|
 Home
BEMR
Contents
U.S.
Map
The Center for Energy and Environment Research, located in the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico, consists of three sites and a decommissioned research reactor. The
three sites total approximately 70 hectares (176 acres). These sites include
the Mayaguez Site, the El Verde Research Area, and the Rio Piedras Site. The
Mayaguez Site is located in western Puerto Rico, approximately 1.6 kilometers
(1 mile) east of Mayaguez Bay. This site spans roughly 8 hectares (20 acres)
and is situated adjacent to the University of Puerto Rico College of
Agriculture and Mechanical Arts and the U.S. Department of Agriculture
Experiment Station, northeast of the Mayaguez city limits. The El Verde Site
encompasses approximately 63 hectares (156 acres), located in the Luqillo
Forest approximately 23 kilometers (14 miles) southeast of San Juan in
northeastern Puerto Rico. The Rio Piedras Site is located approximately 3.2
kilometers (2 miles) south of San Juan and consists of a Biomedical facility.
The Boiling Nuclear Superheat Research Reactor is an unrelated program located
in Rinco'n, approximately 21 kilometers (13 miles) northwest of Mayaguez. The
program consists of a defueled and entombed reactor and associated buildings.
LOCALITY MAP
FACILITY MISSION
The Center for Energy and Environment Research was established in 1957 as the
Puerto Rico Nuclear Center. It consists of three distinct sites that were
operated by the University of Puerto Rico, and the Boiling Nuclear Superheat
Research Reactor operated by the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority under
contract to the Department of Energy and its predecessors. The Mayaguez Site is
a multiple structure facility that housed the marine studies program, the
original research reactor, and associated laboratories. In 1976, reactor
research activities at the site concluded with the closure of the TRIGA
Research Reactor and L-77 Training Reactor, and the facility mission broadened
to include nonnuclear energy technologies.
The El Verde Site was an experimental research station that supported a
terrestrial ecology program between 1964 and 1976. This site performed
radiological tests on the trees and vegetation in a section of rainforest to
study mineral cycling and metabolism.
The primary focus of work at the Rio Piedras site was nuclear medicine
research. However, in 1982 the site was transferred from the Department of
Energy to the University of Puerto Rico by means of a Quit Claim Deed. The site
included the Biomedical Building and a former underground diesel fuel storage
tank, which was removed in FY 1994.
The Boiling Nuclear Superheat Research Reactor operated as a research reactor
between 1962 and 1967. The facility was decommissioned by 1970, and the reactor
vessel and other components were entombed in place. This report assumes that
the Department of Energy will maintain the responsibility for monitoring and
inspecting this facility for the life cycle of this estimate.
Cost associated with landlord activities at the Mayaguez and El Verde Research
Area are the responsibility of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and this
report assumes that it will remain in this capacity for the life cycle of this
estimate. The landlord for the Rio Piedras Site is the University of Puerto
Rico and this report expects the university to remain in this capacity for the
life cycle of this estimate. Landlord activities at the Boiling Nuclear
Superheat Research Reactor are limited to surveillance and monitoring
activities performed by the Department of Energy. All costs associated with
assessment and remedial activities at the Center for Energy and Environment
Research are included within the Oak Ridge Operations Office estimate.
Activities will be complete in FY 1996 and cost approximately $749,000
($130,000 for assessment and $619,000 for remediation).
FUTURE USE
This estimate assumes that the Mayaguez and El Verde Sites will be transferred
to the U.S. Department of Agriculture in FY 1996. The Rio Piedras Site was
transferred to the University of Puerto Rico in 1982. All future-use decisions
regarding these sites are the responsibility of the landlord organizations;
however, the Department of Energy is currently negotiating future-use
limitations with the U.S. Department of Agriculture at the Mayaguez and El
Verde Sites. This estimate assumes that future use of these sites will be
Recreational. However, the sites will also be used for offices, laboratories,
and educational institutions.
The Department of Energy will also continue to monitor and inspect the Boiling
Nuclear Superheat Research Reactor facility. Because of entombed radioactive
materials left in place, this estimate assumes that this area will remain
Controlled Access. However, the Mayor of Rinco'n City and the Puerto Rico
Electric Power Authority are negotiating the development of a museum in the
reactor building. This report assumes that these plans will change the land use
of this facility in the near future.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION
Environmental Restoration program concerns at the Center for Energy and
Environment Research involved underground storage tanks containing fuel oils at
the Rio Piedras and Mayaguez sites. In addition, there are concerns about
materials containing asbestos in the Rio Piedras, Mayaguez and El Verde sites,
gas cylinders and miscellaneous laboratory chemicals at the Mayaguez Site, and
the entombed radioactive material at the Boiling Nuclear Superheat Research
Reactor Site.
The Department of Energy has removed all underground storage tanks. All of the
gas cylinders and miscellaneous chemicals at the Mayaguez Site were disposed of
in the first quarter of FY 1996. The Department must now dispose of asbestos at
both the Mayaguez and El Verde Sites and continue to monitor and inspect the
entombed radioactive materials at the Boiling Nuclear Superheat Research
Reactor facility.
The Department ships all hazardous waste generated by environmental restoration
activities at the Center's sites to appropriate commercial facilities for
disposal. The reactor vessel and its components at the Boiling Nuclear
Superheat Research Reactor facility have been entombed in place. The
radioactive fuel was disposed of in the continental United States.
Major Environmental Restoration Activity Milestones
| Mayaguez Site - Remedial Action
|
1996
|
|
El Verde Site - Remedial Action
|
1996
|
|
Boiling Nuclear Superheat Research Reactor - Long-Term Surveillance and
Monitoring
|
2136
|
ASSESSMENT
The Department has completed all assessment activities except for limited
activity associated with revising the monitoring plan for the Boiling Nuclear
Superheat Research Reactor. The plan was developed 25 years ago and recent
inspections have found contaminated areas that were not included in the
original monitoring plan. A Phase 1 Radiological Survey of materials and
equipment at the reactor site has been completed and Phase 2 will be completed
by FY 1996. During the Phase 2 assessment, several pieces of equipment and
material were found to be radioactively contaminated. When the estimate is
revised for the unrestricted land use of the reactor building, a thorough
characterization of the site by the Department of Energy will be added,
including decontamination of soil, ground water, and internal surface areas, to
the standards required for unrestricted use.
REMEDIAL ACTION
At the Mayaguez Site, the underground storage tanks and the unknown gas
cylinders and miscellaneous chemicals have been removed. Asbestos removal and
the removal of hot cells (glass windows) will be completed in FY 1996 and the
site will be transferred to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This report
assumes that no additional Department of Energy activity will be required at
this site.
At the El Verde Site, the Department has removed material and has restored the
trail in the El Verde Research Station. This estimate assumes that minor
asbestos issues will be resolved and the site will be transferred to the U.S.
Department of Agriculture in FY 1996. It also assumes that no additional
Department of Energy activity will be required at this site.
One underground storage tank has been closed in place and later was removed
from the Rio Piedras Site to complete the diesel-contaminated soil cleanup. An
asbestos survey and sampling of the Biomedical Building at the site have been
completed. This estimate assumes that all Department of Energy activities have
been completed and no additional Department of Energy activities will be
required at this site.
The Department has removed and disposed of noncontaminated materials at the
Boiling Nuclear Superheat Research Reactor facility. No additional remedial
action was necessary at this facility. However, because of the results of the
Phase 2 assessment, additional decontamination will be required.
Long-Term Surveillance and Monitoring
The Department monitors the Boiling Nuclear Superheat Research Reactor facility
and prepares an annual surveillance and inspection report that it submits to
the regulatory agencies. The monitoring plan, which was developed in 1970 at
the time of decontamination and decommissioning, is currently being revised and
this report
assumes it will be completed in FY 1996. Long-term surveillance and monitoring
of the reactor facility could continue until FY 2136. However, no cost for
these activities have been estimated for this report.
Direct Program Management/Support
The Oak Ridge Operations Office in Oak Ridge, Tennessee manages the
Environmental Management program at the Center for Energy and Environment
Research. Department of Energy contractors perform the work on a task basis.
DESCRIPTION OF PERSONNEL
Approximately 10 contractor Full-Time Equivalents are currently completing
remedial action work at the Center's sites. This does not mean that there are
10 full-time employees on site, but that several persons employed by a direct
Department of Energy contractor selected by a bid process complete the work and
then leave. The total hours involved are equivalent to 10 full-time personnel.
These employees are primarily engineers and construction craftsmen. The Oak
Ridge Operations Office manages the work, and personnel travel to Puerto Rico
to oversee the project's progress and work with the local authorities. This
report also assumes that only 0.3 Full-Time Equivalents will be necessary to
accomplish annual surveillance and inspection of the reactor site.
COMPARISON WITH PREVIOUS ESTIMATE
The Center for Energy and Environment Research was not included as a separate
activity in the FY 1995 Baseline Environmental Management Report. The changes
in costs for the FY 1996 Baseline Environmental Management Report reflect the
completion of activities over the past year. All activities will be completed
in FY 1996, with the exception of annual surveillance and monitoring of the
Boiling Nuclear Superheat Research Reactor.
|
Home
