Re: Surveillance of Buried Radioactive Waste

[c0etxlim@mrd42.mrd.usace.army.mil (Luke I. McCormick)]

  Please keep us informed as to the goings on with this one.  We are digging
  up disposal sites on air bases and sending them to Washington/Utah/South 
  Carolina for reburial.  (we'll dig up those sites in 30 or 40 years. :))
  Luke McCormick c0etxlim@mrd42.mrd.usace.army.mil
============================================================================== 
> 
> Radsafers:
> 
> Have any of you had to deal with NRC over buried radioactive waste issues?
> Montana State University was licensed in the past to bury LLRW in an
> abandoned gold mine (ha, you thought I was going to tell you where!). That
> last disposal took place in the mid-eighties, and the mine was back-filled
> and sealed in 1989 by the State Lands Commission.  It is now surrounded by a
> ten foot fence and labeled as containing RAM.  There is a ventilation tube
> protruding from the concrete slab sealing the mine.  The mine sealing was
> performed per the specifications of the State's Abandoned Mines Program.
> 
> All this was done on the "up-and-up", with full NRC approval.  NRC actually
> drafted a lengthy report regarding the issue, concluding positively to seal
> the mine.  Presently, however, as part of MSU's Decommissioning Funding
> Plan, NRC wants to know (among other things) how we propose to address "long
> term surveillance."
> 
> Is there a precedent in the established "Rules and Regulations" that
> addresses this particular scenario?
> 
> The mine itself is situated in "natural rock".  It is dry throughout the
> year (i.e., no percolating water), and is five hundred feet above the
> existing water table.  The shaft itself is one hundred feet below the ground
> surface at its extreme end (it's a horizontal shaft bored into the side of a
> large hill).
> 
> NRC first approached me on this last year during a pre license renewal
> visit.  The license reviewer intimated "strong concern" over the future
> disposition of the mine.  You can probably imagine my feelings in response
> to this.  Pandora's Gold Mine!
> 
> I did not put anything into the license application promulgating site
> surveillance.  Nothing in the our new license (Type A) mentions the mine, or
> any custodial requirements.
> 
> I am not in the mood to make a commitment that has neither legal precedent
> (from my vantage point) or environmental merit.
> 
> Why would NRC present this issue without tying in (or illustrating) what
> their fundamental concerns are?
> 
> Any thoughts, comments, EXPERIENCES, etc., would be appreciated.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> -Erick Lindstrom
> 
>  Erick Lindstrom
>  Radiation Safety Officer
>  309 Montana Hall
>  Montana State University
>  Bozeman, MT  59717-0244
>  Phone: (406) 994-2108
>  Fax:	(406) 994-4792
>  avrel@gemini.oscs.montana.edu
>