches, mixing with radionuclides and carrying the
contamination with it as it moves toward surface streams. Small ]oints, faults,
cracks, and fissures in the surrounding rocks become pathways for migrating
water tainted with radioactive waste.
How Does Water Invade Burial Grounds
The burial grounds are intruded by water in several ways. The most dif-
ficult to remedy is the intrusion by groundwater. The burial grounds have been
dug into or below the water table. Water then flows naturally through the
burial grounds, mixing with the "disposed-of " waste and carrying it out of the
burial grounds. To remedy this problem, groundwater has to be diverted from the
burial grounds (a very difficult endeavor) or the waste has to be exhumed.
A second way water invades the burial ground and carries contamination frorr.
it is the "bathtub" effect. The native fill used to cover the trenches acts
like a sponge to absorb water from rainfall and from surface water flowing over
the top. Any burial ground dug into Less permeable ground fills up with water -
like a bathtub - and overflows. This spreads the contamination to the surround-
ing soil and to the surface water.
The third way contamination escape's the burial grounds is through surface
water runoff. The burial grounds (1 acre to 68 acres in surface area) have
natural drainages flowing over them. The water flowing over the burial ground
picks up contamination and transports it to larger streams. Surface water can
also be absorbed by the burial grounds, and reappear as it seeps further down
gradient.
Each of the burial grounds at the Reservation is leaching radioactivity.
All of the burial grounds are subject to at least two of the above scenarios for
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Radioactive Waste Campaign/Oak Ridge Report
Burial. Ground Contents Must be Stored Above Ground
Page i 7
Recommendation. The Oak Ridge Reservation contains over 200 acres of radioact-
lvely contaminated bunai grounds, pits and ponds, through which Large amounts
of water, primariLy surface water and precipitation, flow. The water carries
with it Large amounts of strontium-90 and uranium. To remedy this grave prob-
lem, the contents of the bunaL grounds must be exhumed, packaged and placed in
above-ground storage vaults above the water table. As part of Department of
Energy's Low Level Waste Disposal, Development and Demonstration program, Oa*.
Ridge is developing alternative storage and disposal technologies for low-Level
waste. We therefore recommend that the DOE extend this program by deveLoping
above ground storage vaults. Further remote equipment to minimize occupationaL
exposures¦when the contents of burial- grounds are exhumed should be developed.
A large number of above ground storage vaults have been constructed by
utilities within and outside the United States. These are massive concrete
boxes, loaded from the top with cranes, and covered with concrete slabs. TVA's
Sequoyah facility employs TV cameras and remote equipment so that occupational
exposures can be minimized. Since these vaults sit above the water table, the
siting requirements are not severe. We recommend that the DOE, under the new
Disposl plan, develop the equipment and procedures to safely exhume the contents
of burial grounds, and repacakge the contents.
VI. Y-12 PLANT
The Y-12 plant is situated in the Bear Creek Valley, just three miles from
the heart of Oak Ridge. Scarboro, established as a segregated black section of
Oak Ridge in the nineteen forties, is the nearest portion of Oak Ridge to the Y-
12 Plant. Scarboro is less than one mile from the Y-12 plant perimeter.
The Y-12 Plant is approximately 1.67 square miles in area, with its long
axis parallel to the ridges. Of this area, approximately 600 acres are fenced
in. The Oak Ridge Y-12 plant is analogous to a small industrial city with many
systematically arranged buildings and streets serving the plant (Sanders, 1977).
Employing over 7,000 workers, and with a FY 1987 budget of $610 million,
the Y-12 Plant plays a central role in the production of nuclear weapons. ( pers
com James Alexander, 1987). Y-12 fabricates the internal components, including
experimental designs to be tested underground at the Nevada Test Site. The
plant receives heavy water from Savannah River Plant (SRP), another Department
of Energy weapons production facility in South Carolina, combines it with lith-
ium and shapes it into tablets for the facility at AmarilLo, Texas (Schlesinger,
1979).. The Y-12 Plant also prepares highly enriched uranium (HEU) metal fuel
for the plutonium and tritium production reactors at the Savannah River Plant in
South Carolina. This HEU fuel drives the SRP reactors, producing excess neut-
rons which bombard uranium-238 targets and lithium, in order to produce plut-
onium and tritium.
The main components of a nuclear weapon consist of an internal core of
plutonium, surrounded by a beryllium reflector, explosive charges to produce a
critical plutonium mass, and tritium to enhance the explosion. The entire
warhead assembly fits within a uranium-238 shell. The internal plutonium core
is produced at Rocky Flats, outside of Denver, Colorado; the detonators are
produced by Monsanto at Mound Laboratory in Miamisburg, outside of Dayton, Ohio;
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produces all the machined components in the internal nuclear weapons assembly,
including the shaped beryllium and tritium forms, and the external uranium-233
shell. The plant makes parts for every major nuclear weapon in the Unites
States arsenal including: the Pershing II, Mmuteman II, Lance, Trident c-4,
and cruise missiles. Y-12 also helped engineer and develop the MX missile. The
explosives and finished warhead are put together at the Pantex plant in
Amarillo, Texas. As a result of nuclear weapons production, the Y-12 plant has
beryllium and tritium waste streams. In terms of health effects, beryllium is
similar to asbestos.
In producing highly enriched uranium metal (about 70 percent uraniun-235)
for the SRP reactors, the Y-12 plant is similar in concept to tne rernald plant,
which produces low enriched uranium metal, with a slight alteration in the
industrial process, and' the heed "to ' size equipment" to'avoid "a nuclear reaction.
Highly enriched uranium is received from SRP and Idaho Chemical Processing Plant
in the form of uranyl hexahydrate (UNH) liquid and uranium trioxide (UO3) (so-
lid), respectively. UNH is converted to UO-j by denitration, to uranium dioxide
(UO2) by introduction of hydrogen, to uranium tetrafluoride (UF4) with anhydrous
hydrofluoric acid, and the uranium metal under high temperature. The liquid UNH
arrives from SRP in tank trailer trucks containing 3,800 to 5,000 gallons UNH.
Approximately 1 to 4 tank trailers per week are shipped from SRP to the Y-12
plant (Egl1, 198 5).
The Idaho Chemical Processing Plant, which recovers uranium from experimen-
tal (including Brookhaven, New York) reactors and submarine nuclear reactors,
ships solid UO^ to the Y-12 plant. Over the years, the ratio of SRP/ICPP
uranium shipped has been 4 to 1, though with more submarine reactors, and fewer
SRP reactors now on-line, the ratio has become lower.
Recycled uranium from SRP and ICPP contains trace contaminants, particul-
arly neptumum-237 and fission products, most of which were routinely released
to the S-3 Pond when it was operating. The prime fission products are techne-
tium-99, cesium-137, strontium-90 and ruthenium-106.
Hydrology
Bear Creek, Bast Fork Poplar Creek. The headwaters of East Fork Poplar Creek
are on the Y-12 site where flow is controlled by New Hope pond. (See Figure 1.)
New Hope pond, is a man-made pond that receives liquid waste from the Plant.
The East Fork of Poplar Creek drains both Y-12 and the city of Oak Ridge. Its
flow is augmented by Y-12 wastewater and the city of Oak Ridge's sewage treat-
ment plant. East Fork Poplar Creek has the highest levels of several contami-
nants at the Reservation reflecting the influence of effluents from Y-12.
Approximately six million gallons per day of dilution water are discharged
to East Fork of Poplar Creek before it enters New Hope Pond. AIL discharge
parameters are measured after dilution and in concentration only. The permit
does not limit polluants in terms of loading pounds per day, and thus by design,
allows dilution in order to meet the permissible limits (TDHE, 1983). (In pri-
vate industry individual process discharges are monitored for concentration and
loading, and dilution is not allowed as a treatment technique).
In 1973, a disposal basin was created just south of New Hope pond. It
received sludge dredged annually from New Hope Pond. Tests below it show a
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Radioactive Waste Campa ign/.Oak Ridge Report
Page 19
Hope Pond and south away from the pond.
Bear Creek drains the Y—12 Bear Creek Valley burial grounds, but not the
site itself. Ten years ago no fish and few, if any, benthic invertebrates
inhabited a reach of Bear Creek from the headwaters of the S-3 ponds at the Y-12
Plant for a distance of at least 1.25 miles to below the sanitary landfill and
Oil Landfarm area at the Y-12 Plant (EMR, 1986). Seepage for S-3 Ponds created
an acutely toxic environment characterized by low pH and high levels of trace
elements.
Geology
The Maynardsville -limestone in Bear Creek Valley (site of 65 acres of Y-12
burial grounds) often contains cavities that are several yards wide and extend
at least 30-40 yards below the surface. Water is very easily transmitted
through these large cavities allowing groundwater to travel further and more
rapidly. (EMR, 1986).
Waste Management at Y-12.
The Y-12 Plant operates a large sanitary disposal area two miles west of
the plant which services the entire Reservation. About 1.8 miles from the plant
are several low-level radioactive waste burial grounds composed mostly of
unlined trenches. There are in Bear Creek Valley and are called burial grounds
A, B, C and D. Each is surrounded by a locked fence, which is opened only by
authorized persons for entry or exit. First opened in the early 1950's, this
area received radioactive waste from Y-12 plant operations (See appendix B).
The placement of the burial grounds is such that contamination reaches both Bear
Creek and the East Fork Poplar Creek. Groundwater flow in the burial ground area
is to the southwest, parallel to the stream drainage, and is intercepted by
streams.
Operations at.Y-12 were so sloppy and so much radioactive and hazardous
waste was escaping from the burial grounds in Bear Creek that no fish and almost
no benthic invertebrate life was able' to subsist in Bear Creek. The only "good
thing" about this was that since no aquatic life was able to survive in Bear
Creek, there were no aquatic life leaving the drainage and spreading contamin-
ation (EMR, 1985).
In addition to the burial grounds, the Y-12 Plant operates several
other waste disposal areas, including the Oily Landfarm, Isolation Area, New
Hope Pond Sludge Disposal Basin and Oil Retention Pond (See appendix B). The
waste disposal areas for the Y-12 Plant are shown in Figure 10. In Figure 11,
the spreading contamination around the waste disposal areas is shown.
Groundwater Monitoring at the Y-12 Plant
Before the 1983 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Department of
Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency and the State of Tennessee, only 17
wells were routinely monitored for groundwater contamination at the Y-12 plant,
and none of the results were reported in the annual Environmental Monitoring
Report.
After the Memorandum of Understanding, the Y-12 plant increased the number
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Radioactive Waste Campaign/Oak Ridge Report
Page 20
Act (RCRA). The number of monitoring wells at Y-12 is still only one-third trie
number at the Laboratory where over 465 total groundwater analyses were ser-
formed at the Laboratory's 100 wells (EMR, 1986).
No extensive geological studies had been conducted at y-12 prior to tne
Memorandum of Understanding of 1983. As a result, it has been impossible to
present an interpretation of groundwater flow at Y-12. More data has begun to
be collected (EMR, 1984). During the past three years, several agencies, in-
cluding the Unites States Geological Survey, USGS, have been brought in to
preform tnese geological studies.
Recent Groundwater Monitoring at the Y-12 Plant
concentrations of radioactivity in groundwater monitoring wells were
slightly lower overall in 1985 than they were in 1984; however, all levels of
both gross alpha and gross beta exceeded EPA's interim drinking water standard.
o The maximum readings at all wells in the Y-12 groundwater net-
work exceed the gross alpha and gross beta interim drinking water
standards.
o The gross alpha standard of 15 pCi/1 was exceeded by
between 113 percent and 3,333 percent
o The gross beta standard of 0.35 pCi/1 was exceeded by
between 7,257 percent to 314,285 percent. (See footnote on p. 11)
Both of the highest levels were found at the site of the former S-3 ponds.
Although the ponds have been closed, the ground water below them continues to be
highly contaminated by radionuclides.
Historic Surface Water Release
Over the past 40 years, the Y-12 Plant has released a reported 113.54
curies, or nearly 400,000 pounds, liquid uranium to the environment. Although
the surface water discharges for uranium decreased from 1981 to 1984, the
amount suddenly increased againd in 1985. No explanation for the increase is
given in the Environmental Monitoring Report for 1985 (see figure 12).
VII. GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLAOT
The Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, put on standby in 1933, enriches
uranium in the U-235 isotope. This is accomplished by forcing uranium through a
series of 3ieves, with holes sized such that U-235 more easily passes through
more easily than the U-238. A Gaseous Diffusion Plant is essentially many
stages of pumps, coolers and sieves, with facilities to load and unload uranium
hexafluoride (UFg). UFg, when heated above 130°F, becomes a gas. Natural
uranium, containing 0.711% U-235, must be enriched to 2.7% to 3.4% U-235 in
order to efficiently operate LWR's (Light' water reactors).
It has been DOE's policy to slowly batch feed recycle UFg into the gaseous
diffusion plant. As a result, certain contaminants, particularly, technetium-99
and manganese, have been introduced into the plant. Being much lighter than U,
technetium fluorides are transported rapidly through the upper stages of the
-------
stages of the GDP. Most technetium remains coated on the pipe interiors. Tc-99
is a beta emitter, and does not expose workers when retained within the pipes.
However/ because of its long half-Life, 80,000 years, decommissioned parts of
the GDP, if placed in a surface landfill, will leak Tc-99 into the environment
and remain a long-lived hazard. When reacted with water, Tc-99 becomes highly
mobile. The ORGDP has also released large quantities of U into the air and
water, 14.31 curies and 15.60 curies, respectively. Total releases of uranium
into the environment, from both the gaseous diffusion plant and the Y-12 Plant,
1 23.03 Ci in all, or 216 tons, is shown in Table 3.
Hydrology
Poplar Creek. Poplar Creek has the largest drainage basin, the greatest toco-
graphic relief, and the greatest flow of- any stream on the. Reservation. A1-.
though Poplar Creek extends far beyond the ORR boundary, it receives drainage
directly from ORGDP and indirectly from the Y-12 Plant. Poplar Creek, the
westernmost creek on the reservation, ]oins the Clinch River closest to Kings-
ton, Tennessee.
Groundwater Monitoring at the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant
At ORGDP (K-25) the 1984 Environmental Monitoring Report noted data col-
lected from 21 wells, both shallow and deep, near holding pond K-1407 (see
figure X), were inconsistent with data collected in 1983 by Union Carbide. The
report also noted subcontractors were being called in to help them figure out
why there were inconsistencies.
The Environmental Monitoring Report for 1985, reported that the original 21
wells at the K-1407 ponds had to be abandoned because they were too unreliable.
New exploratory wells around the K-1407 ponds were sunk and monitored in 1935.
(See figure X). All the wells in the K-1407 pond areas exceeded EPA's interim
drinking water standards for both the gross alpha and gross beta emitters.
o The gross alpha standard, 15 pCi/1, was exceeded by between 165% and
527%.
o The gross beta standard, 0.35 pCi/1, was exceeded by between 5,791% and
31,143 %. (See footnote on page 11 )
Surface Water Monitoring
The levels of Technetium-99 discharged to surface waters decreased from
0.29 curies to 0.033 curies in 1984 and 1985 respectively. These two years show
a dramatic from the 1983 level of 17 curies. The.decrease in the levels have
been attributed to placing the ORGDP on standby (EMR, 1986).
VIII. HEALTH EFFECTS
A great variety of radionuclides, each interacting differently with the
environment# each having its own biological impact, are released from the Oak
Ridge Reservation. Some are discharged directly from plant operations, while
others are leaked from the burial grounds and waste pits.
Except for Burial Ground 3/ all radionuclides from Oak Ridge National
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Bear Creek and East Fork Poplar Creek, before entering Poplar Creek, into whicr.
radionuclides from the Gaseous Diffusion Plant also discharge. Poplar Creek and
White Oak Creek thereafter carry this radioactive contamination to the Clinch
River.
Since the drainage area for the Clinch River is far greater than for the
streams which drain the Oak Ridge Reservation, the dilution in the Clinch River
is great. Thus, the potential radiation dose to a hypothetical individual at
the site boundary should be low. Nevertheless, as we show in this section, the
total dose to the public, when summed over the entire population that ingests
these radionuclides, and the potential nuuDsr of cancers, may actually be quite
high.
The dilution in going from "White Oak' Creek'to" the Clinch" River' is greater
than a factor of 250, and greater yet downstream in the Tennessee River. The
discharge data for streams on the Oak Ridge Reservation, and the larger rivers
in the Clinch River and Tennessee River basins, are shown in Table 1. This nign
degree of dilution allows the Department of Energy and its contractors to re-
lease large amounts of radioactivity compared to commercial nuclear facilities,
and still maintain a low dose at the property boundary. For example, the
officially reported release of 3 curies of strontium-90 in 1985 (EMR, 1986)
corresponds to a dose at the boundary of 0.36 millirems per year due to inges-
tion of strontium-90 alone, assuming the standard person drinks an average of
two liters of water daily. Considering that the a person receives on the order
of 100 millirems per year from background radiation, a 0.36 millirem additional
dose to a hypothetical individual at the boundary of the Oak Ridge Reservation
is small.
Unfortunately, the situation is considerably more complex.
First, radionuclides can enter the body through other pathways, such as
through breathing contaminated air or consuming tainted fish, produce and milk|
Fish living in water with fairly low average levels of radioactive contammatia
can still accumulate significant amounts of radionuclides, which are, in turn,
ingested by people when the fish are consumed.
Second, it is important to note that the dose due to background radiation
is different from that due to strontium-90. After ingestion, a part of stron-
tium-90 enters the bloodstream where it behaves much as calcium, eventually
residing in the bone. Strontium-90 emits a beta particle, an electron, in the
process of decaying to yttnum-90, which in turn also emits a beta particle as
it further decays to zirconium-90. The dose to the bone liner and red bone
marrow by emission of the beta particle can alter the genetic structure of blood
cells,- potentially leading to leukemia, polycythemia vera (a .blood disorder
affecting red cells) and genetic effects, including leukemia in offspring, on
the other hand, much of background radiation provides an external penetrating
form of radiation called, gamma radiation, to the whole body, with only a small
part going to bone.
Third, strontium is only one of many radionuclides to be considered. There
are 100 significant radionuclides released from the Reservation. Some, such as
uranium, are also bone seekers. They emit a heavy particle, called an alpha
particle, consisting of two protons and two neutrons, the nucleus of a helium
atom. Because of its weight and doubly positive charge, the alpha particle
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Li^Ja i. ^»
(\CpvjL >
charge severe!/ dislocates electrons in its path, causing the rearrangement of
molecules and genetic structures.
Using the official figure for the amount of uranium released from the Y-12
and Gaseous Diffusion Plants in 1985 -- 0.62 curies -- we calculate a bone
marrow dose of 0.66 millirems to the standard person at the boundary. This bor.e
marrow dose due to uranium adds to that from strontium-90, raising the bone
marrow dose to 1.02 millirems per year at the Clinch River. Other bone-seeking
radionuclides would raise the figure still further. The total individual bone
marrow dose at the boundary determines the probability that an individual will
develop leukemia or polycythemia vera, or that his/her offspring will incur
genetic effects.
Other radionuclides, such as cesium-137, reside in muscle', decaying to
barium-137m, which emits penetrating gamma radiation. This produces a dose zo
the whole body, including the bone.
To sum up thus far, each radionuclide released from the Oak Ridge
Reservation has its own unique pattern of radioactive emissions and cumulative
biological effects. Three types of radioactivity are emitted: alpha, beta and
gamma radiation. Alpha radiation is a heavy particle consisting of two protons
and two neutrons. It can be easily stopped by paper, for example, but is
extremely damaging to humans when ingested or inhaled. Uranium'emits an alpha
particle. Beta radiation is an electron and does not penetrate human skin, but
is also damaging if ingested. Strontium-90 emits a beta particle. Gamma radia-
tion is an electromagnetic wave, similar to a light wave, but much more energe-
tic and biologically damaging. Gamma radiation is very penetrating and can
affect humans externally as well as internally. Depending on the energy, seve-
ral feet of concrete are needed to stop a gamma ray. Daughter products of
cesium-137 emit gamma radiation.
What, then, is the impact of radioactive emissions from Oak Ridge? In
order to gauge the total potential number of leukemias and genetic effects an
estimate must be made of the total population dose, the sum of all the indivi-
dual doses to all persons consuming radionuclides in water downstream from Oak
Ridge, including the Clinch River and Tennessee River, down to Chattanooga and
beyond. One must determine the total amount of uranium, strontium-90 and other
radionuclides ingested by the downstream population. This involves determining
the concentrations of the radionuclides at each municipal water supply, and the
amount of water consumed. Further, one mu3t sum all the various pathways to
humans, including through the air and through consumption of fish, produce and
milk. The recycling of strontium-90 and uranium back into the environment must
also be determined. Not all ingested strontium-90 and uranium is absorbed into
the bloodstream. For uranium, over 4/5 is excreted, where it can enter sewer
systems, be recycled into the environment, and then re-ingested.
Unfortunately, much of the information needed to make such a comprehensive
calculation is simply not available. Federal authorities and their contractors
have performed only minimal monitoring* and even those figures that are avail-
able are grossly inadequate.
Instead, we offer an upper and lower bound to the potential number of
health effects caused by two of the 100 significant radionuclides released fro^i
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Radioactive Waste Campaign/Oak Ridge Report
Page 2-4
For an upper Dound, we assume that all strontium-90 and uranium released
from the Oak Ridge Reservation is consumed by miLlions of downstream water
consumers. This is admittedly a high estimate because releases from the
Reservation are diluted in the Clinch River which has an average discharge of 3
billion liters per year, or sufficient water for about four million water consu-
mers. Nevertheless, under this assumption, which neglects the recycling effect,
the total bone marrow dose to the population for releases in 1985, and for total
releases in the years 1944 to 1984, are given in Table 5. For the year 1935,
the total population bone marrow dose is 3.75 million person-rems, and for the
years 1944-1984, the total population bone marrow dose is 1163 million person-
rems .
Given a'bone marrow dose of 3.75 million person-rems in year 1985, the
estimated number of leukemias in the downstream population from these two radio-
nuclides alone ranges from 75 to 180, using the dose conversion factor range, 20
to 43 leukemias per million person-rems (Bertell, 1986). For the total stron-
tium-90 and uranium releases from the Oak Ridge Reservation during the forty
year period 1944 - 1984, the maximum estimated number of leukemias to the down-
stream population ranges between 23,300 and 55,800. The potential number of
leukemias would be distributed over the approximately four million downstream
water users, over a forty year period.
To estimate a lower bound on the number of leukemias, we take the releases
of strontium-90 and uranium from the Oak Ridge Reservation reported by the
Department of Energy. The Department's release estimates are from on-site
monitoring stations which obviously ignore numerous significant releases which
bave been unmonitored. Several examples are releases under the White Oak Dam,
over the White Oak Dam during periods of high runoff, past White Oak Dam from
burial ground 6, and part of burial ground 3, and unmonitored releases from the
Y-12 Plant. For this example, we take the City of Kingston, and the average
strontium and uranium concentrations at the community water intakes. The ave-
rage is determined by diluting in the Clinch River the total curies of stron-
tium-90 and uranium released by the Oak Ridge Reservation over a 40-year period,
and assuming that these average concentrations are ingested at Kingston. We
assume that strontium-90 and uranium are only ingested by drinking water, and we
thus do not consider the eating of contaminated fish or the drinking of conta-
minated milk. We assume no other radionuclides are ingested and that none are
inhaled. Under these assumptions, we estimate 0.02 to 0.045 additional leuke-
mias in Kingston over a 40- year period. Including genetic effects, that is,
leukemias among offspring, would double this estimate. In sum, under these
assumptions, fewer than 0.1 additional leukemias would be expected over a 40
year period in Kingston.
Leukemias are a relatively rare form of cancer. The annual expected inci-
dence is on the order of .00003 to .00004 leukemia cases per year (UNSCEAR,
1977). Among a population of 4,000 (Kingston) over a 40 year period, one
expects 4.8 to 5.6 cases of leukemia. Thus* the increase in the leukemia rate at
Kingston due to monitored releases of strontium-90 and uranium from the Oak
Ridge Reservation would be on the order of 2 percent. These calculations must
be duplicated at each downstream community, including Chattanooga.
What, then, can be 3aid about health effects at this point? First, the lew
bound estimate is probably unrealistically low because it excludes the effects
of major unmonitored releases, ignores the recycling effect and doesn't consider
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Radioactive Waste Carapa Lgri/Oak Ridge Report
Page 25
the high side because of Che effects of dilution in the Clinch River makes it
unlikely all strontium-90 and uranium released by the Reservation would be con-
sumed .
The actual impact of strontium and uranium releases probably lies soraewnere
between the two estimates. But then, it must be emphasized that these figures
are only a part of the picture, since they look at only two of the 100 signifi-
cant radionuclides, and even then only in relation to leukemias, not other
diseases. For example, in addition to leukemia, two other forms of blood dis-
order arise from irradiation of bone marrow: aplastic anemia and polycythemia
vera. The latter blood disorder is similar to leukemia, but involves tne run-
away growth of red blood cells. In addition, it should be recalled that al-
though production at Oak Rid'ge has declined over the years, leakage has actually
increased.
In short, because monitoring has been inadequate and because there are so
many unknowns, the frightening fact is that no one can say with any certainty
]ust what health and environmental consequences radioactive contamination from
Oak Ridge has had and is continuing to have on downstream communities.
Given the stakes, it is irresponsible at best for Government to guess that
the risks are "acceptable."
Recommendation: The Department of Energy should develop an environmental
impact statement which more precisely calculates the health effects due to Oak
Ridge emissions. Further, a study of leukemias and other cancers and genetic
effects in downstream communities should be conducted by an outside and indepen-
dent health agency. Finally, since each addition of radioactivity to the envi-
ronment and to humans increases the chances that cancers and genetic effects may
occur, it is prudent for remedial actions to be taken immediately to minimize
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Aiuye fteport
Page 26
IX. RECOMMENDATIONS
Over the past forty years, huge quantities of radioactive waste have been
generated and disposed of at Oak Ridge. A history of neglect and mismanagement
has Left the site severely contaminated, posing an intolerable threat to public
health and the environment. Radioactive releases continue'to plague the people
of the Clinch River and Tennessee River Basins, and they will for generations to
come, unless the Federal Government takes more decisive action.
Since the 1983 landmark case LEAF v. Bodel established that the Department
of Energy is not exempt from Federal and state hazardous waste laws, the Energy
Department has taken some tentative steps to address parts of the problem.
There was a change in contractors, and, more recently, the Department began
instituting a new Low Level Waste Disposal, Development and Demonstration
program at Oak Ridge. The Energy Department is attempting to employ improved
disposal technologies, including some which are in use in Canada and France.
Volume reduction technologies will allow the Department to more effi-
ciently employ above-ground storage methods such as vaults, which are far pre-
ferable to the present method of directly placing waste in the water table.
While volume reduction technologies 3uch as supercompaction and decontamination
look promising, we have strong reservations about incineration of mixed waste,
which will release radionuclides such as tritium, carbon-14 and iodine into the
air, and have the potential for creating the potent carcinogen, dioxin.
But much more than this Demonstration program must be done at Oak Ridge to
sequester large quantities of radioactive wastes and to properly safeguard the
environment and human health. The site must be cleaned up with the same dedica-
tion and Federal commitment as went into the Manhattan Project in the 1940's.
Since most of the leakage occurs at burial ground four. we recommend, as a
start, that a portion of this burial ground be exhumed as part of the Demonstra-
tion program and that these wastes be placed in an above ground vault. This
should be done in a manner that minimizes the further spread of contamination.
Remote equipment should also be developed as necessary to ensure that workers
are not exposed in the process. The technology already developed at the Energy
Department's Hanford and Ohio facilities should be useful in this repect. Be-
yond this, all burial of wastes in the water table should be halted.
In addition, problems at White Oak Dam need to be dealt with immediately.
During periods of heavy runoff, cesium-137 contaminated silt is washed over the
Dam, and downstream. Unless remedied, this process of downstream contamination
during periods of heavy runoff will continue indefinitely. To prevent this
washout of radioactively-contaminated silt, two alternatives are recommended:
i) Whit* Oak Creek can be diverted, with the White Oak Lake sediments
stabilized in place, or
ii) the cesium-contaminated silt can be exhumed, packaged and stored
above ground. Again, remote equipment should be developed to minimize
occupational radiation exposures.
The issue of health effects must also be addressed fully. The Department
of Energy should develop an environmental impact statement which more precisely
calculates health effects due to Oak Ridge emissions. Further, a study of
-------
Radioactive Waste Campaign/Oak Ridge Report
Page 27
stream communities should be
agency. Finally, since each
humans increases the chances
prudent for remedial actions
the Reservation.
conducted by an outside and independent health
addition of radioactivity to the environment and to
that cancers and genetic effects may occur, it is
-------
Table 1. Average Discharge Data
Drainage Cubic Feet
Area (mi^) Per Second
White Oak Creek 6.6
Bear Creek 7.3 4.26
East For* Poplar Creek 19.5 52.3
Poplar Creek 32.5 181
Clinch River at
Melton Hill Dam
tailwater '3343 4690
Tennessee River at
Watts Bar Dam
tailwater 17310 29940
Tennessee River at
Chattanooga 2 1400 37280
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Radioactive Waste Campaign/Gak. Ridge Report Page 29
Table 2. Disposal of Liquid Waste at the Laboratory
Amounts of Liquid Waste Discharged to Waste Pits and Trenches at
the Laboratory
Waste Volume (gal) Strontium-90 Cesium-137 Ruthenium-106
Pit in use (Cu rles) .
1 1951 12,000 400 total curies
2 1952-1960
3 1953-1960 24,000,000 total 43,500 201,000 236,000
4 1955-1960
5 1960-1962 9,500,000 96,500 207,000 5,000
6 1961-1965 13,000 125 660 50
7a 1961-1965 4,500,000 24,000 117,000 1,750
7b 1961-1965 4,000,000 23,500 102,000 1,480
Amount of Liquid Waste Implaced by Hydrofracture
Site Volume yd^ Curies Emplaced
First
Hydrofracture 7,410 1,300,000
site 1966-1979
"New
Hydrofracture
Site" 1982-1985 5,434 400,000
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Radioactive Waste Campaign/Oak Ridge Report
Page 30
Table 3.
Strontium-90 from various areas at the Laboratory as a percent of
total effluents
Year ORNL Melton Branch PLts Burial Grounds
operations 1,3,4,5 and Floodplain
1985 39 2.1 1.0 53
1984 1 3 3.6 3.3 79
1983 12 4.3 1.5 84
1982 21.4 4.3 1.4 75
1981 27.9 3.0 1.6 68
1980 17.7 3.0 3.8 79
1979 12.7 2.9 -- 35
Source: EMR, 1986
* No contribution from burial ground six included because much
of the waste escaping burial ground six enters White, Oak Creek
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Radioactive Waste Campaign/Oak. Ridge Report Page 31
Table 4. Uranium Releases to the Evironment 1944-1934
Plant Radioactivity Mass
in Curies in Pounds
ORGDP
Y-12
Tota 1
Liquid affluent
14. 54
113.54
123.08
36,227
396,000
432,227
Contained in Soild Waste
ORGDP 24.25 72,050
Y-12 6,524.65 35,200,000
Total 6598.90 35,272,050
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Radioactive ^aste Campa iga/Oa* Ridge Report
Page 32
TabLe 5. Strontium-90 and Uranium Releases from Oak Ridge
and the Maximum Potential Bone Marrow Dose to the Downstream Population
Radionuclide Releases Bone Marrow Releases Bone Marrow
in 1985 Dose (million 1944-1984 Dose (million
(curies) person-rems) (curies) person-rems)
uranium 0.62 1.70 128.08 351
strontium-90 3.0 2.05 1189 812
tota 1 bone marrow
-------
CLINTON
Ml
—>
TENNESSEE
AK/
NC
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MS
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OAK
RIDGE
Y
itttLLUl
WiJ^VC«£K
HARRIMAN
WHITl OA* UUm
CLINCH RIVER £
KIN65TON
MELTON HILL\ DAM
TENNESSEE RIVER
Ml L£S
rl 1
-------
VALLEY
ORNL
+./ MELTON
VALLEY
hEt~rl„ _ .
WHITE OAK LAKE *
WHITE OAK my
0 £000
-------
Cesium disharged annually over White Oak Dam
200
White Oak Lake drained
100 -
1980
1970
1975
1965
1960
1955
1950
time
-------
VALUY
AREM -
OKNL
WHITE
WHITE
/ MELTON
VALLEY
>r~
0 iooo
CTv
SITE M
I150'S CONTAMI
-------
VALLE^
OftNL lAREAl —"V^
r^oAt
. / MELTOM
VALLEY
WHITE OAK LAKE
WHITE OAK. DAfy
ZOOO HOOO FEET
I i I I I
SITE MAP
IIGO'S CONTAMINATION
Cl>
(JQ
n>
-------
4
VALLEY
ORML
AREA
/ meltom
valley
WHITE OAK LAKfc **
WHITE OAJC. OA
2.000 *\000 fEET
I l I i I
SITE MAP
l?70'S CONTAMINiftfcON
-------
WHirt OAK LAKE
WHITE OAK DAM/'
VALLEY
t\f MELTON
j^<~y VALLEY
Bfi4A/cbi
WO ttCT
SITE MAP
1180'S CONTAMINATION
H3
fU
(JQ
fO
OJ
-------
Page ^0
Strontium-90
300 -t
Releases from the Laboratory
n 200 -
c
o
E
is
O
E 100
a
1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985
Releases Over White Oak Dam
Figure 8. Releases of Strontium-90 from
the Laboratory Operations and
-------
BG-3
0.0 < Sr £ 5.0 OPM/GM
5.0<9°Sr £ <0.0 OPM/GM
10.0 <90Sr< 50.0 OPM/GM
50.0<9°Sr
-------
L
E G E N D
1
BURIAL GROUND DISPOSAL AREA
2.
ISOLATION AREA
3
OILY WASTE LAND FARM
SANITARY LANDFILL
5
BOTTLE CRUSHER AREA
6
WASTE PONDS
7
Y-12 PLANT AREA
8
NEW HOPE POND
9
NEW HOPE POND 3LUD6E DISPOSAL BASIN
A
TO OAK MDGE
/«£> ^
^I.v :
Figure 10. Y-12 Plant Waste Disposal Areas
O IOOO 3000 5O0O 7O0O "S
UQ
(X)
LJ I I I I I I
\/Z* =1 OOO FEET
;>
-------
LEGEND
I BURIAL GROUND DISPOSAL AREA
2. ISOLATION AREA
3 OILY WASTE LAND FARM
4 SANITARY LANDFILL
5 BOTTLE CRUSHER AREA
6 WASTE PONDS
7 Y-12 PLANT AREA
8 NEW HOPE POND
9 NEW HOPE POND KLUDGE DISPOSAL BASIN
A
TO OAK FUDGE
Figure 11.
I >3pCi/L CONTAMINATION IN GROUNDWATER
Spread of Contamination ground Y-12 Waste Disposal Areas
O IOOO 3000 5O0O 7OOO
II I I I I I I
13
OQ
(D
1/2
-------
Page ^
Uranium from the Y-12 Plant
1.0
0.8 -
U 0-6 H
0.4 "
0.2 -
0.0
/
1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985
-------
trigone
CLASSIFIED
BURIAL
GROUND
OAK R1D6E
GASEOUS
DIFFUSION
PLANT
ORGDP
Figure 13. Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant Site Map and
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Radj.oacti.ve Waste Campaign/Oak Ridge Report
Page 46
APPENDIX A- LANDFILLS AT THE LABORATORY
Burial Ground One
Area: One acre
Location: BetheL Valley at the foot of Haw Ridge, near the incin-
erator facility, 25 feet south of White Oak Creek. This Durial ground
was built in the path of surface water drainages from Haw Ridge to
^hite Oak Creek and therefore is susceptible to forxing marshy areas
(Coobs, 1986).
Opened: January 1944, first dump April 23,1944
Closed: 1944
Reason for Site: Suggested by Dr. S.T. Cantril because of its prox-
imity to the Laboratory and similar use of the adjoining land.
Purpose: To dispose of contaminated laboratory equipment.
Content: 1,400 total curies, with strontium- 90 as the ma^or con-
taminant .
Layout: Waste first placed in auger holes then in trenches.
Groundwater: groundwater flow is toward White Oak Creek. Depth to
groundwater has been measured at eight to fourteen feet.
Note: The site was abandoned when water was found in trenches. First
tested for the leakage of contamination in 1944; the next time was
1973 when water was taken from a seep and two wells (NAP, 1985,
Webster, 1976).
Burial Ground Two
Area: Three to four acres
Location: Bethel Valley north of burial ground one, and northwest of
White Oak Creek in the lower one half of a hill near the Laboratory's
entrance.
Opened: 1944
Closed: 1946 (contents were moved see below)
Reason for Site: No records are available on why this site was
chosen, but a memorandum talks of the time it took to get to burial
ground one. The management needed a place near the graphite reactor,
and chemical separation plant within the laboratory compound, with
access in all weather conditions, with little potential for a building
site, and the absence of swampy conditions.
Layout: One trench was cut east west with a second smaller trench cut
to the north.
Contents: Estimated to contain 4,000 curies.
Beta-and gamma-contaminated solid waste was placed in black drums and
buried in trenches. Plutonium liquid waste was put in stainless steel
drums and either buried in trenches or stored without burial in a
"natural ravine." eroded in the denuded slope. Storage tanks and a
building were also reported to have been buried and not removed before
closing the burial ground. Waste from an offstte source was burned
and covered with concrete suggestive of alpha contamination near
present location of a transformer station. In August 1945, two heavily
contaminated shipments of "Postum", thought to be polonium were
buried under a concrete slab in the northeast corner of the new burial
ground.
Note: After closure of burial ground two the waste was exhumed and
buried at burial ground three. The steel drums were moved intact but
the black drums containing beta- and gamma-contaminated waste had
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Radioactive waste CampaLgn/Oak Ridge Report
Page 47
which was also buried at bunaL ground three. The only material re-
maining was unidentified material with radiation greater than 50
rems. The hillside was then bulldozed.
The site is neither fenced nor marked as a former burial ground of
radioactive wastes. The area is now covered with grass.
Groundwater: The groundwater flow is inferred to be toward White Oak
Creek or its tributaries. No groundwater testing has been done in the
area (MAP, 1995, Webster, 1976).
Burial Ground Three
Area: Seven acres
Location: In Bethel Valley 0.6 miles west of the Laboratory's entrance
and 0.8 miles west of burial ground one in a once forested area of Haw
Ridge.
Opened: 1946 but the burial ground received hot material before this
Closed: 1951, but the surface continued to receive contaminated
scrap.
Reason for site: Probably chosen because of its proximity to the lab
and out of site location, hidden from the laboratory by an intervening
rise of the land surface.
Contents: 50,000 curies. Drums with alpha-contamination from burial
ground two were placed in a concrete lined ditch. Subsequent, alpha
contaminated wastes were dumped directly into unlined trenches;
covered with native soil and then topped by concrete. Beta contam-
inated wastes were buried in separate unlined trenches and backfilled
with the excavated soil. Trenches were aligned parallel to each
other, and cut as deeply as a back hoe could mechanically achieve.
Surface water: All surface water flows toward White Oak Creek.
Stream monitoring found discharges to be 2.1-11.1 mCi/month.
Groundwater: 1950 contour map shows a groundwater divide under the
site. In the southwest end of the disposal area, groundwater moves
toward the southwest to Raccoon Creek. Strontium-90 is leaking both
to the east and to the west from burial ground three (NAP, 1985,
Webster, 1976).
Burial Ground Pour
Area: 23 acres
Location: One half mile south of the Laboratory/ on the south side of
Melton Valley at the foot of Haw Ridge west of White Oak Creek and
adjacent to the White Oak Creek flood plain.
Opened: February 1951
Closed: 1959 The surface was used for the disposal of uncontam-
mated fill material until 1973 which raised the land surface and the
water table.
Reason for site: P.B. Stockdale's 1950 study of the geology of the
reservation recommended all future burial grounds be sited in Melton
Valley, the area closest to the Laboratory underlain by Conasauga
shale. Burial ground four's location was recommended to be the lower
end of White Oak Lake, but the burial ground was actually placed at
the foot of Haw Ridge near the floodplain of White Oak Creek. One
account of the change in location stated this area was closer to the
laboratory and also underlain by Conasauga shale. The new location
would, therefore, save money transporting waste to the burial ground.
Layout: Trench orientation lacked consistency. Trench dimensions
-------
Radioactive Waste Campaign/Oak Ridge Report
Paqe 48
eight to fourteen feet deep. Approximately fifty holes are located
along Lagoon Road.
Contents: An estimated 110,000 curies are buried in burial ground
four. High-activity and special high level wastes were placed in
auger holes one to two feet in diameter and approximately fifteen feet
deep. Alpha-contaminated waste was covered with concrete, while beta-
and gamma-contaminated waste was ]ust back filled with native soil.
These auger holes were used for the temporary storage of materials
contaminated by fission products of short half-life. Records prior
to 1961 were destroyed by fire. Approximately 50% or the waste re-
ceived by the burial ground from 1955-1963 came for outside con-
tractors, while Laboratory was designated as the southern regional
burial ground. No records exist detailing the curie count of offsite
shipments received and buried by the Laboratory.
Seeps: Several seeps have been observed and monitored at several
gallons per minute during the winter and the spring.
SuDsequent to closure uncontammated fill and construction debris was
piled up there, raising the land 20 feet and bring the waste in
constant contact with the water table.
Groundwater: In low areas the groundwater table is two to three feet
from the surface; in nigh areas the groundwater is 15' from the sur-
face. The water table rises seasonally. Much of the waste is bathed
in the water throughout the year. Buried waste was not isolated from
infiltrating water.
Note: Wastes were buried in low areas during dry months; high areas
in wet months suggesting there was a seasonal rise in the water table
into the low lying trenches. There are several depressions in the
surface of the burial grounds, indicating compaction or collapse of
underlying material. The amount of slumpage varies from a few feet in
diameter to an entire trench. These depressions also collect and
channel runoff which causes greater amounts of water to percolate
through the underlying wastes than normal (NAP, 1985, Webster, 1976).
Burial Ground Pive
Area: 33 acres but the area of solid waste burial is considerably
less.
Location: The burial ground is divided into two sections both in
Melton Valley. One section is on the hillside east of White Oak Creek
and and the other is south of Haw Ridge. The two sections are refer-
red to as 5-south and 5-north.
Opened: 1958
Closed: Closed to large scale burial o.f waste in 1973, but it con-
tinues to be used for retrievable storage of the TRU waste.
Reason for aite: As burial ground four was filling up burial ground
five was opened to receive waste. This area was to meet the following
criteria: to be underlying by conasauga shale, not subject to flood-
ing by surface water, deep groundwater table, not too near Laboratory,
and easily accessible via private roads. .5- south was subjected to
geologic review including, geologic mapping, and drilling (45 wells
less than twenty feet and five wells 150 feet deep were drilled from
May 1958-July 1959). In addition, studies were performed to prepare a
minimum depth to water contour map, to determine the hydraulic pres-
sure, and to determine the likelihood of water circulation at depth.
It was recommended that burial of waste should not placed any closer
-------
Radioactive Waste Campaign/Oak Ridge Report
Page 49
employed, including a sloping bottom underlain by gravel, asphalt
lined sump at the trenches low end.
Layout: Trench lengths vary from 40 feet to less than 500 feet
oriented more or less parallel to topography and angled to strike.
Only two trenches were excavated to the recommended specifications for
experimental purposed only.
Content: 210,000 Curies of alpha contaminated waste went into "un-
identified trenches" and were capped with concrete. Beta- and gamma-
contacmated waste were covered with weathered shale Dreviously re-
moved from excavations practice of segregating waste, ended during the
operating life; however, certain transuranics resumed segregation
after 1970. Auger holes were used for less hazardous materials to
better utilize all suitable land.
(NAP, 1985, Webster, 1976).
Burial Ground Six
Area: 68 acres
Location: In Melton Valley, immediately northwest of White Oak Lake,
in a wooded hillside that has a gentle to locally steep slope.
Reason for site: The area was the last remaining portion in Melton
Valley underlain by Conasauga shale that had not been used of waste
disposal or reserved for experimental reactor sites.
Opened: 1969, became the principal burial ground in 1973 when burial
ground five closed.
Closed: Still in operation. This area receives all the large amounts
of radioactive waste produced by the Laboratory designated for burial
on site.
Layout: Similar to burial grounds four and five, the most recent
trenches have been limited to 50 feet or less, and angled across
strike. The current practice is to put a section of perforated casing
in the low end of the trench before disposal commences to permit the
monitoring of fluids in the trenches after they have been filled.
Content: An estimated 1,000,000 feet3 containing 250,000 curies have
been buried through 1984. Low level activity, high level activity,
(200 mrem/hr or less) put in trenches and auger holes. It is possible
that before 1980 wastes were buried that could be considered hazardous
under RCRA (Boegly, 1985).
Surface water: Surface water flows to White Oak Creek or short drainages
that discharge directly to White Oak Lake.
Groundwater: depth to water table is as low as 6 feet. The flow
pattern is generally a subdued replica of the landsurface.
Note: To close this site there needs ta be a detailed site charact-
erization under Department of Energy Order 5820.0. In 1974, water was
observed in all open trenches (Boegly, 1985, NAP, 1985, Webster,
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Radioactive Waste Campaign/Oak Ridge Report
Page 50
Y-12 WASTE DISPOSAL AREAS
Burial ground A
Location: Bear Creek Valley
Opened: 1955
Closed: 1973
Layout: Trenches in burial ground A are about 13 feet deep/and
26 feet wide, but the exact dimensions are unknown. The burial
ground trenches are three feet to thirty feet above the water
table depending on the weather conditions. Trenches areas were
excavated by a 3yd3 dragline. Excavated material is frequently
used to cover deposited waste material frequently to avoid pro-
longed exposure of waste fill. The excess spoil dirt provides a
final trench cover five to fifteen feet thick. The finished
trench is leveled, seeded, and pine trees are plant on top to
help prevent erosion.
Content: Used for solid material contaminated by uranium in-
cluding, wood, paper, plastics, particulate filters, mixed metal
machine turnings, metal drums and small quantities of metal with
low economic value. In addition, in 1959 the Atomic Energy Com-
mission (AEC) allowed mop waters to be disposed of in standpipes,
see below (Mccauley, 1984a, HSEAD, 19B4, ACE, 1986).
Burial ground B
Location: Bear Creek Valley
Opened: 1962
Closed: 1974
Layout: Trenches are 15 feet deep and 10 feet wide
Content: Depleted Uranium, beryllium and uranium oxides. Mat-
erial is compacted and covered daily.
Burial ground B North
Opened: 1971
Closed: Still in use
Content: Uranium
Burial ground C
Location: Bear Creek Valley
Opened: 1961
Closed: Still in use
Layout: Two to six feet above the water table depending on the
season. Trenches in "C" are about 18 feet deep and 26 feet wide.
Trench construction and disposal techniques are similar to "A".
Content: Enriched uranium and natural thorium same types of
material as in burial ground "A".
Isolation Area
Location: 80 feet by 100 feet in the southeast portion of burial
ground "A". Three metal standpipes were used to dispose of liquids in
a random fashion.
Opened: 1966
Closed: 1981
Contents: The burial ground received 600/000 gallons of mop water
annually from 1971-1973, the amount received before this is uncertain
(HSEAD, 1984). 260,00 gallons of waste oil and coolant were poured in
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Radioactive Waste Campaign/Oak Ridge Report
Page 51
between 1961 and 1957, 132,000 gallons in the northeast section of
burial ground "A" from October 1971 to May 1972, and 460,000 gallons
were poured into rock pits in the nortwest section of burial ground
"A" between 1972 and 1979. 100,000 gallons of various waste solvents
(Mccauley, 1984a).
S-3 ponds ,
Location: Southwest side of the Y — 12 Plant south of Bear Creek Road.
Opened: 1951 (H3EAD,198 4)
Closed: 1934
Tour contiguous unlined ponds within an area measuring roughly
400 by 400 feet and about 13 feet deep. Each pond has a capacity of
2.5 million gallons.
Content: During the 1950's uranyl nitrate solutions containing
plutonium was place in the Ponds. In addition the Ponds receive
depleted uranium in nitric acid solutions as well as technetium
contained in raffinate and condensate, plating acids, nitrate waste,
and miscellaneous wastes associated with routine clean-up operations
(mop water) from 1979 to 1983. Wastes were trucked to the S-3 ponds
and a pipeline 'was used to discharge nitric acid until 1966. The
ponds were designed as percolation/evaporation ponds. Water is lost
from the ponds througn shallow groundwater and seepage has been ob-
served .
Groundwater: Groundwater Flow is southwest, with discharges to the
upper reach or headwaters of Bear Creek. Construction of the ponds
caused rerouting of 3ear Creek. Apparently the old stream channel on
the west side of the pond was filled in with rubble.
Note: Neutralization and denitrification of S-3 Ponds initiated
in June 1983 (G&M, 1985a, HSEAD, 1984, Law, 1983,)
New Hope Pond
Location: East side of the Y-12 Plant, south of intersection of Bear
Creek Road and Scarboro Road.
Opened: 1963
Closed: Still in use
Layout: A pond built to dilute discharge before entering East
Fork Poplar Creek.
Content: Untreated discharges including rinse water from the
plating operations, plant drains, mop waters, laundry water,
liquid coolants, and mercury. Approximately six million gallons
of water area added daily to insure that dilution is ade-
quate.(TDHE, 1983)
New Hope Pond Sludge Disposal Basin
Location: East side of the Y-12 Plant, south ot Mew Hope Pond.
Opened: 1972 now an inactive disposal site
Contents: Used on an annual basis to disp'ose of sludge material
dredged from a man-made pond and from the diversion ditch feeding the
pond. Barium, cadium, lead, chromium, mercury, silver, PCS, beryl-
lium, uranium and thorium. Received 100,000 gallons of liquid waste
in 1978 from a leak in the plant's methanol-brine system. Although
thi3 material primarily consists of water, some alcohol and toluene
were a part of the waste stream (Law, 1983).
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Radioactive Waste Campaign/Oak Ridge Report
Page 52
is not enough data to prove this.
Note: Leachate tests indicate that uranium and thorium are the most
likely contaminants to leach out of the sediment.
Note: Sink holes, large underground solution cavities are less than
100 feet from the Basin (G&M. 1985c)
Oily Waste Landfarm
Location: North of Y-12 Central Sanitary Landfills
Opened: 197 3
Closed: 1982 (H5EAD, 1934)
Layout: Orginally 1.3 acres grew to four acres. The landfarm
consists of parallel, relatively shallow trenches where the soils
are periodically tilled. A bottle crusher area where solvents
were disposed of is ]ust east of the landfarm and the sanitary
landfill is just south of the landfarm.
In May 1973, wastes were collected by tank trucks distributed over
the surface plots, and cultivated into the top three inches of
soil. The "farm" was operated from April through October.
Content: One million gallons of waste including waste oils,
beryllium contaminated oils and coolants, mop waters, tank oils
from the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, waste from cooling
tower basin and the burial grounds, and unidentified and miscel-
laneous liquid waste.
Note: Waste oils and coolants spread on the oil landfarm plots
were not analyzed for contaminants prior to 1979.(Mccauley,
1984b)
Groundwater: Mater table in the weathered zone is two to four-
teen feet below the surface in flat areas with significance flux
in wet and dry periods. Groundwater recharge is through pre-
cipitation .
Surface water: Two lntermittant streams receive runoff from the
oil landfarm before discharging to Bear Creek
(Bechtel, 1984a, Bechtel, 1984b, Law, 1983, Mccauley, 1984b).
Oil Retention Ponds and Trenches
Opened: 1971 and 1972
Closed:
Punction: The large oil retention pond was constructed when oil
was noted to be seeping into an adjacent tributary to Bear Creek
from the trenches in the isolation area. The pond was construc-
ted to contain seepage and runoff from the trench area. The
tributary has been re-routed west of tl'ie pond area. Oils from
the pond are skimmed off and sent to the oily land farm east of
this area.
Content: The oils are reported to contain PCBrs as high as
3000ppm to 4000ppm. Some of the oils have apparently been spread
in the wooded area just west of the pond.(Law, 1983, Mccauley 1984a)
Roger's Quarry
Location: One mile south of the K-12 Plant and one and one-half miles
west of the intersection of Scarboro Road and Bethel Valley Road.
Opened: 1962
Content: Used for the disposal of fly ash from the ¥-12 Steam
Plant. Its surface discharge is permitted by the NPDES permit
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Radioactive Waste Campaign/Oak Ridge Report
Page 5 3
Protection Agency has informed Department of Energy that will no
longer be permitted and that an acceptable alternative must be found.
It is most likely that the Department of Energy will go to a dry ash
system, including shallow land burial of the dry ash.
Note: During the I950's the quarry operations breached an underground
water source and the quarry filled with water rock and gravel quarry
operations were abandoned (ACE, 1986, G&M, 1995d).
Kerr Quarry (Also Known as Bethel Valley Quarry)
Location: One mile southeast of the Y-12 Plant on the north side
of Bethel Valley Road, and one-half mile west of the intersection of
Scarboro and Bethel Roads.
Opened: Early 1950's
Closed: Still in use
Content: Records for disposal exist only since 1961. Used for
the treatment of dangerous materials. 252,000 pounds of total
waste with an unknown amount of uranium have been disposed of here.
Surface water: Surface water occasionally overflows this quarry to
small creek which, inturn, enters an embayment of the Melton Hill
Reservoir. This discharge is permitted under the Y-12 NPDES permit.
Hydrogelogy is not understood in this area, but it is thought a
component of the groundwater flow is from the quarry to Melton Hill
Lake.
Note: Rock quarrying operations in the 1940's breached an underground
water source filling the quarry with water and the site was abandoned
as a rock and gravel producing quarry. There is no record of approval
by the Department of Energy for Y-12 to use Kerr Hollow Quarry as a
storage or disposal site. (ACE, 1986, G&M, 1985d).
Y-l Classified Burial Trench
Location: Near the old Channel of the Upper East Fork Poplar Creek
150 feet by fourteen feet with a depth of approximately, eighteen
feet.
Opened: 1960
Closed: Still in operation
Groundwater: The groundwater is thirteen to fifteen feet below the
ground surface, therefore the waste is saturated (Rothschild, 1984).
Coal Pile Security Pit
Location: At the Y-12 plant on the west of 9401-3 steam plant.
Opened: 1965/1966
Content: 75% uranium , 3.2 million pounds, 2% beryllium, 1
million pounds.
Layout: Four disposal trenches. Two 170 feet by 20 feet, on 45
feet by 28 feet, and one 14 feet by 10 feet. All are 10 feet
deep.
Beta 4 Security Pit
Location: On the west end of the Y-12 Plant
Opened: February 1968
Closed: April 1976 possibly early 1977
Content: 4 million pounds of predominantly depleted uranium and
depleted uranium alloys, aluminum, steel, magnesium, beryllium,
enriched uranium-contaminated materials, beryllium oxide,
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Radioactive waste Campaign/Oak Ridge Report
Page 54
Chestnut Ridge Security Pit (also known as Polecat Ridge
Security Pit and Security Pit 12)
Location: South of Y-12 plant on the hill behind 9201-1 and
9204-1 in side a security £ence.
Opened: 1973
Closed: open as of March 1984
Content: 3 millons pounds of waste including uranium, uranium
alloys, ferrous materials, thorium, and debris.
Layout: Seven trenches. One through three are filled and
inactive. These three trenches are between 690 feet and 720 feet
long, between eight and ten feet wide and between ten and tweleve
feet deep. Trench five is now two trenches that will eventually
meet to form one long -trench. The eastern trench five is filled
with depleted uranium.
In addition to the trenches there are six auger holes two feet in
diameter and ten feet deep (POD, 1984c).
Building 9481 Uranium Oxide Burial Vault
Location: At the Y-12 plant near the intersection of Third
Street and Chromium Drive.
Opened:1960
Closed:
Content: U3O3 dross.
Layout: The concrete vault is 20 feet by 20 feet by 15 feet.
The sides and bottom are eight inches of concrete.
Note: Drus of dross were emptied into concrete vaults through
manholes during 1960, and when the vault was full as possible the
manholes were filled with concrete. Since that time the vault
has been covered with concrete. A 1983 radiation survey found
maxium radiation levels of 110 microroentgens, compared to 10
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Radioactive Waste Campaign/Oak Ridge Report
Page 55
GLOSSARY
ALPHA PARTICLE A positively charged particle, identical to the nucleus of a
helium-4 atom, consisting of two protons and two neutrons.
Emitted by uranium and heavier radionuclides. Though alpha
particles cannot penetrate clothing, extremely damaging when
internally.
BEDDING PLANE Planar surfaces separating different grain SLzes or compositions
indicating different surface at the time of deposition.
3ETA PARTICLE An electron emitted in the radioactive decay of certain
nuclides, such as strontium-90.
CESIUM
Nucleus has 55 protons. Being chemically similar to potassium,
cesium adsorbs strongly to silt. Cesium-137 has a half-life of
30 years, decaying to banum-137m (unstable) which decays witn
the emission of a strong gamma ray. Large amounts of cesium-13'
have built up behind White Oalc Dam.
C03ALT
Nucleus has 27 protons. Is a component metal in stainless steel
which becomes radioactive when bombarded with neutrons. Cobalt-
60 has a half-lire of 5.27 years and decays with the emission of
penetrating gamma radiation.
CURIE
A measure of the rate of radioactive decay. One curie is a
large amount of radioactivity, equal to 37 billion radioactive
disintegration per second.
DOLOMITE
Sedimentary rock composed primarily of calcium or magnesium
carbonate which causes them to easily erode or weather in acidic
conditions.
FAULT
Fracture in the earth's crust across which there has been move-
ment.
FISSION PRODUCT A general term for over 200 different nuclides of over 35
different elements produced as a result of nuclear fission.
Most fission products are radioactive.
GAMMA RADIATION Electromagnetic radiation, similar in form to light, but much
more energetic. Gamma rays are very penetrating and require
dense materials* such as lead or uranium, for shielding or to be
stopped.
HALF LIFE Time required for half of a radioactive substance to lose its
activity. For example, in 29 years, half of a given quantity of
strontium-90 will decay away. In another 29 years, only a
quarter of the given quantity will remain. As a rule of thumo.
ten half-lives are required for a substance to decay to safer
levels.
LIMESTONE Sedimentary rock composed primarily of calcium carbonate which
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Radioactive Waste Campaign/Oak Ridge Report
Page 56
PICOCURIE
PLUTONIUM
RADIOACTIVITY
RADIONUCLIDE
REM
SANDSTONE
SHALE
SOLUTION
CAVITIES
SORPTION
One tnllionth of a curie.
Heavy nucleus with 94 protons, formed by neutron bombardment o: ,
uranium-233. Plutonium-239 is fissionable and forms the trigger
of a nuclear warhead. Plutonium-239 has a half-life of 24,000
years, decaying with the emission of an alpha particle. Pluto-
nium is extremely carcinogenic when inhaLed.
Spontaneous emission of radiation from the nucleus of an atom.
A radioactive species of an atom.
Unit used in health physics to measure the amount of damage to
human tissue from a dose of ionizing radiation.
Sedimentary rock composed of grains dominated by quartz, feld-
spar, and rock fragments which makes them relatively erosion
resistant.
Fine grained sedimentary rocks composed of silt and clay which
tend to part along bedding planes.
Voids in rocks created by the circulation of water, particularly
slighty acidic water percolating through limestones and dolo-
mites. Over time these voids can become extensive covering
several miles.
Adhesion of dissolved substances to the surface of solid bodies,
such as cesium to silt.
STRONTIUM
TRELLIS
DRAINAGE
TRITIUM
Nucleus has 38 protons. Being chemically similar to calcium,
strontium can be taken into the human body in cows milk and
resLde in bone. Strontium-90 has a half-life of 29 years,
decaying with the emission of a beta particle. Strontium-90 is
dominant in effluents from the Oak Ridge Reservation, accounting
for the major number of potential health effects.
A system of streams in which tributaries tend to lie in parallel
valleys formed in steeply dipping beds in folded belts like the
Valley and Ridge physiographic Province.
Radioactive form of hydrogen, consisting of a nucleus with one
proton and two neutrons. Has a half-life of 12.3 years and
decays with the emission of a beta particle. Moves in the
environment as rapidly as water, and is incorporated into the
human body like water.
WATER TABLE
The level to which a well would fill with water
WATER TABLE
CONTOUR LINE
A line on a map connecting points below the ground surface where
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Radioactive Waste Campaign/Oak Ridge Report ?a-€
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