General Atomics

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General Atomics occupies approximately 49 hectares (120 acres) on two contiguous sites that are 21 kilometers (13 miles) north of downtown San Diego, California, just southwest of the convergence of Interstates 5 and 805, and approximately 1.6 kilometers (one mile) east of the Pacific Ocean. The two sites are referred to as the Main Site and the Sorrento Valley Area, or collectively as the General Atomics site.

FACILITY MISSION

To support the Department of Energy and its predecessor agency, the Atomic Energy Commission, as well as commercial customers, General Atomics has maintained a fully operational Hot Cell Facility at the Main Site for over 30 years. The Hot Cell Facility, which General Atomics owns and operates, has been used for numerous post-irradiation examinations of Department fuels, structural materials, reactor dosimetry materials, and instrumentation. The Department-sponsored activities at the General Atomics Hot Cell Facility primarily supported the High Temperature Gas Cooled Reactor and the Reduced­Enrichment Research Test Reactor programs.

The Hot Cell Facility occupies Building 23 and an outdoor service yard on General Atomic's Main Site. The interior of Building 23 has approximately 690 square meters (7,400 square feet) of floor space, consisting of offices, three hot cells, an operating gallery, and hot and cold auxiliary areas. Operations in Building 23 were performed under the authority of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission Special Nuclear Material License Number SNM­696 and the State of California Department of Health Services Radioactive Material License Number 0145­80.

The Hot Cell Facility Decontamination and Decommissioning Project is the only activity at the General Atomics site included in the Environmental Management program because it was the only area at the facility used by the Department of Energy and predecessor agencies. Past Departmental and commercially-sponsored activities contaminated the Hot Cell Facility with radioactive and hazardous materials.

Building 23 is surrounded by a 4,342-square meter (46,740-square foot) fenced service yard that includes several concrete pads used for staging heavy equipment and making material transfers into and out of the building. The remaining area comprises asphalt, soil, scattered small rocks, and disturbed vegetation. There is a small 37-square meter (400-square foot) metal ancillary building and four above-ground waste storage tanks. Other equipment includes the high efficiency particulate air ventilation filtration system, stack, and temporary storage areas. The yard is enclosed by a 2-meter (7-foot) high galvanized chain link fence. Physical barriers and security personnel control access to the yard.

There are no current or planned Nuclear Material and Facility Stabilization projects at the General Atomics Site. All waste management activities are conducted within the scope of the Environmental Restoration program. All landlord costs associated with this site are the responsibility of the owner, General Atomics.

FUTURE USE

General Atomics, the owner of the site, will decide the future use. However, the assumed remedial action approach will allow the former Hot Cell Facility to be used without radiological restriction, as defined by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the State of California. This report anticipates the future use of the property will remain Industrial.

ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION

The Environmental Restoration program bears all waste management costs. Decommissioning of the hot cell is the only Department of Energy liability at the General Atomics site. Following completion of this project, all Departmental liability at this site will terminate. Site and facility characterization was completed in 1995, and decommissioning began in 1996. The remedial action will result in removal of all waste from the site. This baseline estimate assumes that the project will be complete in FY 2000. See the Site Map for environmental restoration activities location.

ASSESSMENT

The examination of post-irradiated fuels, structural materials, reactor dosimetry materials, and instrumentation in the Hot Cell Facility contaminated the facility with mixed fission and activation products. The Hot Cell Facility and site have been characterized for radiological and hazardous contaminants. The radiological assessment demonstrated that approximately 50 percent of the wall areas and 79 percent of the floor areas are contaminated. The cell penetrations (holes in the walls for utilities, etc. that are properly sealed to prevent contamination from leaving the Hot Cell) are contaminated, and core drilling results indicate the presence of subsurface contamination in soil below the facility. Structural materials on the roof and limited areas of the exterior walls are contaminated.

Hazardous constituent sampling indicated that 23 percent of the floor and walls are contaminated with low levels of various hazardous constituents, including polychlorinated biphenyls, semi-volatile organic compounds, and metals. Core sampling confirmed subsurface hazardous contaminants at low levels in areas where oils were used. The yard soil assessment indicated limited surface and subsurface areas of elevated activity primarily from cesium-137, -134 and -60. Hazardous constituent concentrations were found to be within background range.

The proposed decommissioning alternative involves the piecemeal dismantlement of the facility. The criteria for release of materials and equipment, facility structures, and the Hot Cell property rely upon past precedent, which the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and State of California established for the General Atomics site. Radiological and hazardous contamination is confined within the boundaries of the Hot Cell Facility, and health risks to General Atomics workers and the public will be extremely limited.

Surveillance consists of activities required to monitor personnel, work areas, equipment, packages, waste streams, and the environment for the protection of the worker and the general public. It also includes performance checks on related equipment/instrumentation to support the above activities. Surveillance and maintenance activities will be phased out as the project progresses.

The Health and Safety Plan presents a detailed listing of surveillance and maintenance activities and their frequency. The building structure and its support systems and equipment will require routine maintenance to ensure the Hot Cell Complex is maintained in a safe standby condition. The structural envelope, the High Efficiency Particulate Air ventilation system, the electrical distribution system, fire protection, and certain user project fixtures are examples of equipment requiring continued routine maintenance.

DECOMMISSIONING

The Department used characterization data to consider the four alternatives for decommissioning (leave in place, entombment, dismantlement, or decommissioning in place). It selected facility dismantlement as the decommissioning alternative. In this alternative, the dismantlement of the facility would take place, including removal of the facility structure, and remediation of the soil around the facility, as necessary, followed by Nuclear Regulatory Commission and State of California inspections and release of the site for Industrial use.

The General Atomics Hot Cell Facility Decontamination and Decommissioning Project is in the early stages of implementation. The Hot Cell Site and Facility Characterization Report and the Decommissioning Plan were submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the State of California in 1995. Hot Cell Facility decommissioning activities are currently being performed in three phases.

Phase 1 consisted of disposing of waste materials and irradiated fuel materials that remained in the hot cell from previous Department of Energy contracts, determining the magnitude and extent of contamination through characterization, and preparing the Decommissioning Plan and all required Health & Safety and National Environmental Policy Act documentation. Phase 1 activities are generally complete, except for approval of the Decommissioning Plan by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and State of California and the transfer of the irradiated fuel materials from Building 23 to Building 30.

The project is ready to proceed to Phase 2, and contract negotiations for this phase are being conducted. Phase 2 includes decontamination activities; packaging, shipment, and disposal of radioactive and nonradioactive waste; and soil remediation.

Phase 3 consists of submitting the closure report to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the State of California, conducting confirmatory surveys, and obtaining approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the State of California that the Department of Energy scope of work at this site is complete.

Decontamination operations at the Hot Cell Facility are currently scheduled to begin in 1996. The assumed approach will involve passive decontamination methods such as standard vacuuming, damp cloth wiping, and, to a limited degree, hand washing/scrubbing operations. When passive methods fail to reduce surface contamination to releasable levels, more aggressive decontamination methods will be used.

After the facility is dismantled, the affected soil surrounding the facility will be remediated. Contaminated soil will either be shipped to an offsite or temporary processing facility or shipped directly to a low-level radioactive waste disposal facility. For the purposes of this report, direct shipment was assumed. Following removal of all contamination, a comprehensive final radiation survey will be conducted and documented in report form. After the site has been surveyed and it has been documented that it complies with the approved criteria for release, the final report to the state and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission requesting release of the site will be submitted. This report assumes that all radioactive waste generated will be transferred to the Hanford Site. Sanitary and hazardous waste will be shipped to appropriate commercial facilities.

The Department of Energy will share the costs of decommissioning the Hot Cell Facility. The Department will bear 76 percent of the burden, and General Atomics will bear 24 percent. The costs presented in this estimate represent the Department's portion of the total budget for this project.

Based on the Hot Cell Facility and site characterization results and planned decontamination, abatement, remediation, and dismantlement activities, remediation of the facility and site will generate an estimated 13,635 cubic meters (17,861 cubic yards) of low­level waste, low­level mixed waste, radiologically contaminated asbestos and lead, and other hazardous waste.

The Hot Cell Decontamination and Decommissioning Project will involve relocating some irradiated fuel materials owned by the Office of Nuclear Energy from the building to another onsite facility (Building 130) for temporary storage until a Department of Energy facility is identified. The total amount of fuel material is 524 grams (1.2 pounds). This estimate assumes the spent fuel will be transferred to Idaho National Engineering Laboratory in FY 2000. Transfer activities will include surveillance and maintenance costs, which the Environmental Restoration program will fund. Irradiated fuel materials transfer activities will not generate any disposable waste.

All mixed waste generated at General Atomics is stored at the Mixed Waste Management Facility, which is an interim status (Part A) waste storage facility under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Treatment of mixed waste at General Atomics is conducted under interim status, which allows neutralization, filtration, and stabilization activities. The Mixed Waste Management Facility consists of three areas designated as container storage areas for mixed waste. The total storage capacity in these three areas is approximately 580 cubic meters (760 cubic yards), which far exceeds the current and projected mixed waste inventory at General Atomics.

Future estimates of waste generation include 20 cubic meters (26 cubic yards) of sanitary waste, which consists of miscellaneous scrap metal from the Hot Cell Facility Decontamination and Decommissioning Project and five cubic meters (7 cubic yards) of wastewater containing zinc and possibly other metals.

Direct Program Management/Support

Program management at the site supports the integration of environmental restoration activities at General Atomics. These activities include tracking, collecting, and reporting costs; preparing programmatic documents; coordinating permitting and public involvement; liaison with external regulatory agencies; and establishing, documenting, and maintaining technical, cost, and schedule baselines.

DESCRIPTION OF PERSONNEL

Current Composition

An organization has been established specifically to decommission the Hot Cell Facility. Required Hot Cell Facility decommissioning staffing is presented in the table on the following page. The federal and contractor work force includes engineers, technicians, crafts personnel, administrators and other professional staff. Specialized staff and support personnel may be added as the project progresses. Subcontractors for specific tasks requiring special skills will complement the staff on an as-needed basis.

* The Projections for Full-Time Equivalent employees are based on FY 1996 planning baselines (see Reader's Guide).

Site Management Structure

The Department of Energy has contracted with General Atomics in a cost sharing, no-fee arrangement as prime contractor and site manager of the General Atomics Hot Cell Decontamination and Decommissioning Project. The project will be organized within the General Atomics corporate structure to ensure high management visibility and priority. Other General Atomics technical and administrative personnel will support the organization, as required. This report anticipates no future contracting needs after the expiration of this contract in 2000.

Future Full-Time Equivalent Needs

The table above presents future contractor Full-Time Equivalents for Hot Cell Facility decommissioning. Only one federal Full-Time Equivalent is required in the outyears.

FUNDING ESTIMATE

The following table presents estimated funding information for the General Atomics site.

COMPARISON WITH PREVIOUS ESTIMATE

The estimated life-cycle cost at the General Atomics site is 26 percent higher in the FY 1996 Baseline Report than it was last year. The increase in the FY 1996 cost estimate is due to more mature analysis available for the decommissioning, soil remediation, and closeout activities.