Stanford Linear Accelerator Center

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The 172-hectare (426-acre) Stanford Linear Accelerator Center is a high energy research facility owned and operated by Stanford University under contract to the Department of Energy. The site is located on the San Francisco Peninsula between San Francisco and San Jose, California.

FACILITY MISSION

The Stanford Linear Accelerator Center was established in 1962 as a research facility for high energy particle physics. The Center's four major experimental facilities are the Linear Accelerator, the Positron Electron Project Storage Ring, the Stanford Positron Electron Asymmetric Ring, and the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center Linear Collider. This report assumes that the Stanford Linear Accelerator's current mission as a center of research and development using high energy accelerators and experimental apparatus will not change for the life cycle of this estimate. The Environmental Management mission at this site is to clean up soils and ground water contaminated by past operations with volatile organic compounds, polychlorinated biphenyls, petroleum hydrocarbons, lead, and other metals.

There are no current or planned Nuclear Material and Facility Stabilization activities at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. There is no current or anticipated need for stabilization or decommissioning activities at this site. The Office of Energy Research is the Department of Energy landlord at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center and Stanford University owns the facility land. This report assumes that this relationship will continue for the foreseeable future.

FUTURE USE

The Oakland Operations Office and Stanford Linear Accelerator Center have actively participated, coordinated, and reached agreement on future use scenarios with the local community, regulators, and other interested stakeholders. This report assumes that the future use of the facility will be similar to its past and current use; i.e., energy related research. In accordance with changing research requirements, some facilities may be decommissioned or converted for new missions. Therefore, this report assumes that the future use designation for this site will be Industrial.

ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION

Past waste management practices and facility operations have resulted in the contamination of soil and ground water with volatile organic compounds, polychlorinated biphenyls, petroleum hydrocarbons, lead, and other metals. There are four known areas of ground-water contamination: a former solvent under-ground storage tank, the plating shop, a former hazardous waste storage yard, and the monitoring well 24 area. Two areas, the Master Substation and the Lower Salvage Yard, have known soil contamination that has not been addressed. The Department has already removed soils contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls and lead from the 3.0­megawatt Power Supply, the Interaction Region 8 Power Supply, Substations 009, 502, 507 and 510, the Interaction Region 6 drainage channel, and approximately 280 catchbasin structures in the stormwater drainage system.

The extent of soil- and ground-water contamination has not been completely defined. Potential site risks and remedial actions will be assessed once site characterization is complete. Stanford is currently operating its Environmental Restoration program under a State Board Order from the State Regional Water Quality Control Board.

This report assumes that established regulatory standards, such as Maximum Contaminant Levels under the Safe Drinking Water Act and background levels found in the environment will be used as cleanup levels. However, the final cleanup levels will be negotiated with the regulators upon completion of the site risk assessment. Furthermore, the results of the risk assessment will determine whether the Containment Zone Strategy must be applied.

The radioactive "mixed" waste at the Center does not fall under the Federal Facility Compliance Act definition of mixed waste. Therefore, the Center is exempt from the Site Treatment Plan process. However, the Oakland Operations Office's policy is to keep the State informed of the status of all mixed waste that would otherwise be subject to the Federal Facility Compliance Act.

A strategy to accelerate environmental restoration activities at Stanford Linear Accelerator Center was implemented in FY 1995. The "Small Sites Initiative" will allow environmental restoration activities to be completed over a period of five years, thereby allowing closure by the end of FY 2000. This report estimates that the Initiative will save $7 million over the life of the project.

The strategy for completing Stanford's environmental restoration activities by FY 2000 is based on the following assumptions: 1) no significant new contamination is encountered; 2) no remedial actions other than source removal and monitoring will be required, and; 3) the Regional Water Quality Control Board will approve "Containment Zone Status" for areas of contaminated ground water. Transportation and disposal costs for all waste generated by environmental restoration activities are included within the scope of the Waste Management program at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.

The following Major Activity Milestones table presents assumed activity milestones for the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.

ASSESSMENT

A preliminary assessment completed in 1993 identified several areas of contamination requiring further investigation and possible remediation. Several discrete areas of soil and ground-water contamination are known. Volatile organic compounds have been found in ground-water samples at levels of up to four parts per million. Polychlorinated biphenyls have been found in soil samples at levels of up to 500 parts per million. Lead has been found at levels above background in several soil samples.

Comprehensive characterization of the lateral and vertical extent of the four ground-water and two soil sites will begin in FY 1996. These characterization efforts will attempt to identify source areas and define the extent of contamination. Characterization efforts will include bore hole and monitoring well drilling as well as applying other technologies to determine the extent of the plume and the underlying geology. FY 1996 assessment activities will begin with final characterization of the Former Underground Storage Tank Area ground-water release site. The major contaminants of concern at the Former Underground Storage Tank Area are 1,1-dichloroethylene and trichloroethylene.

The three remaining ground-water release sites include the Former Hazardous Waste Storage Area (major contaminants of concern include 1,2-dichloroethane, 1,1-dichloroethylene, and vinyl chloride), Monitoring Well 24 Area (major contaminants of concern include 1,1-dichloroethylene, trichloroethylene and vinyl chloride), and the Plating Shop Area (major contaminants of concern include 1,1-dichloroethylene and trichloroethylene). Characterization of all ground-water release sites will be complete in FY 1998 with the issuance of the final Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study Report.

To date, Interim Removal Actions have been completed at six contaminated soil sites. These actions have resulted in removing several hundred cubic yards of soil contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls. Two remaining areas, the Master Substation and the Lower Salvage Yard, have soils contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (8.6 milligrams per kilogram and 80 milligrams per kilogram, respectively). Lead contamination has also been discovered at the Lower Salvage Yard at 210 milligrams per kilogram. No evidence of ground-water contamination exists in either of these areas. Sampling at these locations was performed during preliminary assessment activities in areas where obvious staining was exhibited. Additional characterization will be required to determine the full extent of contamination.

Leakage from an underground solvent storage tank was discovered in 1983. The tank was removed and ground-water monitoring wells were installed in 1984. The Regional Water Quality Control Board issued an Order in 1985 requiring characterization and cleanup. Soil and ground-water actions began in FY 1994. Thirty additional wells in support of characterization efforts will be installed site-wide by December, 1997.

REMEDIAL ACTION

Completion of the Small Sites Initiative depends in part on regulator approval of Containment Zone status for four contaminated ground-water release sites located on the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center facility. These sites include the Former Underground Storage Tank Area, Former Hazardous Waste Storage Area, Monitoring Well 24 Area, and the Plating Shop Area.

The remedial investigation reports on contaminated soil and ground water are scheduled for completion in FY 1998. The site­wide feasibility study is scheduled for completion in FY 1999, with the subsequent remedial action complete in FY 2000. This estimate assumes that two areas, the Master Substation and the Lower Salvage Yard, will require remedial action to address soils contaminated with volatile organic compounds and polychlorinated biphenyls. The work performed at each site will include excavation of contaminated soils and confirmation sample collection and analysis to ensure cleanup standards have been met. Current estimates of contaminated media requiring treatment or disposal include 598 cubic meters (783 cubic yards) of soil associated with ground water contaminated with volatile organic compounds and 150 cubic meters (197 cubic yards) of polychlorinated biphenyl and lead contaminated soil.

All long-term surveillance and monitoring requirements will become the responsibility of the Office of Energy Research, the Department of Energy landlord at the site, after FY 2000.

Direct Program Management/Support

Program management tasks supporting environmental restoration activities at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center include: personnel management, strategic planning, maintaining environmental restoration data, and financial management. They also include interaction with external regulatory agencies and the public, permitting, monitoring project progress and auditing, and administrative support.

WASTE MANAGEMENT

The Stanford Linear Accelerator Center manages waste generated by Energy Research operations and environmental restoration remediation activities. See the Site Map for the location of Waste Management program activities.

The Stanford Linear Accelerator Center generates mainly hazardous waste and small amounts of radioactive and mixed waste. Hazardous waste is generated by site operations such as vehicle, equipment and general facility maintenance, and the operations of the plating shop and its associated waste treatment plant. These operations support the Energy Research program.

Energy Research activities are expected to continue indefinitely, and it is assumed that the Waste Management program will continue to manage generated waste until FY 2070. For the most part, radioactive waste is generated from accelerator operations, and includes such items as large pieces of equipment activated during accelerator runs. Because the radioactive waste does not fall within the definition of the Atomic Energy Act, on the rare occasions when radioactive waste containing hazardous constituents is identified, it does not fall under the Federal Facility Compliance Act; hence, the Center does not have a Site Treatment Plan for "mixed waste".

In FY 1995, approximately two-thirds of the hazardous waste generated at the Center was from the Environmental Restoration program. It consisted primarily of soil contaminated with lead, mercury, and oil. The quantity of hazardous waste should be significantly smaller after the completion of the site cleanup in FY 2000. The Environmental Restoration program does not generate any radioactive waste.

The Waste Minimization program is the other scheduled waste management activity. This program focuses on preventing and reducing hazardous and radioactive waste generation by implementing recycling opportunities, toxicity reductions, materials substitution, and source process modifications.

Low-Level Mixed/Low-Level Waste

GENERATION AND HANDLING

Radioactive waste includes low-level and low-level mixed waste generated through a variety of means. They include pieces of equipment or metal or large cement shielding blocks that become slightly radioactive when they are in the line of the accelerator beam when it is turned on. When the items are no longer needed, they are taken out of the accelerator area and declared waste. Radioactive waste also includes sealed sources and standards no longer in use, resin-beds used in water recirculation, and solvents that were contaminated when they were used in fabrication.

A small amount (fewer than 20 cubic meters [26 cubic yards] per year) of radioactive waste arises from the accumulation of corrosion products such as induced-radioactivity-containing copper in cooling water, resin-bed filters, pipe, and other metal pieces from the accelerator. In the past, a limited amount of low-level mixed waste was generated when hazardous substances such as solvents were used to clean activated material or when oil in vacuum pumps serving the accelerator were irradiated by beam particles. This report assumes that 17.5 cubic meters (23 cubic yards) of low-level mixed waste will be generated annually at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. There is no current or planned treatment of low-level or low-level mixed waste at the Center.

STORAGE

The major onsite storage area for radioactive waste is the Radioactive Material Storage Yard. Radioactive waste is identified when experiments are completed; accelerator components and commercially procured radioactive materials are either recycled or stored pending disposal. Approximately 170 cubic meters (222 cubic yards) of waste is currently in inventory at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. The small amount of radioactive waste generated by the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center is stored in the fenced and bermed Radioactive Material Storage Yard while awaiting transportation offsite for any required treatment and disposal. A new Radioactive and Mixed Waste Storage Area is scheduled to be completed in January 1996. The current Radioactive Material Storage Yard will then be used solely as a staging area to receive, segregate, and process material, and to store recyclable radioactive material. The proposed Radioactive and Mixed Waste Storage Area will be used exclusively for nonrecyclable radioactive and mixed waste storage prior to treatment and disposal offsite.

DISPOSAL

Some radioactive material is recycled at the Center. The Stanford Linear Accelerator Center coordinates staging and ultimate disposal of low-level waste and mixed waste with the Department of Energy at Hanford, a licensed disposal facility for radioactive waste. This report assumes that 1,483 cubic meters (1,942 cubic yards) of low-level waste and 5 cubic meters (7 cubic yards) of mixed low-level waste will be disposed of at the Hanford Site.

Hazardous Waste

GENERATION AND HANDLING

The Stanford Linear Accelerator Center is a large quantity generator as defined by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. It does not have a permit to treat, store, or dispose of hazardous waste onsite. All hazardous waste is shipped offsite within 90 days of generation to an approved commercial facility for treatment and disposal. The hazardous waste streams include: waste oils from machine shops, motor pools, pumps, and compressors; waste solvents from various degreasers, assembly shops, and clean operations; oils contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls; wastewater from the plating shop and its associated wastewater treatment facility; aqueous liquids with metals from metal-cleaning activities; soil, contaminated protective clothing; and asphalt from the cleanup of spills and leaks. Waste Management personnel pick up hazardous waste from waste accumulation areas around the site and bring it to the Centralized Hazardous Waste Management Area for any packaging required before it is shipped offsite for disposal.

The life-cycle generation volume of hazardous waste for Energy Research activities is assumed to be 17,448 cubic meters (22,857 cubic yards). This estimate also assumes that Waste Management will be responsible for storing and disposing of 748 cubic meters (980 cubic yards) of hazardous waste, including waste contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls, generated by environmental restoration activities. Environmental Management does not perform any onsite treatment of hazardous waste.

Direct Program Management/Support

Program management tasks supporting waste management activities at the Center include: facility management, personnel management and training, administrative support, and emergency preparedness and spill control support. They also include document, guidance and procedure preparation and revision, data base and waste-tracking management, and audits of applicable commercial treatment, storage, and disposal facilities. Payment of disposal and inspection fees, budget preparation and control, and waste minimization planning are also program management tasks that support waste management activities.

DESCRIPTION OF PERSONNEL

Current Composition

The following table presents the current Full-Time Equivalents needed to conduct the environmental management activities at the site. The work force comprises federal and contractor personnel and includes technicians, clerical staff, and managers who manage hazardous and radioactive waste at the center.

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

Site Management Structure

The Oakland Operations Office is the field organization responsible for implementing Management Plans at Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. Stanford University operates the Laboratory for the Department. The Stanford University is the management and operating contractor and is responsible for environmental restoration and waste management activities at the Center. Stanford Linear Accelerator Center is an Energy Research Laboratory where site management activities are performed by Energy Research.

Future Full-Time Equivalent Needs

This report expects that with the declining waste volume generation and completion of environmental restoration activities, the number of Environmental Management Full-Time Equivalents will decline accordingly. Monitoring for the completed environmental restoration will be done by the landlord beginning in FY 2001. However, since the Center's mission is expected to continue for the foreseeable future, the waste management personnel needs will remain fairly constant until 2070.

FUNDING ESTIMATE

The following table presents estimated funding information for the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.

COMPARISON WITH PREVIOUS ESTIMATE

The 1996 life-cycle estimate is $161 million, which represents a one percent change from the 1995 estimate of $169 million, after accounting for the 1995 expenditure. Changes in cost, schedule, and scope are primarily due to the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center's designation for the Small Site Initiative. Under this Initiative, Environmental Restoration program activities will be complete in FY 2000 rather than in FY 2013, with an associated cost reduction of approximately $7 million over the life cycle. As a result of the national assumption that all Waste Management support of non-Environmental Management Department of Energy programs will continue until FY 2070, Waste Management support to the Energy Research program at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center has been extended 41 years relative to 1995 Baseline Report dates.