Mound Plant

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The Mound Plant is located in Miamisburg, Ohio, approximately 16 kilometers (10 miles) south-southwest of Dayton, Ohio. Most of the 765-hectare (306-acre) site overlooks the city from a ridge that extends toward downtown Miamisburg from the southern city limits. Mound Road, on the east side of the plant, is lined by residences and provides access to the plant's main gate. A Conrail freight line runs along Mound's western border, and the old Miami-Erie Canal bed runs west of the track. Approximately half a mile further west from Mound is the Great Miami River.

FACILITY MISSION

In 1947, the Dayton Project of the Manhattan Engineering District became the Mound site. It reported to the Department of Energy's Office of Defense Programs until 1995, when the administration of the site was transferred to the Environmental Management program. Mound's early mission included nuclear materials research. Later missions included process development, production engineering, manufacturing and surveillance of detonators, explosive timers, transducers, firing sets, explosive pellets, components, and specific test equipment. Additional manufacturing activities at Mound included recovering and purifying tritium.

The Office of Defense Programs has transferred all Mound's production activities to other Department of Energy sites and transferred landlord responsibilities to Environmental Management. The current mission for the Environmental Management program at Mound is to "make Mound real property, equipment and facilities available for development as a commercial industrial site as safely, economically and timely as possible" This mission includes extensive environmental restoration, transitioning select Mound facilities for commercial use, and continued waste management support for the Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy as its mission at the site comes to an end.

Mound's remaining missions include fabrication of radioisotopic electrical power sources (which is performed by the Office of Nuclear Energy), facility stabilization, disposition of excess nuclear material and ancillary equipment, environmental restoration, decommissioning, and waste management. This report expects that the disposition of nuclear materials, including tritium, will be completed in FY 1997. Activity levels within the remaining missions will continue to decrease until remedial action is complete in FY 2015.

Although the Environmental Management program is the landlord at Mound, there are no directly appropriated landlord costs. All activities at the site are allocated a percentage of the landlord costs based on their labor hours, square footage, and gross dollars. All costs presented in this site summary include allocated landlord indirects. The landlord costs include, but are not limited to the following: budget analysis, logistics, mail, laundry, contracting and procurement, material acceptance, training, industrial safety, industrial hygiene, environmental technical and monitoring activities, utilities, fire protection, technical security, physical security, and custodial services.

FUTURE USE

This report assumes that the Department will sell Mound and will only have liability for one facility, called the Technical Building. The Mound Plant is an industrial complex that would be appropriate for commercial use in the future. The City of Miamisburg is making efforts to commercialize the site through the Miamisburg Mound Community Improvement Corporation. A number of buildings that are no longer needed for the Mound mission have been turned over to the Corporation to disposition for Commercial/Industrial operations. Economic development efforts at the site are also closely coordinated with the general public, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, and the Ohio Department of Health.

This report assumes that the Technical Building will be Controlled Access with institutional controls maintained by the Department of Energy. However, this estimate did not consider long-term surveillance and maintenance costs associated with this building. Mound Plant updates to the Baseline Environmental Management Report must address this issue.

Through negotiations with the City of Miamisburg, regulators, and other stakeholders, the future use assumption for the remainder of the Mound site is predominantly Industrial. Remediation is based on Industrial future use for all operable units except offsite ground water, which uses the Residential scenario.

NUCLEAR MATERIAL AND FACILITY STABILIZATION

The Nuclear Material and Facility Stabilization program is responsible for transitioning all 132 buildings at the Mound Plant. This program includes stabilizing and deactivating facilities to reduce the recurring costs associated with maintenance, record keeping, and maintaining inventories that are no longer required by the Department of Energy. When facilities or assets are declared surplus, the building is assigned to the Nuclear Material and Facility Stabilization program, and a survey of the liability, usefulness, and contamination levels is performed. This estimate assumes that 69 buildings will require stabilization actions. During this phase of the process, removal of excess inventory and equipment occurs. If the building or adjacent area is contaminated, it will transfer to the Environmental Restoration Decommissioning program.

This estimate also assumes that approximately 38 buildings will require decommissioning. After decommissioning, the facilities will transfer back to Nuclear Material and Facility Stabilization where their ultimate disposition will be determined. Approximately 55 buildings will be transferred to the Miamisburg Mound Community Improvement Corporation for lease. The remainder will be dismantled or demolished. Modular buildings and trailers will be sold and removed from the site.

The dispositioning of excess energetic components and materials, excess inert components, and excess chemicals in the nonradiological areas were complete at the end of FY 1995. Radiological materials are scheduled to be removed by FY 2000; however, the Department is studying options to accelerate that date. The Department will complete the removal of chemicals and ancillary equipment associated with the scheduling transfer units in FY 2002. It will then transfer buildings with either facility or surrounding media contamination to the Environmental Restoration decommissioning program.

The Waste Management program is responsible for the costs associated with the disposal of sanitary waste, chemicals, and radiological waste generated by Nuclear Material and Facility Stabilization program. The majority of radiological waste removal is included in the scope of environmental restoration activities.

The Nuclear Material and Facility Stabilization activities currently include 69 buildings that are grouped into three scheduling transfer units. Scheduling Transfer Unit MD3 is responsible for Inert Area Facilities Shutdown of 29 buildings with no contamination. Twenty-three of these buildings have been stabilized and prepared for transfer to the Miamisburg Mound Community Improvement Corporation for lease or to the Environmental Restoration program for decommissioning. The remaining six are currently being stabilized. Activities for this scheduling transfer unit will be completed in FY 1998.

Scheduling Transfer Unit MD4 is responsible for Energetic Materials Facilities Shutdown. The 33 energetic facilities were used to process powders and explosive components. Twenty-six buildings have completed stabilization. Ten of those buildings were released to the Miamisburg Mound Community Improvement Corporation and have been leased for commercialization. The remaining facilities will be stabilized and put into post-stabilization surveillance and maintenance in FY 1996. The stabilization of these buildings will generate 2 cubic meters (2.6 cubic yards) of hazardous waste.

Scheduling Transfer Unit MD5 is responsible for Radiological Facilities Shutdown. The seven radiological facilities in this scheduling transfer unit have had a diverse past in supporting radiological projects with nuclear accountable material and tritium. These facilities will continue processing work through FY 1999. The Department is currently stabilizing areas in these facilities that are not needed for ongoing processing work. In FY 2002 all buildings will be ready for transfer to the Environmental Restoration program for decommissioning. Approximately 100 cubic meters (131 cubic yards) of low-level waste and 7 cubic meters (9.2 cubic yards) of hazardous waste will be generated during the stabilization of these buildings.

All buildings in the Nuclear Material and Facility Stabilization program will undergo stabilization and post-stabilization surveillance and maintenance activities. Stabilization activities include the consolidating, removing, and dispositioning of energetic materials, chemicals, equipment, documents, and ancillary equipment. Ancillary equipment may remain in buildings that are designated for economic development if they meet the Department of Energy criteria for release. The removal of classified inventories, equipment, and documents; stabilization of contaminated production lines; and the removal of hazardous waste are necessary to reduce surveillance and maintenance costs as well as minimize environmental, safety and health risks. Heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems, and other utilities will be taken out of service for all buildings, except as required for fire protection or commercialization.

An ongoing surveillance and maintenance program is required to maintain the safety of the buildings from the time they are stabilized until they are subsequently available for transfer. Surveillance activities include required safety and fire inspections, preventive inspections and maintenance, required repairs to buildings and associated materials, and maintenance and repair of monitoring instruments.

Direct Program Management/Support

This task includes the program management required to perform nuclear material and facility stabilization activities at the Mound Plant. This list of activities includes cost/schedule planning and program integration between activities at the site, other Department of Energy locations, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION

Environmental restoration at Mound includes remediation of soils and ground water, facility decontamination and decommissioning, and associated environmental monitoring. Currently, the program is conducting a Remedial Investigation of the site. This estimate assumes that all environmental restoration activities will be complete by FY 2015.

The Mound Plant environmental restoration activities operate under a three-party Federal Facility Agreement. Parties to the agreement are the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Energy. The purpose of the agreement was to (1) identify interim remedial action alternatives appropriate for the site prior to implementing a final remedial action; (2) establish requirements for performing Remedial Investigations to determine the nature and extent of the threat to the public health, welfare, or the environment; (3) establish requirements for the performance of Feasibility Studies for the site to identify, evaluate, and select alternatives for appropriate remedial actions; (4) identify the nature, objectives and schedule of response actions to be taken at the site; (5) implement the selected interim and final remedial actions in accordance with Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act; and (6) ensure compliance with other federal and state hazardous waste laws and regulations. Modification of work by the Department of Energy is subject to approval by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in consultation with Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

Approximately 400 potential release sites have been documented at the Mound Plant. Because past operations were very diverse, the plant used a variety of radioactive materials and chemicals. Radioactive contaminants of greatest concern are plutonium and thorium. Chemical contaminants of concern include various volatile organic compounds in the form of solvents, paints, and industrial cleaning agents. Nine Operable Units were originally established in the program. The Operable Units divide the site into manageable areas based on factors such as common plumes, and types of contaminants and media affected. Most of the release sites for Operable Units 3, 7, and 8 have been closed via No Further Action proposals. As these three operable units represented several miscellaneous activities, the remaining active release sites have been mapped into their respective geographic operable units (Operable Units 1, 2, 4 or 5), and Operable Unit 9 addresses the site-wide environmental effects posed by contamination at the Mound Plant.

The Environmental Restoration program also includes the decommissioning of surplus facilities and associated contaminated soils. This activity includes removing contaminated soils associated with a building or process system, and decommissioning underground tanks and piping previously involved with nuclear operations. Currently, four buildings and portions of other buildings are in the decontamination and decommissioning program. This estimate assumes that 27 additional buildings will require decontamination and decommissioning. The final decision will be based on the Phase I Environmental Site Assessments or screening data.

Waste streams associated with remediation include low-level waste and hazardous waste. Waste volume available to be shipped offsite will vary significantly by year and will be generated through FY 2013. From remedial actions identified in the current baseline, waste volume projections will range from 18,573 cubic meters (24,330 cubic yards) in FY 1998 and FY 1999 to 170 cubic meters (222 cubic yards) in FY 2003. Costs for transportation and disposal of waste generated from the environmental restoration activities, with the exception of decommissioning, are included within the scope of the Waste Management program.

This estimate assumes that remedies selected for operable units will be effective and will not require long-term surveillance and monitoring.

Operable Unit 1

Operable Unit 1 requires the remediation of ground-water contamination from an old landfill, an old sanitary landfill, and an overflow pond. The major contaminant of concern is volatile organic compounds. The assessment phase of work was completed when a Record of Decision was issued in June 1995.

The selected remedy is collection and treatment of contaminated ground water. The method of the pump-and-treat technology will be determined during the design phase of the project but is expected to use air stripping enhanced with high vacuum extraction or air sparging. This report assumes that this remedy will be effective and, therefore, will not require surveillance or monitoring when the activity is finished. Nearly 265,000 cubic meters (seven million gallons) of contaminated ground water will be treated and then discharged to the Great Miami River through the site's water treatment system. This activity will be complete in FY 1998.

Operable Unit 2

Contamination of the Main Hill areas includes volatile organic compounds and tritium in ground-water seeps and radionuclides and volatile organic compounds in the soil. It is expected that the tritium contamination of the seeps will be reduced after source cleanup.

The estimate for operable units also assumes that 566 cubic meters (741 cubic yards) of low-level waste, including miscellaneous debris and soil, will be excavated and disposed of offsite. The site originally used the debris as fill material because it met radiological release standards for that time and includes railroad tracks and shielding components.

Operable Unit 4

Remediation of plutonium-contaminated soils in the old Miami-Erie Canal bed in Miamisburg includes the north and south ponds within the community park, the overflow creek from the canal to the Great Miami River, and the drainage ditch from the west property line of the Mound site to the canal. Preliminary assessment work is complete.

An Engineering Evaluation/Cost Analysis for the Miami-Erie Canal was prepared to evaluate remedial action alternatives to remove or eliminate the concentration of plutonium contamination within the soils and sediments. Based on the analysis, the Department chose a removal action as the preferred alternative. The data obtained during the removal action will be used in the Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study to verify that the remaining soil meets established cleanup levels. The field work for the Operable Unit 4 removal action associated with the Miami-Erie Canal is scheduled to start during FY 1996. The action involves removing soil contaminated with plutonium. Approximately 13,378 cubic meters (17,525 cubic yards) of low-level waste will be generated during the three-year life of the project.

Operable Unit 5

Operable Unit 5 is the South Property in which soils are contaminated with plutonium and thorium. Assessment of the soils is complete, and regulators approved a Remedial Investigation Work Plan in FY 1994.

Nearly all of the waste generated in Operable Unit 5 is low-level waste, although volatile organic compound- contaminated soils have been found. This report expects that 57,927 cubic meters (75,884 cubic yards) of low-level waste will be generated for treatment or disposal during the life of the project.

Phase 1 field work is complete. It involved removal actions at the Fire Fighting Training Area, Area 7, Drainage Control System, and some powerhouse fuel storage tanks. Soils from the Fire Fighting Training Area are currently being treated with microbes in an onsite temporary facility. The Area 7 actions included removal of actinium- contaminated soils around buried rubble and remnants of an old septic tank. The drainage control removal action is currently under construction. Once complete, it will mitigate the spread of contamination by storm-water runoff. Soil contaminated with organic chemicals from around underground fuel oil storage tanks is staged and waiting for bioremediation in the same facility that is being used to treat the soil from the Fire Fighting Training Area.

Operable Unit 6 and Decommissioning Activities

Operable Unit 6 constitutes the decommissioning program which manages decommissioning facilities that are declared surplus and are contaminated with radiological or hazardous materials. This includes decontaminating and dispositioning surplus equipment, utilities, underground tanks and piping, and contaminated soils associated with surplus facilities. The current decommissioning program began in 1978 and has completed the cleanup of surplus laboratories, a plutonium processing building, and a waste transfer system. Based upon preliminary data, this report assumes that 27 additional buildings will require decontamination and decommissioning.

Historically, the decommissioning program decontaminated facilities and portions of facilities as necessary for reuse and dismantled facilities when decontamination for reuse was not economically practical. Accomplishments to date include: decontamination of 4,180 square meters (4,974 square yards) of buildings, removal of 2,322 square meters (2,713 square yards) of buildings, removal of 1,824 meters (6,000 linear feet) of underground piping, and removal of 12,740 cubic meters (16,689 cubic yards) of contaminated soil for disposal. The decommissioning program has removed 24,000 tons of contaminated material from the environment and shipped 200 tons of metal for smelting and reuse.

The decommissioning program is currently performing assessment work on a former thorium storage building, portions of several plant buildings, and several contaminated soil areas. It is also performing remediation work on the Special Metallurgical Building and on the remaining underground waste transfer piping. Future work will include buildings that become surplus as the plant mission changes. The decommissioning program performs limited, short-term surveillance and maintenance activities on facilities as required to ensure personnel safety and prevent the release of contaminants prior to and during decontamination and dispositioning activities. The Department develops these surveillance and maintenance activities for each specific facility based upon the hazards and the condition of the facility.

Almost all of the waste generated by decommissioning activities is low-level radioactive waste. Small amounts of hazardous, low-level mixed waste, and transuranic waste may also be identified during cleanup of specific facilities. Most of the waste generated is in the form of construction debris or contaminated soil. The decommissioning program also generates some waste in the form of contaminated equipment and personal protective equipment. Decommissioning activities identified in the current baseline will generate waste through FY 2010. Waste volume will range from 9,711 cubic meters (12,721 cubic yards) in FY 2002 to 7,850 cubic meters (10,284 cubic yards) in FY 2010.

Operable Unit 6 was created to provide the Environmental Protection Agency with verification that soils impacted by building operations and their subsequent decontamination and decommissioning projects met established standards and requirements.

After decommissioning of each building designated for safe shutdown or transition, Mound will evaluate each to ensure that regulatory cleanup levels have been met. The Department expects that the verification project will generate 170 cubic meters (223 cubic yards) of waste for treatment or disposal. Approximately 29 percent of waste soil is the result of verification sampling and 71 percent is the result of removal action.

Operable Unit 9

Operable Unit 9 addresses the total site-wide environmental effects of contamination attributable to Mound. This includes all environmental media and potential receptors including air, ground water, surface water, soils, sediments, and plant and animal life. It focuses on the plant area and vicinity properties but includes measurements up to 20 miles away. The cumulative onsite and offsite impacts of all other operable units are of concern. The contaminants of concern include radiological and chemical constituents.

Environmental assessment activities to date have not identified any contaminated areas that would require remediation. The soil chemistry, bedrock and Buried Valley Aquifer investigation reports are complete; the ground-water sweep sampling is complete, and the report has been issued; the ecological investigation, which is a thorough evaluation of offsite soil and ground-water contaminant levels as well as a determination of the background levels, is completed, and the report has been issued; the regional soil sampling is complete, and the final report has been prepared. Two rounds of residential well sampling are complete, and the draft report has been prepared; and the surface-water and sediment sampling for the 1995 spring season was completed. In addition, the potential for surface water or air emission to contribute to contamination levels in other operable units has also been evaluated. This report assumes that no remedial action will be required for this operable unit.

Re-Baselining Environmental Restoration

In 1995, the decision was made to re-baseline the Environmental Restoration program based on a new approach to meet the mission for the Mound Plant more efficiently and effectively. However, because of the timing of the 1996 Baseline Environmental Management Report, a validated budget and schedule summary was not available. Therefore, the information in this report is based on the current (1995) baseline. This new approach is highlighted below.

Direct Program Management/Support

Direct program management/support activities include cost/schedule planning and reporting, negotiating and reporting with regulators, meeting with governmental bodies and stakeholders, National Environmental Policy Act documentation (decommissioning only), preparing budget documentation and Activity Data Sheets, training contractors, performing quality assurance, interfacing with stakeholders, and managing data/documentation and information systems.

The Environmental Restoration program has an approved and validated baseline for both the remedial action and decommissioning activities. The baseline data forms the basis for strategic planning, progress tracking, budget preparation, and control. The Environmental Restoration program operates within the guidelines established in the Federal Facility Agreement.

WASTE MANAGEMENT

The principal waste types at the Mound Plant are low-level radioactive waste, hazardous chemical waste from laboratories, sanitary waste, and small amounts of low-level mixed waste and transuranic waste. The low-level radioactive waste consists of contaminated soils from decommissioning, sludge from the processing of wastewater contaminated with alpha radionuclides, and water contaminated with beta-emitting radionuclides. The Environmental Restoration program performs remedial actions and decommissioning and decontamination activities that generate waste, which the Waste Management program is responsible for disposing. In addition, the Waste Management program receives, on an intermittent basis, chemical waste generated from the safe shutdown activities performed by the Nuclear Material and Facility Stabilization programs. The Waste Management program estimates account for all costs associated with treatment, storage, and disposal for all waste that the Environmental Management program generates, with the exception of the decommissioning waste treatment, storage, and disposal costs, which are accounted for in the Environmental Restoration Activity Costs table under Decommissioning.

Major Waste Management Projects Cost Estimate

(Five-Year Averages, Thousands of Constant 1996 Dollars)
	FY 1996-2000	2005	2010	2015	2020	2025	2030	Life Cycle**
Hazardous Waste Storage Facil. - Bldg. 72	297	82						1,897
Mixed Waste Storage Facil. - Bldg. 23	459	15						2,370
Transuranic Waste Storage Facil. - Bldg. 31A	40							201
Waste Disp. Processing Plant - Bldg. WD	944	426	426	256				10,256
Waste Management Staging Facil. - Bldg. 22	182	20						1,010
* Project costs represent a subset of total Waste Management costs.
** Total Life Cycle is the sum of the annual costs in constant FY 1996 dollars.

Through mid-FY 1995, low-level waste was exclusively transported for disposal at the Nevada Test Site. Currently, low-level waste is also transported to Envirocare of Utah, a commercial disposal site. Uncontaminated waste from environmental restoration activities is transported to a construction or sanitary landfill.

Transuranic Mixed/Transuranic Waste

Previous mission assignments for the Department of Energy at Mound have generated transuranic and transuranic mixed waste. Major mission assignments have included development of nuclear weapons processes, space and terrestrial heat source programs, and subsequent cleanup of those facilities and their surrounding areas.

There is no projection for additional transuranic or transuranic mixed waste generation at Mound. As defined by Waste Isolation Pilot Plant guidance, Mound's waste is contact-handled and retrievable. As of June 1995, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Transuranic Waste Baseline Inventory Report contained data reporting that Mound has approximately 272 cubic meters (359 cubic yards) of transuranic and transuranic mixed waste. There are approximately 1,300 drum equivalents of transuranic waste; 15 of those drum equivalents are in the form of transuranic mixed or Toxic Substances Control Act transuranic waste.

The transuranic mixed waste stream is made up of leaded gloves and will not require treatment. The Toxic Substances Control Act waste stream contains liquid polychlorinated biphenyls, which will require treatment by incineration prior to storage or disposal. This report assumes the waste will be treated at the Toxic Substance Control Act Incinerator in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, assuming Mound can be added to the incinerator Part B permit and that state equity issues can be resolved.

This waste is stored in Building 31 (transuranic), and in Building 23 (transuranic mixed and Toxic Substances Control Act waste), which is a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act-permitted facility. This estimate assumes the waste will be shipped to the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory for treatment and then shipped to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant for disposal. All disposal costs for transuranic and transuranic mixed waste are included in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant program estimate. The costs included in this estimate are for managing transuranic and transuranic mixed waste and include retrieval, characterization, treatment, and packaging to meet the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant waste acceptance criteria.

Low-Level Mixed Waste

Approximately 100 cubic meters (131 cubic yards) of low-level mixed waste is being stored onsite as a result of the previous Mound defense program mission. Future generation is expected to total less than five cubic meters (6.6 cubic yards). Tritium and plutonium-238 are the major radioactive contaminants present, although several dozen other isotopes have been used at the site. The mixed waste streams include the following streams and volumes: scintillation cocktail, 43.3 cubic meters (57 cubic yards); waste oils, 27.4 cubic meters (36 cubic yards); lead shapes, 5 cubic meters (6.6 cubic yards); lead loaded gloves; trace amounts of metallic mercury; polychlorinated biphenyl kerosene; 1.1 cubic meters (1.4 cubic yards); and lab packs and other materials, 20 cubic meters (26 cubic yards).

The low-level mixed waste at Mound will be treated by a combination of small onsite units, and the larger waste streams will be transported to commercial treatment facilities or to the Toxic Substances Control Act Incinerator in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Scintillation cocktails and the waste oils will be treated by bulking and sending to a commercial mixed waste thermal treatment unit. Lead will be decontaminated and macroencapsulated, and mercury will be amalgamated. The polychlorinated biphenyl kerosene will be shipped to the Toxic Substances Control Act incinerator. Lab packs will be sorted and surveyed.

Building 23 is the Mound low-level mixed waste storage facility. This Resource Conservation and Recovery Act compliant storage unit is in interim status and has sufficient capacity for the current inventory of mixed waste as well as anticipated future generation. Additionally, Building 23 has sufficient capacity to store, on a short-term basis, residuals generated from the treatment of inventoried waste.

Residuals from waste treated offsite will be transported directly to the Nevada Test Site or a commercial disposal facility. In addition, any mixed waste treated onsite, such as the mixed waste mercury being amalgamated in an onsite treatability study, will be sent to a commercial or a Department of Energy disposal site.

Low-Level Waste

Eighty percent of the low-level waste generated in FY 1995 was the result of environmental restoration activities. The Nuclear Material and Facility Stabilization program generated the remaining 20 percent. All of Mound Plant's low-level waste is generated onsite. The current backlog of low-level waste is 6,339 cubic meters (8,304 cubic yards) and the projected future generation over the life cycle of this baseline estimate is 147,141 cubic meters (192,755 cubic yards).

Mound treats wastewater contaminated with alpha- and beta-emitting radionuclides at the Waste Disposal Building. Various onsite process and decontamination operations constitute the source of this liquid waste. The beta-emitting liquids are solidified in 55-gallon steel drums with portland cement and absorbent clay for disposal. The alpha-emitting contaminated liquids are treated by co-precipitation/flocculation and the resulting sludge is solidified with portland cement for disposal. The waste treatment at the Waste Disposal building is the only low-level waste treatment at Mound, and it is estimated to continue for the next 20 years. Presently, 220 cubic meters (288 cubic yards) of this solidified low-level waste are generated per year, but this rate will decrease towards the end of the 20 years as the transition mission is completed.

The inventory of this low-level waste is temporarily stored in onsite trailers, except for steel-boxed soils and sludges (which are stored outside until staged for shipment) and solidified high-activity tritium (which is stored in the Waste Disposal and Semi Works buildings). The boxes of soil and sludge are stored on a concrete pad west of Building 105 and along the road near the Sewage Disposal Building, respectively. A new low-level waste storage and staging facility will be operational in FY 1996. This new facility, combined with the anticipated disposal of most backlog waste, will enable Mound to eliminate all or almost all of the trailers that are used for storage during FY 1996. By FY 1997, the vast majority of Mound's low-level waste will be stored for just a short duration, allowing for characterization of the waste before shipment for offsite disposal.

This report assumes that 1,605 cubic meters (2,112 cubic yards) of low-level waste will be shipped to the Nevada Test Site and another 128,985 cubic meters (169,717 cubic yards) of low-level waste will be shipped to commercial facilities. Shipments of low-level waste are expected to continue through FY 2015. Presently, Mound is authorized to ship only contaminated soils, Sewage Disposal Building sludge, and solidified beta water; however, during FY 1996 Mound expects to have most waste streams approved so that they can be shipped for disposal to Envirocare of Utah, and Nevada Test Site.

Hazardous Waste

The current major generators of hazardous waste include plant-wide safe shutdown activities, garage vehicle maintenance, and general facility maintenance. The wide variety of hazardous waste generated includes: laboratory/reagent-grade chemicals (acids, bases, oxidizers, flammable liquids, flammable solids, and miscellaneous toxins); waste oils (not regulated as hazardous waste in Ohio); polychlorinated biphenyl oils and transformers from a current site-wide replacement project; and various hazardous debris generated from process cleanout/teardown projects. The projected generation of hazardous waste is 1,511 cubic meters (1,988 cubic yards). No hazardous waste is expected to be generated past FY 2015.

The Retort and Open Burn Unit Treatment Facility is used for the destruction of explosive components and secondary explosive waste. This unit will cease operation in FY 1996. Hazardous waste is collected and managed in a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act interim status storage facility until it is shipped offsite to commercial treatment and/or disposal facilities.

Sanitary Waste

Mound generates approximately 2,360 metric tons of solid sanitary waste annually. This number is expected to steadily decrease as the transition of the site is completed. This report assumes that a total of 22,960 cubic meters (30,210 cubic yards) will be generated at Mound. All sanitary waste is disposed of shortly after the time of collection at permitted commercial landfills.

Direct Program Management/Support

EG&G Mound Applied Technologies, Inc. is responsible for operating the Radioactive, Hazardous and Mixed Waste Management programs at Mound. Waste addressed by these activities includes all transuranic and low-level radioactive waste, all Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and Toxic Substances Control Act hazardous waste, and all transuranic mixed and low-level mixed waste. Activities include treatment, storage, and disposal of all of the above waste streams in accordance with applicable laws and Department of Energy Orders; generation, collection, and maintenance of required records; maintenance of storage facilities; communication of waste acceptance criteria to plant generators; and preparation of National Environmental Policy Act and Safety Analysis Report documentation. In addition, the Waste Management oversight of the Mound Waste Minimization program identifies activities necessary to maintain and train an adequate staff of qualified personnel to perform the tasks required.

DESCRIPTION OF PERSONNEL

Current Composition

Current staffing requirements, presented in the following table, represent a site-wide mix of Department of Energy site operation contractors and subcontractors hired to provide specific environmental restoration expertise. The Department of Energy work force consists mainly of managers, engineers, and scientists. This arrangement supports the oversight of site operations and the management of the interfaces between regulators. The contractor staff is mostly a mix of professional staff and labor that conducts the day-to-day site operations and plans and performs site remediation.

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

Site Management Structure

EG&G Mound Applied Technologies, Inc. is the Maintenance & Operating contractor for the Mound Plant under contract with the Department of Energy. It is responsible for completing work on Environmental Management programs at the site, as the Department of Energy directs. The existing contract with EG&G will expire in September 1996, and EG&G will be replaced with a contractor who is highly motivated to perform environmental remediation and transition of the site from the Department of Energy. However, the Department of Energy is committed to using contract reform initiatives that have been developed elsewhere in the complex to ensure that reasonable remediation costs are maintained. The Department of Energy has also initiated a process to solicit and incorporate the values, objectives, and concerns of all stakeholders impacted by operations at the Mound Plant, including site labor, local government, the public, and organizations tasked with reuse of the facility.

Future Full-Time Equivalent Needs

Beginning in FY 1999 and continuing throughout final remediation and transition of the Mound plant, the mix of Full-Time Equivalents for the site will reduce and change. As Mound continues its nuclear material and facility stabilization disposition activities through FY 1999, the number of Full-Time Equivalents associated with this area will continue to decline and then drop off dramatically with the completion of these activities in FY 2002; conversely, as facilities shut down and become part of the environmental restoration and decommissioning efforts, an increase in Full-Time Equivalents will occur. Environmental restoration activities and the Full-Time Equivalents associated with these efforts will peak at about the same time as full completion of facility stabilization activities in FY 2002 and decrease through completion of restoration activities. Waste management activities and Full-Time Equivalents will continue to decline through FY 1999, after which time a minimal staff will be maintained. Landlord activities and the Full-Time Equivalents associated with these programs will continue to decline through FY 1999, after which time they are expected to remain relatively constant until sale of the site. The existing unionized labor force will remain relatively constant until FY 2000 when much of the site will no longer be under Department of Energy control. Other specialties, particularly engineers and scientists, will stabilize in about FY 2000 and will remain fairly constant through the completion of the contract. The focus during this period will be on decommissioning and final remediation of the site.

FUNDING ESTIMATE

The following tables present estimated funding information for the Mound Plant.

Defense Funding Estimate

(Five-Year Averages, Thousands of Constant 1996 Dollars)
	FY 1996-2000	2005	2010	2015	2020	2025	2030
Nuclear Material and Facility Stabilization	24,356	14,906	5,038	19,930	8,433	4,434	4,434
Environmental Restoration	73,760	43,024	25,112	20,974	15,713
Waste Management	5,608	1,393	940	521
Total	103,723	59,323	31,090	41,425	24,145	4,434	4,434
	FY 2035	2040	2045	2050	2055	2060	2065	Life Cycle*
Nuclear Material and Facility Stabilization	1,773							416,516
Environmental Restoration								892,912
Waste Management								42,308
Total	1,773							1,351,735
* Total Life Cycle is the sum of the annual costs in constant FY 1996 dollars.

COMPARISON WITH PREVIOUS ESTIMATE

The 1996 life-cycle estimate of $1.4 billion for the Mound Plant represents a 35 percent reduction from the 1995 life-cycle estimate of $2.1 billion.

Waste Management program activity costs reductions reflect the reduced mission assignment of the Mound Plant as the transition begins to convert Mound from a Department of Energy production facility to a commercial site. Environmental Restoration cost estimates are approximately 73 percent higher than the 1995 report estimates because of the inclusion of information on decommissioning activities that did not appear in the 1995 report. Also, direct program management support costs have been captured in each program estimate rather than in a separate line item. See the Comparison Table on the following page for additional life-cycle cost information.