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For members: Y-12 waste had pressurized gases, ‘energetic material,’ but posed no safety risk

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The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The waste shipped from the Y-12 National Security Complex that violated a solid waste permit in Nevada included small volumes of pressurized, non-flammable gases and an energetic material, but the shipments did not pose a safety risk, the U.S. Department of Energy said Thursday.

“These items were contained within a sealed, thick steel assembly that was disposed within a large metal box,” DOE said in response to questions. “Though the presence of these internal items were not known at the time of disposal, they do not pose any safety risk because the inner assembly is capable of containing any release of the small volumes of pressurized gases and the energetic material.”

The Department of Energy and the State of Nevada resolved regulatory actions related to the unauthorized shipments of the classified low-level radioactive waste in June. Oak Ridge Today reported about the settlement agreement on Wednesday, and the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection announced the agreement on Thursday. DOE also responded to questions about the shipments on Thursday, and the responses are included here.

At issue were 33 waste packages in 10 shipments from Y-12 to the Nevada National Security Site northwest of Las Vegas between January 2013 and December 2018. The shipments, which were quickly suspended, received publicity in July 2019 after Dan Brouillette, who was then deputy energy secretary, informed Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak about them. At the time, Nevada officials were already in a dispute with DOE about a half-ton of plutonium shipped to NNSS from the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.

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The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The waste shipped from the Y-12 National Security Complex that violated a solid waste permit in Nevada included small volumes of pressurized, non-flammable gases and an energetic material, but the shipments did not pose a safety risk, the U.S. Department of Energy said Thursday.

“These items were contained within a sealed, thick steel assembly that was disposed within a large metal box,” DOE said in response to questions. “Though the presence of these internal items were not known at the time of disposal, they do not pose any safety risk because the inner assembly is capable of containing any release of the small volumes of pressurized gases and the energetic material.”

The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The waste shipped from the Y-12 National Security Complex that violated a solid waste permit in Nevada included small volumes of pressurized, non-flammable gases and an energetic material, but the shipments did not pose a safety risk, the U.S. Department of Energy said Thursday.

“These items were contained within a sealed, thick steel assembly that was disposed within a large metal box,” DOE said in response to questions. “Though the presence of these internal items were not known at the time of disposal, they do not pose any safety risk because the inner assembly is capable of containing any release of the small volumes of pressurized gases and the energetic material.”

The Department of Energy and the State of Nevada resolved regulatory actions related to the unauthorized shipments of the classified low-level radioactive waste in June. Oak Ridge Today reported about the settlement agreement on Wednesday, and the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection announced the agreement on Thursday. DOE also responded to questions about the shipments on Thursday, and the responses are included here.

At issue were 33 waste packages in 10 shipments from Y-12 to the Nevada National Security Site northwest of Las Vegas between January 2013 and December 2018. The shipments, which were quickly suspended, received publicity in July 2019 after Dan Brouillette, who was then deputy energy secretary, informed Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak about them. At the time, Nevada officials were already in a dispute with DOE about a half-ton of plutonium shipped to NNSS from the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.

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Nevada announces settlement with DOE over non-compliant waste from Y-12

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The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

On Thursday, Nevada announced details of the settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy over low-level radioactive waste that was incorrectly identified and shipped from Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge to DOE’s Nevada National Security Site northwest of Las Vegas between 2013 and 2018.

Oak Ridge Today first reported about the settlement agreement on Wednesday. The Nevada announcement on Thursday provided additional information.

Here is Nevada’s announcement:

[Read more…]

For members: DOE, NNSA, Nevada settle over waste shipped from Y-12

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The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration, and Nevada environmental regulators have agreed to a settlement after classified low-level waste shipped west from the Y-12 National Security Complex allegedly violated waste acceptance criteria at the Nevada National Security Site northwest of Las Vegas, according to documents posted online. 

The waste shipments from Y-12 received significant publicity in news stories in 2019 after Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak demanded answers from the U.S. Department of Energy about what were described as unapproved waste shipments. The shipments were incorrectly labeled, according to a letter sent that summer to former Energy Secretary Rick Perry by Sisolak and U.S. senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen. Sisolak said he learned about the shipments from Y-12 to Nevada from Dan Brouillette, who was then deputy energy secretary.

Waste shipments from Y-12 were suspended that July. They remained suspended for almost two years. Shipments of low-level waste resumed in May this year, according to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. Work continues to obtain approval to dispose of weapons-related material, the DNFSB said.

The settlement agreement, which was signed in June, addresses reimbursement and factual findings, and it includes, as an attachment, information about how the shipments from Y-12 allegedly violated waste acceptance criteria at NNSS.

The rest of this story, which you will read only on Oak Ridge Today, is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or contributor to Oak Ridge Today.

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Oak Ridge, TN 37831

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The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was last updated at 2:40 p.m.

The U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration, and Nevada environmental regulators have agreed to a settlement after classified low-level waste shipped west from the Y-12 National Security Complex allegedly violated waste acceptance criteria at the Nevada National Security Site northwest of Las Vegas, according to documents posted online. 

The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration, and Nevada environmental regulators have agreed to a settlement after classified low-level waste shipped west from the Y-12 National Security Complex allegedly violated waste acceptance criteria at the Nevada National Security Site northwest of Las Vegas, according to documents posted online. 

The waste shipments from Y-12 received significant publicity in news stories in 2019 after Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak demanded answers from the U.S. Department of Energy about what were described as unapproved waste shipments. The shipments were incorrectly labeled, according to a letter sent that summer to former Energy Secretary Rick Perry by Sisolak and U.S. senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen. Sisolak said he learned about the shipments from Y-12 to Nevada from Dan Brouillette, who was then deputy energy secretary.

Waste shipments from Y-12 were suspended that July. They remained suspended for almost two years. Shipments of low-level waste resumed in May this year, according to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. Work continues to obtain approval to dispose of weapons-related material, the DNFSB said.

The settlement agreement, which was signed in June, addresses reimbursement and factual findings, and it includes, as an attachment, information about how the shipments from Y-12 allegedly violated waste acceptance criteria at NNSS.

The rest of this story, which you will read only on Oak Ridge Today, is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or contributor to Oak Ridge Today.

Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here.

Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here:

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If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to:

Oak Ridge Today
P.O. Box 6064
Oak Ridge, TN 37831

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We also accept donations. You can donate here. A donation of $50 or more will make you eligible for a subscription.

Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support!

Nevada, feds agree to discuss landfill concerns, including ORNL radioactive waste

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ORNL CEUSP Waste Shipping

Workers train to remove a type of shipping cask that would be used to transport 403 canisters of uranium-tainted waste from Oak Ridge National Laboratory to Nevada National Security Site northwest of Las Vegas. (Photos courtesy U.S. Department of Energy/Office of Environmental Management)

  A new group of state and federal workers that was announced Tuesday could discuss contentious waste-related issues that include concerns over shipping low-level radioactive waste from a World War II-era building in Oak Ridge to a federal landfill in Nevada. The new group, which will include senior-level state and federal employees, was announced in a six-page agreement, a memorandum of understanding signed last week by Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval. The talks started more than a year ago, after Sandoval sent a letter to Moniz expressing concerns over the proposed disposal of the radioactive waste at the Nevada National Security Site, a former nuclear weapons proving ground about 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
CEUSP Canister

At left is an actual 24-inch steel canister. At right is a representation of the canister interior.

The waste contains radioisotopes of uranium from the Consolidated Edison Uranium Solidification Project. It originated from a 1960s research and development test of thorium and uranium reactor fuel in New York. It is stored at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Building 3019—the oldest continuously operating nuclear facility in the Department of Energy complex—in 403 ceramic-like uranium oxide monoliths. Each of the monoliths is bonded to the inside of a steel canister about 3.5 inches in diameter and about two feet long. [Read more…]