Sandia National Laboratories/New Mexico

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Sandia National Laboratories/New Mexico is located in Bernalillo County, 10.4 kilometers (6.5 miles) east of downtown Albuquerque. The laboratories consist of five technical areas and several remote areas covering 1,128 hectares (2,820 acres) in the eastern half of the 306.8-square kilometer (118-square mile) Kirtland Air Force Base. The base has a mean elevation of 1,642 meters (5,385 feet). It is situated on two broad mesas bisected by the Tijeras Arroyo and bound by the Manzano Mountains to the east and the Rio Grande to the west.

FACILITY MISSION

Sandia National Laboratories, which is part of the Department of Energy' s national laboratory complex, was established in the 1940s as the engineering arm of the nuclear weapon development program. In 1945, it represented a small part of Los Alamos Laboratory, called Z-Division, providing technical support to the U.S. Army. Sandia also operates a test range on the island of Kauai, Hawaii.

Sandia/New Mexico has evolved into one of the country's largest technical resources. It is a multiprogram national laboratory with research and development programs in a broad range of scientific and technical fields, including fundamental energy research, energy conservation and renewable energy, nuclear reactor safety and reliability, nuclear waste management, and magnetic-confinement fusion. Recent mission changes have resulted in a decline in weapons research and development and an increase in work on nuclear safeguards and security, environmental sciences, biomedical systems engineering, advanced manufacturing technology, electronics, information and computational technology, transportation infrastructure and energy technology, and technology transfer to private industry in support of U.S. industrial competitiveness. New activities include the Medical Isotope Production Program and the Neutron Generator Production Facility.

The Office of Defense Programs is the landlord of Sandia National Laboratories/New Mexico and is expected to continue to use the property in support of its missions. The Environmental Restoration program is responsible for assessing and remediating environmental contamination at Sandia that has occurred from a wide variety of past or historical activities. All treatment, storage, and disposal costs are included with Environmental Restoration program estimates. Sandia's Waste Management Program conducts fully functioning waste operations for hazardous, radioactive, and mixed waste in support of Environmental Management and Office of Defense Programs activities.

FUTURE USE

Sandia assumes its mission will continue for the foreseeable future and current institutional controls will remain in place. Therefore, the Future Land-Use Working Group, in collaboration with all major stakeholders (U.S. Air Force, U.S. Forest Service, regulatory authorities, and the Citizens Advisory Board), has proposed future land-use designations for Sandia be Industrial for high density building/worker areas and Recreational for more remote areas. These designations are being used to establish risk-based cleanup standards and do not necessarily reflect actual current usage (e.g., Recreational use does not mean the land is presently available to the public. It means that it could reasonably be made available for such use in the future). If land uses are significantly changed, it may be necessary for the Federal Government to include deed restrictions for certain sites if they do not meet acceptable risk-based standards for the proposed use(s).

NUCLEAR MATERIAL AND FACILITY STABILIZATION

The facility stabilization and maintenance process began at the Sandia National Laboratories in 1995. The Office of Defense Programs provides current funding for stabilization and maintenance. This report assumes that facilities will be transferred to the Environmental Management program in FY 2002. Twelve Sandia facilities are currently slated to undergo this process. Eleven facilities, including laboratories and storage facilities, have already begun stabilization. This report assumes the remaining facility, which is a corrugated burn structure, will begin stabilization and maintenance activities in FY 1996 and the cost is not included in this estimate. The Department expects the resulting waste types will include hazardous, transuranic, low-level, and low-level mixed waste. All waste generated by the Nuclear Material and Facility Stabilization program will be managed by the Waste Management program, and costs for treatment, storage, and disposal are included in the Waste Management section of this site narrative. This report assumes the stabilization and maintenance process at Sandia will be completed by FY 2018. Funding profiles and facility activities were generated through parametric modeling, using data from other Department of Energy facilities.

ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION

The Environmental Restoration program is responsible for assessing and cleaning up environmental contamination at Sandia that has occurred from a wide variety of historical activities. The principal contamination sources include firings conducted over many years to test weapons and weapons components; discharges of radioactive liquids and hazardous chemicals; oil spills; disposal of radioactive waste and hazardous chemicals in landfills; rocket launches; and burning of certain wastes, such as high explosives. The wide range of contaminated facilities includes reactors, artillery ranges, and scrap yards. Based on current knowledge, these contaminated or potentially contaminated sites identified for assessment and possible remediation pose no known immediate threat to either workers or the local public. See the site map for environmental restoration activity locations. See the Site Map for Environmental Restoration program activity locations.

Environmental restoration activities at Sandia began formally in 1984. The Department identified 117 sites with potential contamination. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency conducted a similar investigation in 1987. These programs ultimately defined a working inventory of potential "solid waste management units" that are included in Sandia's Part B operating permit issued by the Environmental Protection Agency under the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The Region VI Office of the Environmental Protection Agency presently regulates the Sandia Environmental Restoration Project. This report expects Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments authority will be granted to the Environment Department of the State of New Mexico in FY 1996.

Current investigations are intended to determine the nature and extent of hazardous and radioactive contamination and to restore sites where such contamination poses a threat to human health or the environment. During FY 1995, Sandia submitted 65 sites for Proposed No Further Action status, had 13 No Further Actions approved as modifications to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Part B permit, and conducted 37 voluntary corrective measures. A number of new potential release sites have been identified, including 20 septic systems that are being added to Sandia's Part B permit.

The cost estimate still assumes 41 sites will be remediated following the full corrective measures process. It also assumes all other sites require No Further Action or they can be remediated using the voluntary-corrective-measures process. All costs associated with treating, storing, and disposing of waste generated by environmental restoration activities are included in the remedial action estimates.

The primary treatment, storage, and disposal strategy at Sandia includes establishing a Temporary Unit (permitted by the Environmental Protection Agency) in FY 1996 for storing hazardous waste for up to one year, followed by a Corrective Action Management Unit (also permitted by the Environmental Protection Agency).

For hazardous waste at excavated sites, which this report assumes to be all but the mixed waste landfill and certain vadose zone plumes, activities will include site preparation (clearing and grubbing), followed by excavation and landfill disposal. Toxic metals will be immobilized prior to landfill disposal in the permitted Corrective Action Management Unit.

For radionuclides and metals, activities will include site preparation, followed by excavation. Soil washing to remove metals and reduce volumes will be performed when practicable before landfill disposal, which this report assumes will be done at the Nevada Test Site.

For mixed radionuclides and organics or radionuclides with metals and organics, activities will include site preparation, followed by excavation. The waste will be treated, using low-temperature thermal desorption and soil washing (when practicable), and then disposed as hazardous waste in the onsite Corrective Action Management Unit or as low-level waste at the Nevada Test Site.

The Department plans to dispose of treatment concentrate residues offsite in commercial disposal facilities. It will dispose of "clean" nonregulated residues onsite, probably as fill material. It will ship low-level radioactive waste offsite to the Nevada Test Site or to an approved commercial facility. Other waste, such as polychlorinated biphenyls, will be treated and disposed offsite.

During FY 1995, Sandia implemented a site-based Environmental Restoration program, effectively eliminating artificial geographic segregations of sites into operable units. Consequently, Sandia no longer uses any geographic subgroupings. However, to maintain consistency with last year's report, this report delineates cost by operable unit.

North Technical Areas

ASSESSMENT

The North Technical Areas include Technical Areas I and II and seven buildings that require decommissioning. Technical Area I, which contains office buildings and laboratories and houses most of Sandia's staff, has been in existence since 1945. It contains 15 environmental restoration sites, including a motor pool, a tank farm, a waste oil tank, a reclamation yard, a wastewater treatment plant, an acid-waste sewer line, and miles of sanitary sewer lines. Potential contaminants include petroleum hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, heavy metals, radionuclides, and organic compounds. Initial soil sampling indicates contaminants such as petroleum-fuel hydrocarbons and heavy metals are restricted to the soils above the water table. The depth to ground water is approximately 146 meters (480 feet).

Technical Area II is an active 17-hectare (43-acre) explosives testing facility. Potential sources of contamination include a chemical disposal pit, a radioactive waste landfill, a classified waste landfill, seven septic systems, a storage yard for radioactive materials, a decommissioning site, uranium calibration pits, firing sites, and an explosives burn pit. Sampling to date indicates contamination with volatile and semivolatile organic compounds, high explosive compounds, polychlorinated biphenyls, and radionuclides. Contamination is mainly confined to the surface soils, but trace trichloroethylene (a chlorinated solvent) was found recently in perched ground water. The contamination is well below risk-based action levels, but bears additional evaluation to identify its source. The depth to ground water is approximately 91.5 meters (300 feet).

The Department has conducted preliminary site characterization in both Technical Areas. In FY 1995, assessment activities focused on completing characterization (including surface and subsurface geophysical and environmental investigations); conducting voluntary corrective measures at Buildings 838 and 839 in Technical Area I and at site 114 in Technical Area II, and carrying out remediation activities.

The Department will use the one-pass voluntary corrective measure approach to assess and remediate the remaining sites. In this approach, assessment work will be limited to sampling in sufficient detail to allow safe remediation. When necessary, corrective measures will be implemented in concert with the limited assessment activities. At the conclusion of the combined assessment/remediation process, verification samples will be taken to ensure cleanup objectives have been achieved. The Department will then submit a modified Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Facility Investigation report that includes voluntary corrective measure results and verification sampling data to the regulatory authorities, with a request for No Further Action (Class III Permit Modification).

Eighteen sites will be assessed in 1996. If contaminants are found to be below levels of regulatory concern, the Department will submit a request for approval of No Further Action. One landfill will undergo a voluntary corrective measure that will start in FY 1996 and conclude in FY 1997.

In FY 1995, remediation activities included completing voluntary corrective measures at Buildings 838 and 839 in Technical Area I and at site 114 in Technical Area II, and carrying out remediation activities. As described above, the one-pass assessment and corrective action approach will be implemented for the 18 remaining sites.

Several buildings and structures have been identified as posing potential, though not immediate, risk to human health and the environment (e.g., Building 863 in Technical Area I and Buildings 901, 906, 907, 919, 935, and 940 in Technical Area II). Although the Department will eventually need to decommission these buildings, current Department of Energy/Environmental Management funding levels have precluded quantifying the total scope of stabilization and deactivation.

The estimate assumes Environmental Management program activities in this area will generate 30 cubic meters (39 cubic yards) of low-level waste, 54 cubic (71 cubic yards) of low-level mixed waste and 5,784 cubic meters (7,565 cubic yards) of hazardous waste.

South Technical Areas

South Technical Areas include Technical Areas III and V, the chemical waste landfill, the mixed waste landfill, and the liquid waste disposal system. The Department has used technical Areas III and V, which consist of about 770 hectares (1,920 acres), to test nuclear and nonnuclear weapons components since 1953. These areas contain 20 active and inactive environmental restoration sites, including burial sites, oil spills, sump and drain releases, two rocket sled tracks, storage and salvage yards, and a gas cylinder disposal pit. Contamination, which includes volatile organic contaminants, semivolatile organic contaminants, metals, high explosive compounds, polychlorinated biphenyls, and radionuclides, is mainly restricted to the soils above the water table.

At the chemical waste landfill, which covers about 0.76 hectares (1.9 acres), approximately 15,300 cubic meters (20,000 cubic feet) of chemical and hazardous waste was buried in unlined pits and trenches from 1962 to 1985. The depth to ground water is approximately 152 meters (500 feet). Trichloroethylene has been detected in ground water at very low levels, but at levels high enough to warrant additional assessment and possible remedial action. Chromium has also been detected, but it may be a natural constituent of the ground water. In FY 1995, a section of the chemical waste landfill was made available for an Office of Technology Development pilot test for Thermally Enhanced Vapor Extraction System technology. The test concluded near the end of FY 1995 and results are still being analyzed.

At the mixed waste landfill, which consists about 1 hectare (2.6 acres), approximately 2,800 cubic meters (3,700 cubic feet) of low-level radioactive waste was buried in unlined pits and trenches from 1959 to 1988. The depth to ground water is approximately 152 meters (500 feet). Contamination from volatile organic compounds and tritium is restricted to the vadose zone sediments above the water table.

Between 1963 and 1971, the liquid waste disposal system, which consists of a below-grade drain field, three holding tanks, and two surface impoundments, received liquid radioactive discharges from the Sandia Experimental Reactor Facility. This reactor cooling water included short-lived radioactive elements from activation products. Extensive sampling of ground water and soils at this site shows the radiation level is not higher than that of the natural background. At one of the surface impoundments, polychlorinated biphenyls are present in sludge. Trichloroethylene has been found in ground water near the liquid waste disposal system at levels slightly above detection limits.

The remaining sites will undergo assessment and remediation using the one-pass voluntary corrective measure approach. Assessment work will be limited to sampling in sufficient detail to allow safe remediation. When necessary, corrective measures will be implemented in concert with the limited assessment activities. At the conclusion of the combined assessment/remediation process, verification samples will be taken to ensure that cleanup objectives have been achieved. The Department will then submit a modified Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Facility Investigation report that includes voluntary corrective measure results and verification sampling data to the regulatory authorities, with a request for No Further Action (Class III Permit Modification).

Depleted uranium, scattered along both rocket sled tracks, was removed from the short sled track in October 1994 and the long sled track in early 1995. Also in FY 1995, a voluntary corrective measure at the gas cylinder disposal pit involved the removal of gas cylinders, thermal batteries, and various debris. Future remediation activities in the South Technical Areas will include a voluntary corrective measure at the chemical waste landfill beginning in mid-FY 1996 to remove the source terms for trichloroethylene and other possible contaminants. This estimate assumes remediation activities in these areas will be complete in FY 2005. The estimate also assumes Environmental Restoration program activities will generate 10 cubic meters (13 cubic yards) of low-level waste, 847 cubic meters (1,108 cubic yards) of low-level waste, and 34,585 cubic meters (45,234 cubic yards) of hazardous waste.

Firing Ranges

Sites of concern at the Firing Ranges include septic tanks and drain fields and the Foothills, Canyons, and Central Coyote Test Areas. Twenty-three environmental restoration sites have been identified for the 42 separate septic and drainage systems scattered across the Sandia site. These systems were used mainly for liquid and sanitary waste and are currently being evaluated for chemical contamination. From 1958 to 1991, they received waters from facilities conducting weapons components tests. Potential contaminants, most likely restricted to the vadose zone sediments, include radionuclides, solvents, high explosive compounds, metals, and photochemicals. The depth to ground water varies from approximately 15 to 150 meters (50 to 500 feet). It is shallower toward the mountains in the east.

The Foothills Test Area, which consists of 10 inactive environmental restoration sites, has been used for field testing since the late 1950s. A wide range of contaminants, including organic compounds, metals, high explosive materials, and radionuclides may be present. The depth to ground water across the area probably varies from 15 to 30 meters (50 to 100 feet).

The Canyons Test Area consists of 14 environmental restoration sites (9 active, 5 inactive) and 4 proposed sites at scattered locations within three large canyons in the Manzanita Mountains at the eastern end of the Kirtland Air Force Base, on land withdrawn from the U.S. Forest Service. Potential sources of contaminants include burn sites, rocket-launch sites, dumps, and a surface impoundment. Principal contaminants include depleted uranium, metals, jet fuel, and other organic compounds. The depth to ground water is estimated to vary across the area from 15 to 30 meters (50 to 100 feet).

The Central Coyote Test Area contains 14 inactive sites that include six test sites, two burn sites, an artillery range, a trash dump, a borrow pit, two scrap yards, and an unstaffed seismic observatory. The principal contaminants include residual high explosive compounds, metals (including depleted uranium), jet fuel, other volatile organic compounds, and asbestos. The depth to ground water across the area is estimated to vary from 15 to 30 (50 to 100 feet).

The Department will use the one-pass voluntary corrective measure approach to assess and remediate the remaining sites. Assessment work will be limited to sampling in sufficient detail to allow safe remediation. When necessary, corrective measures will be implemented in concert with the limited assessment activities. At the conclusion of the combined assessment/remediation process, verification samples will be taken to ensure that cleanup objectives have been achieved. A modified Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Facility Investigation report that includes voluntary corrective measure results and verification sampling data will then be submitted to the regulatory authorities with a request for No Further Action (Class III Permit Modification).

Future remediation activities at the firing ranges will include voluntary corrective measures and remediation. Voluntary corrective measures have been or will be carried out at the following sites: septic tanks and drain fields; sites 58 and 8, Building 9990, and the TRUPACT "boneyard" in the Foothills Test Area (the "boneyard" is a storage area for the remnants of the TRUPACT transportation casks for transuranic waste that were subjected to various destructive tests); sites 10 and 60 in the Canyons Test Area; and sites 11, 47, 57B, 68, 21, and 22 in the Central Coyote Test Area. This report assumes assessments for all areas will be complete in FY 2001 and remediation activities will be complete in FY 2001. Activities are assumed to generate 3,968 cubic meters (5,200 cubic yards) of hazardous waste, 198 cubic meters (260 cubic yards) of low-level mixed waste and 318 cubic meters (416 cubic yards) of low-level waste.

Thunder Range

Thunder Range includes projects in the Tijeras Arroyo and the Southwest Test Area. The Tijeras Arroyo has 17 environmental restoration sites (7 active, 10 inactive) distributed over several miles of the arroyo and its tributaries that together drain thousands of hectares of the Kirtland Air Force Base and the Sandia site. The main channel, which is approximately 30 meters (100 feet) deep and 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) wide, empties into the Rio Grande River less than 3.2 kilometers (2 miles) from the Sandia site boundary. A wide range of contaminants, including metals, radionuclides, and organic compounds may be present in low concentrations. The depth to ground water is estimated to be about 150 meters (500 feet).

The Southwest Test Area, which has been used for field testing explosives since the 1960s, contains 24 environmental restoration sites (11 inactive, 13 active). A wide range of contaminants such as metals, high explosive compounds, radionuclides, and organic compounds may be present. The depth to ground water is approximately 150 meters (500 feet).

The Department has conducted preliminary site characterization. There are nine No Further Action sites, and two voluntary corrective measures are planned to be completed during FY 1996. The estimate assumes all assessments will be completed in FY 2001 and remediation activities for all sites in this area will be complete in FY 2003. This report also assumes Environmental Restoration program activities will generate 35,288 cubic meters (46,153 cubic yards) of low-level waste, 645 cubic meters (844 cubic yards) of low-level mixed waste and 1,959 cubic meters (2,562 yards) of hazardous waste.

The Department will use the one-pass voluntary corrective measure approach to assess and remediate the remaining sites. Assessment work will be limited to sampling in sufficient detail to allow safe remediation. When necessary, corrective measures will be implemented in concert with the limited assessment activities. At the conclusion of the combined assessment/remediation process, verification samples will be taken to ensure that cleanup objectives have been achieved. A modified Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Facility Investigation report that includes voluntary corrective measure results and verification sampling data will then be submitted to the regulatory authorities with a request for No Further Action (Class III Permit Modification).

Site-Wide Characterization

This project seeks to integrate regional, rather than site-specific, geologic and hydrologic information into a sitewide hydrogeologic framework for all the environmental restoration sites distributed across the Kirtland Air Force Base and the Sandia site. This project does not include responsibility for characterizing or remediating individual environmental restoration sites. The resulting framework will be used as the primary basis on which to evaluate site-specific information with respect to natural elemental background concentrations and to complete risk assessments. The estimate assumes this activity will be complete in 2001.

Temporary Unit/Corrective Action Management Unit

In late FY 1995, the Sandia Environmental Restoration Project added a new baseline work scope for the permitting, design, construction, and operation of a Temporary Unit, to be completed in FY 1996, for short-term storage of waste generated by the Environmental Restoration Project, and a Corrective Action Management Unit, scheduled to be operational in FY 1997 for long-term management of Environmental Restoration waste, including treatment of hazardous waste. The Corrective Action Management Unit will remain active until the Environmental Restoration Project ends. At that time, if the resulting disposal cells are built, they will be capped and the surface facilities will be decommissioned. The Temporary Unit and Corrective Action Management Unit can only be used for only hazardous waste generated by the Environmental Restoration Project. The Temporary Unit permit is for one year only. After that, if it is approved by the regulatory authority, it will be incorporated into the Corrective Action Management Unit. This unit will close in FY 1996 and there will be no long-term surveillance and monitoring activities associated with the unit.

Offsite Areas

Pending approval of No Further Action requests, this estimate assumes no additional work will be required by Environmental Management at Offsite Areas. Stabilization, treatment, storage, disposal, and surveillance and monitoring activities are not applicable to the Offsite Areas project.

Environmental restoration activities at the Tonopah Test Range have been formally transferred to the Nevada Operations Office and costs for these activities are included within the Nevada estimate. No further environmental restoration activities are expected at the Kauai Test Range. However, waste management activities associated with testing at these two sites are the responsibility of Sandia.

The Kauai Test Facility is located on the western coast of the island of Kauai in Hawaii within the Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility. The 73-hectare (182-acre) site is operated by Sandia National Laboratories/New Mexico and supports Department of Energy research and development activities, including rocket launches of nonnuclear payloads. The Kauai Test Facility has been in operation since the mid-1970s, conducting an average of three or four tests per year. The Department suspected contamination in three potential release sites that include the rocket launch pads, a drum storage area, and a photography laboratory. In 1994, the Department conducted soil and ground-water sampling to determine the extent of contamination. Results proved below regulatory concern and a No Further Action report was submitted to the regulators. Regulators have verbally agreed to this approach and formal documentation is expected in the near future. Therefore, this report does not anticipate any further work for Kauai and includes no costs for further environmental restoration activities.

Salton Sea Test Base, located in Imperial County, California was used for Atomic Energy Commission/Sandia National Laboratories test activity from the mid-1940s through the early 1960s. Test activity in these years contributed to environmental contamination at approximately 23 sites within Salton Sea Test Base. The test base is a Comprehensive Environmental Resource Compensation and Liability Act site and is the subject of accelerated base realignment and closure activity to return properties to local communities. None of these sites was determined to be related to activities undertaken by Sandia National Laboratories; therefore, a request has been made to remove Sandia from the list of potentially responsible parties.

The Sandia Offsite Areas also include one building at Holloman Air Force Base in southern New Mexico where laboratory activities generated a variety of waste. The Department plans to turn over this site to the U.S. Air Force for any future action. Assessment activities are assumed to be complete in FY 1996.

Current plans call for implementing surveillance and monitoring activities at sites where potential for future contaminant migration to the water table cannot be dismissed or mitigated. Examples include historic landfills that are capped and sites with known releases. Whenever feasible, the source(s) of released contamination will be removed as part of the remedial action prior to closure and surveillance and monitoring. Surveillance and monitoring activities will be conducted in accordance with requirements of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and regulatory agencies, typically for a 30-year period after the completion of remedial action. However, this estimate includes long-term surveillance and monitoring costs only to FY 2000.

Direct Program Management/Support

General program support activities are those functions critical but ancillary to the mission of the Environmental Management programs at Sandia. They include strategic planning, program management, quality assurance, administrative support, information services, training, facilities management/engineering and maintenance, safeguards and security, logistics support, utilities, procurement, contract management, legal support, and human resources. Specific program support activities include environmental safety and health, permitting, regulatory compliance, waste minimization/pollution prevention, technology development, and stakeholder-related and information/outreach activities.

Most program management support activities for Sandia's Environmental Restoration program are integrated within the Environmental Operations Center, an organizational element of the Laboratories Services Division. These support activities include project management systems (project controls), stakeholder involvement, information management services (records, technical reference, computer resources, financial affairs), and compliance assessment/regulatory support (legal support, audit management). Other centers within the Laboratories Services Division provide additional program management support activities. Examples include strategic planning, emergency management, security and safeguards, facilities planning, facilities construction, health and safety oversight, and shipping and receiving.

WASTE MANAGEMENT

Sandia produces waste from a variety of sources. As of May 1995, the laboratories included over 1,000 active waste generators, 902 for hazardous waste, 105 for radioactive waste, and 25 for mixed waste. Most produce small quantities of waste associated with ongoing mission-related research and development activities. Other sources include nuclear material and facility stabilization waste, historical inventory, and other Department of Energy facilities (e.g., the Inhalation Toxicology Research Institute and Sandia/California). Additional radioactive and hazardous waste will be generated by Sandia's Neutron Generator Production Program and its Medical Isotope Production Program, which are expected to come on line in FY 1996 and FY 1997, respectively.

The Offices of Environmental Management and Defense Programs provide funding to manage Sandia's waste. Defense Programs is responsible for funding Sandia's solid waste facilities (See site map for location of waste management facilities). Both Environmental Management and Defense Programs provide overhead funds to manage waste operations associated with weapons waste, including neutron generators and solid waste. In addition, the Office of Nuclear Energy will be responsible for funding the Medical Isotope Production Program and associated waste Environmental Management is responsible for funding Sandia's transuranic waste; low-level waste; low-level mixed waste; hazardous waste, including polychlorinated biphenyls, asbestos, and explosives; and special case waste. As noted in their respective discussions, all treatment, storage, and disposal costs for nuclear material and facility stabilization activities are included in the Waste Management program estimates. All treatment, storage, and disposal costs associated with cleanup are contained in the Environmental Restoration estimates.

Sandia has no high-level waste or spent nuclear fuel. Because the Office of Defense Programs is responsible for solid waste (industrial and commercial sanitary solid waste), lead/reapplication, medical waste, and other waste (oil, non-regulated waste, weapons waste) at Sandia, these waste streams are not included within the scope of this estimate.

In recent years, Sandia has constructed facilities to handle hazardous, radioactive, and mixed waste; initial operational capability for these facilities will be achieved during FY 1996. Subsequent full capability is expected by FY 1999. FY 1996 facilities activities include the startup of operations at the Radioactive/Mixed Waste Management Facility and the initial phases of upgrades to this facility to accommodate mobile treatment units to treat waste in accordance with the Site Treatment Plan Compliance Order. The Department will maintain and upgrade all waste treatment and storage facilities to comply with applicable regulations. Equipment for treating industrial wastewater and low-level waste will also be maintained, and capital equipment will be purchased as needed. Activities for outyears to FY 2070 will include pursuing new and existing treatment options for low-level mixed waste, updating the equipment for the mobile treatment units, and maintaining or upgrading existing treatment facilities as needed.

To facilitate risk- and cost-reduction within the Waste Management program, Sandia developed a Waste Minimization/Pollution Prevention Program with the objectives of eliminating or minimizing the generation of waste through source-reduction techniques, identifying recycling options for waste materials that cannot be eliminated or minimized, and identifying treatment options to reduce volume, toxicity, or waste mobility prior to storage or disposal. Waste minimization activities include conducting Pollution Prevention Opportunity Assessments to identify viable pollution reduction alternatives, creating a Chemical Information System to track the purchase and use of all chemicals, using a Pollution Prevention Team to enhance employee awareness, promoting source reduction and recycling initiatives, and establishing a chargeback system that taxes waste generators to fund pollution prevention implementation.

Transuranic Waste

GENERATION AND HANDLING

Transuranic waste contains radionuclides with an atomic number greater than uranium, a half-life greater than 20 years, and alpha activity exceeding 100 nanocuries per gram of waste. Sandia manages transuranic waste operations with support from a commercial subcontractor. The Inhalation Toxicology Research Institute, operated for the Department of Energy Biomedical and Environmental Research Institute in Albuquerque, generates most of Sandia' s transuranic waste. In April 1995, Sandia was directed by the Department of Energy to accept the Institute's transuranic waste to consolidate storage and reduce redundant waste management costs. On May 10, 1995, 26 drums containing 5.45 cubic meters (7.35 cubic yards) were accepted and transported to Sandia. The 26 drums were transported to the Manzano Bunkers on Kirtland Air Force Base for storage pending disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.

Annual generation of transuranic waste is expected to remain at very low levels not exceeding one drum (0.2 cubic meter [.27 cubic yards]) per year from the Research Institute and one drum from ongoing Sandia mission work.

TREATMENT

No sampling or treatment of transuranic waste is scheduled to be performed at Sandia. However, according to Sandia's Site Treatment Plan for Mixed Waste, mixed transuranic waste will to be processed and certified to meet the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant waste acceptance criteria by December 31, 2010.

STORAGE

Currently, Sandia stores approximately 5.5 cubic meters (7.1 cubic yards) of transuranic waste at the Manzano Facility. Annual additions are expected to remain low, not exceeding one drum (.2 cubic meter [.3 cubic yards]) per year from the Institute and one drum from ongoing Sandia work. The Department will periodically inspect and certify stored waste, as required, until FY 1998 when the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, New Mexico, will begin to receive transuranic waste.

DISPOSAL

This report assumes Sandia's transuranic waste will be disposed at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, New Mexico. Stored transuranic waste is not expected to be disposed until FY 2009. Mixed transuranic waste is scheduled for disposal by FY 2011. This estimate assumes 5.4 cubic meters (7.0 cubic yards) of waste will be disposed until the current backlog is worked off.

Transuranic waste from both the Inhalation Toxicology Research Institute and Sandia activities is packaged in accordance with Department of Transportation regulations and Department of Energy Orders and transported to the Manzano Bunkers for storage. Eventually, the Department will use overland truck transporters to ship transuranic waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant for deep geologic disposal. The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant estimate includes the cost for transporting and disposing all transuranic waste. The Sandia estimate includes costs to characterize and package the waste in order to meet the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant waste acceptance criteria.

Low-Level Mixed Waste

GENERATION AND HANDLING

Low-level mixed waste is waste that contains both radioactive and hazardous components as defined by the Atomic Energy Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Sandia manages mixed waste operations with support from a commercial subcontractor. Waste Operations crews collect the waste, complete the generator location verification form, and apply bar code labels. The Disposal Request Forms/Travelers are used for onsite transportation documentation. The waste is delivered to the High-Bay Waste Storage Facility for storage, pending treatment in accordance with the Site Treatment Plan Compliance Order issued on October 4, 1995, by the State of New Mexico.

Mission-related activities generate approximately 4.8 cubic meters (6.3 cubic yards) of mixed waste each year. Additional volumes will be generated by the removal of radioactive legacy waste, the decontamination of the Hot Cell Facility to prepare for startup of the Medical Isotope Production Program in FY 1997, and other decommissioning activities.

Culminating a three-year process in response to the Federal Facility Compliance Act, the State of New Mexico issued an Order implementing Sandia's Site Treatment Plan for Mixed Waste on October 4, 1995. This plan consolidates Sandia's 192 mixed waste streams (as listed in the Mixed Waste Inventory Report) within 16 treatability groups, simplifying tracking and reducing reporting time. During FY 1996, Sandia will complete a Mixed Waste Sort and Survey Project that began in FY 1995 to validate all historical mixed waste, reduce inventory wherever possible, and assign waste to approved treatability groups.

As a further cost- and time-reducing measure, Sandia transferred Sandia/California's mixed waste to its New Mexico site. This transfer avoided the necessity of a separate California-based Site Treatment Plan and reduced planning and reporting requirements because Sandia will have to report on only one site to one state. Sandia/California shipped approximately 15 cubic meters (20 cubic yards) of mixed waste to Sandia/New Mexico; additional small volumes will be shipped periodically in the future .

TREATMENT

The Site Treatment Plan provides overall schedules for achieving compliance with Land Disposal Restriction requirements for treatment and storage of mixed waste. The plan includes a schedule for the submittal of permit applications, construction of treatment facilities, technology development, offsite transportation for treatment, and the treatment of mixed waste. Annual updates to the plan are due March 31 of each year. Implementation of the plan incorporates an integrated approach that relies heavily on the treatment capacity being developed at the Mobile Treatment Units at Sandia and other Department of Energy sites. Preferred treatment options include deactivation, macroencapsulation, neutralization followed by stabilization, amalgamation, incineration, thermal desorption, deactivation followed by stabilization, evaporative oxidation, oxidation, and hydrothermal processing. All historical low-level mixed waste at Sandia is scheduled to be treated by May 10, 2002. After treatment, this waste will become either low-level or hazardous waste for certification, transportation, and disposal.

Sandia also has approximately 0.4 cubic meters (0.5 cubic yards) of suspect mixed transuranic waste. For this waste, the Site Treatment Plan provides a treatment development milestone of June 30, 1999, and a treatment milestone of December 31, 2010.

The Radioactive and Mixed Waste Management Facility, expected to start operations in January 1996, will provide the means to open, treat, and repackage low-level mixed waste. Treatment capacity will vary with the treatment process, but the facility may accommodate 55 cubic meters (72 cubic yards) of low-level and low-level mixed waste per year.

STORAGE

Over 65 cubic meters (85 cubic yards) of low-level mixed waste are currently in storage at Sandia. The waste is packaged according to specific mixed waste requirements, stored, and inspected on a regular basis. Both the High-Bay Waste Storage Facility (Building 6596) and the Chemical Waste Storage Facility (Building 920) are used for mixed waste storage.

After assessment, Sandia expects approximately 80 percent of currently generated mixed waste will be placed into temporary storage and subsequently certified for transportation to a commercial treatment and disposal facility; 20 percent will be retained onsite for treatment, using methods prescribed in the Site Treatment Plan.

DISPOSAL

Waste that has been treated and separated into its radioactive and hazardous components will be disposed according to the methods described under radioactive (or transuranic) and hazardous waste respectively. Approximately 32 cubic meters (42 cubic yards) will be transferred to the Sandia, New Mexico facility from Sandia National Laboratory-California with the remaining 1.5 cubic meters (2 cubic yards) assumed by this life-cycle estimate being shipped to offsite commercial disposal facilities.

Low-Level Waste

GENERATION AND HANDLING

Low-level waste is generated by almost all Sandia activities involving radioactive material and exists in a variety of forms such as contaminated paper, plastic, rubber, organic matter, aqueous liquids, and sludges. Sandia manages low-level waste operations with support from a commercial subcontractor. The waste is then identified, classified, and collected. If necessary, it is sampled, and routed as required for radiography at the Real-Time Radiography Facility or assay at the Waste Assay Facility. It is then minimally treated and either stored or packaged, certified, and transported to the Nevada Test Site or other facility for disposal.

Ongoing low-level waste generation has averaged approximately 51 cubic meters (67 cubic yards) per year over the past six years. In the near future, the following new production and special generation activities will significantly increase this annual generation figure.

TREATMENT

Sandia has conducted limited treatment of its low-level waste. The Radioactive and Mixed Waste Management Facility is expected to start operating in FY 1996 and will provide the means to open, treat, and repackage low-level waste. Potential treatment processes include screening, crushing, shredding and baling, compaction, and solidification. Treatment capacity will vary with the treatment process, but the facility may accommodate 55 cubic meters (72 cubic yards) of low-level and low-level mixed waste per year.

STORAGE

Currently, low-level waste is transported to an interim storage site. After Sandia's Radioactive/Mixed Waste Management Facility comes on-line during FY 1996, the Department will transport stored waste, as well as newly generated waste, to the new facility. Waste is sampled as needed and routed as required for radiography at the Real-Time Radiography Facility or assay at the Waste Assay Facility. It is then stored, pending packaging, certification, and transportation, to the Nevada Test Site or other facility for disposal.

Over 314 cubic meters (411 cubic yards) of low-level waste is currently in storage at Sandia. Additional storage volumes will be accumulated by Sandia because no regulatory driver exists and funding reductions preclude treatment and disposal of low-level waste. Storage volumes will increase significantly, perhaps by as much as 15,000 cubic meters (19,650 cubic yards) by FY 2000.

DISPOSAL

During FY 1995, permission was given to ship low-level waste to the Nevada Test Site for disposal, culminating a three-year process to meet the Waste Acceptance Criteria. Sandia sent the first shipment on September 25, 1995.

Sandia will ship additional waste to the Nevada Test Site during FY 1996 and FY 1997. But from FY 1998 until FY 2009, Sandia will only store low-level waste. In FY 2009, as funding is shifted from the completed Environmental Restoration program to the Waste Management program, Sandia will resume disposal of accumulated waste and complete the process by 2021.

The Sandia disposal estimate includes transportation from collection through disposal activities. It engages commercial support contractors to conduct these operations on a daily basis. The estimate assumes 45,134 cubic meters (59,031 cubic yards) of waste will be generated.

Hazardous Waste

GENERATION AND HANDLING

Sandia separates its Environmental Management-funded hazardous waste into four waste streams: chemical, polychlorinated biphenyls, asbestos, and explosive waste. Chemical waste refers to regulated solid, liquid, or gaseous chemical waste regulated by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, but does not include radioactive or low-level mixed waste. Polychlorinated biphenyl waste and asbestos waste are regulated by the Toxic Substances Control Act and by Sandia requirements. Explosive waste is regulated by Department of Energy Orders and by the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Department of Transportation, and the New Mexico Environment Department.

Research and development activities at Sandia's numerous small laboratories generate hazardous waste. These activities result in approximately 12,000 unique waste stream identification numbers. Polychlorinated biphenyl waste is generated by ongoing decontamination and decommissioning activities and by special projects, including the removal of transformers and ballasts associated with the site-wide revamping and power modernization efforts, which will continue through FY 2000. Asbestos waste is generated within two categories: facilities (waste generated by building abatement and the decontamination project) and nonfacilities asbestos (waste generated by large, high-volume articles such as safes, file cabinets, and laboratory furnaces). Explosive waste includes detonators, bulk explosives and propellants, debris contaminated with explosives, and rocket motors.

Hazardous waste at Sandia is measured by weight rather than by volume. However, for consistency, weights for the following waste streams are followed by estimated equivalent volumes (metric and English). Total projected hazardous waste generation for FY 1996 is 489,036 kilograms (383 cubic meters [502 cubic yards]). Included in this total is 124,907 kilograms (114.1 cubic meters [150 cubic yards]) of chemical waste, 18,200 kilograms (16.9 cubic meters [22.1 cubic yards]) of polychlorinated biphenyls, 202,000 kilograms (134.4 cubic meters [176 cubic yards] of asbestos, 29,429 kilograms (10.7 cubic meters [14 cubic yards]) of explosives, 60,000 kilograms (55.6 cubic meters [73 cubic yards]) of hazardous waste from the Tonopah Test Range in Nevada, 52,500 kilograms (48.6 cubic meters [64 cubic yards]) from the Neutron Generation Production Program, and 2,000 kilograms (1.6 cubic meters [12 cubic yards]) from Decontamination and Decommissioning.

Sandia manages waste operations for chemical waste, polychlorinated biphenyls, and asbestos are managed by Sandia with support from a commercial subcontractor. Sandia's Explosive Ordnance Division directs waste operations for explosives, with subcontractor support for treatment, demilitarization, and sanitization .

TREATMENT

Sandia does not treat its chemical, polychlorinated biphenyl, or asbestos waste. It does, however, treat some of its explosive waste by means of incineration at the Thermal Treatment Facility and at a commercial facility.

STORAGE

All waste regulated by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act must be disposed within 90 days. Sandia typically disposes of its chemical, polychlorinated biphenyl, and asbestos waste within 30 days. Hazardous chemical waste generated by research, development, and testing activities, as well as polychlorinated biphenyl and nonfacilities asbestos waste, is collected from generator locations, segregated by hazard class, and transported to the Hazardous Waste Management Facility for storage. Facilities asbestos is placed directly into transportation containers at the site.

Sandia also uses offsite storage in bunkers at the Manzano storage complex, which is owned by the Department of Defense. Sandia uses these bunkers for rocket motors, other explosives, classified waste, and demilitarized waste. Approximately 1,100 rocket motors, ranging in weight from less than 50 to over 1000 kilograms, with an estimated total gross volume in excess of 1,052 cubic meters (1,378 cubic yards), are currently in storage at Sandia facilities.

DISPOSAL

As stated above, Sandia's hazardous, polychlorinated biphenyl, and asbestos waste is typically disposed within 30 days. Through its subcontractor, Sandia uses more than a dozen commercial facilities to ensure the wide variety of hazardous waste types are disposed in a timely, safe, and compliant manner. Polychlorinated biphenyl waste is packaged into 0.2 cubic meter (55­gallon) drums and disposed at one of three offsite permitted commercial disposal facilities. Asbestos waste is disposed offsite at a permitted commercial disposal facility. Rocket motors and associated propellants are treated and reclaimed/recycled.

During FY 1995, Sandia dispositioned 2,234 HVAR rocket motors and another 220 HAWK motors. In FY 1996, 766 Falcon rocket motors are scheduled for disposition. Sandia's goal is to disposition all rocket motors before they are declared waste, at which point they become subject to less-than-90-day Resource Conservation and Recovery Act regulations. If this occurs, the Department would have to divert funds earmarked for other waste management activities to cover these costs. Activities are under way to excess the motors by making them available for use by other government agencies.

The Sandia disposal estimate includes transportation to transport waste from collection through disposal activities. It engages commercial support contractors to conduct these operations on a daily basis .

Direct Program Management/Support

General Program Support activities are those functions that are critical but ancillary to the mission of the Environmental Management Programs at Sandia. They include strategic planning, program management, quality assurance, administrative support, information services, training, facilities management/engineering and maintenance, safeguards and security, logistics support, utilities, procurement, contract management, legal support, and human resources. Specific program support activities include environmental safety and health, permitting, regulatory compliance, waste minimization/pollution prevention, technology development, and stakeholder-related and information/outreach activities.

Most program management support activities for Sandia's Waste Management Program are integrated within the Environmental Operations Center, an organizational element of the Laboratories Services Division. These support activities include project management systems (project controls), stakeholder involvement, information management services (records, technical reference, computer resources, financial), and compliance assessment/regulatory support (legal support, audit management). Other centers within the Laboratories Services Division provide additional program management support activities. Examples include strategic planning, emergency management, security and safeguards, facilities planning, facilities construction, health and safety oversight, and shipping and receiving.

DESCRIPTION OF PERSONNEL

Current Composition

The site personnel table provides a breakdown of current personnel composition for Sandia's Environmental Management programs. This mix includes federal, contractor and subcontractor work force. The federal staff consists of management, administrative, and engineering support. The contractor and subcontractor work force is a mix of professionals and labor that plans and conducts the day-to-day activities at the site.

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

Site Management Structure

Sandia has established a Waste Management Project Department and an Environmental Restoration Project Department to oversee Environmental Management-funded and other activities. These departments provide direction to the technical support departments that execute the work scope of these projects.

Sandia's Environmental Management Project relies heavily on subcontractor support. Contract mechanisms include As-Ordered Agreements, Time and Materials technical support contracts, waste operations support contracts, and competitive Task Order contracts. Future contracting mechanisms will further incorporate competitive bidding approaches, and performance award fees.

Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin subsidiary, is the management and operating contractor under a five-year cost-plus contract that includes performance based features. The contract is scheduled to be renewed in FY 1998.

Future Full-Time Equivalent Needs

The Full-Time Equivalent table above provides a breakdown of future personnel needs for Sandia's Environmental Management programs.

FUNDING ESTIMATE

The following two tables present estimated funding information for the Sandia National Laboratories/New Mexico .

COMPARISON WITH PREVIOUS ESTIMATE

Life-cycle cost estimates presented in this 1996 Baseline Environmental Management Report are significantly different from those presented in the Baseline Environmental Management Report for 1995. The life-cycle estimate for the site has increased by 35 percent, or approximately $414 million. The primary impact may be potential delays in completing environmental restoration activities.

Nuclear Material and Facility Stabilization

The estimate for nuclear material and facility stabilization activities is 22 percent higher than the estimate in last year's report, after accounting for FY 1995 expenditures. The principal reason for this increase is the addition of program management costs. The estimate was calculated using a parametric model.

Environmental Restoration

After accounting for FY 1995 expenditures and program management costs, the 1996 estimate is approximately six percent more than the FY 1995 estimate. Remediation costs for the North Technical Areas, South Technical Areas, Firing Ranges, and Thunder Range assume, based on currently available information, ground-water contamination is limited to one site (requiring treatment) and the standard for remediation is future Industrial or Recreational land use. Assumptions about future land use relate to human health risk assessments; thus, they control the extent of remediation and the volumetric estimate of contaminated soil. The volumes estimated for hazardous, mixed, and low-level radioactive waste generated by the Environmental Restoration program have been significantly modified based on site data obtained during FY 1995 and, to some extent, on new assumptions regarding the means to remediate some sites. Overall, the Environmental Restoration waste volume estimates have been reduced. In addition, the Environmental Restoration program now plans to use a Temporary Unit for early storage of Environmental Restoration waste and a Corrective Action Management Unit for disposal of most hazardous waste. This report expects disposal of radioactive waste will take place at the Nevada Test Site. In accordance with the site-level Memorandum of Understanding, costs for managing waste generated by the Environmental Restoration program were included within the scope of remedial costs.

Waste Management

The life-cycle cost estimate for the Waste Management program has almost doubled from the value presented in the FY 1995 report. The principal reason for the increase is that the assumed duration of support to the Office of Defense Programs almost doubled, from 40 years in the 1995 estimate to 75 years in the 1996 estimate. Applicable program management costs have also been included in the Waste Management estimate for the FY 1996 Baseline Report.