Separations Process Research Unit

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The Separations Process Research Unit Facility is located approximately 3.2 kilometers (2 miles) east of the city of Schenectady in the northeastern part of Schenectady County in New York State. The facility occupies approximately 80 hectares (200 acres) of the northwest corner of the 1,640-hectare (4,100-acre) Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory.

FACILITY MISSION

The Atomic Energy Commission constructed and operated the Separations Process Research Unit as a pilot plant for developing and testing two chemical processes to extract both uranium and plutonium from irradiated fuel. The Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory operated the facility from 1950 to 1953. It supported operations at the Hanford Site (Washington State), and the Savannah River Site (South Carolina).

The facility is currently undergoing surveillance and maintenance activities under the purview of the Department of Energy's Office of Naval Reactors. In September 1992, the Department's Office of Nuclear Energy, Office of Naval Reactors and Office of Environmental Management signed a Memorandum of Agreement establishing the roles and responsibilities of each Office regarding the decontamination and decommissioning of the site.

There are no current or planned Nuclear Material and Facility Stabilization projects at the Separations Process Research Unit. All waste management activities are conducted within the scope of the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory for the Office of Naval Reactors.

FUTURE USE

Environmental Management activities at the site are currently scheduled to end in FY 2007, with no further activities planned after that time. The current plan is that the site will be returned to the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory. Therefore, all future-use decisions will be dictated by the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory.

ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION

The Separations Process Research Unit facility consists primarily of two interconnected buildings. Building G-2 housed the separations process systems and Building H-2 housed the liquid waste processing systems. These buildings are approximately 23 meters (75 feet) apart and are connected by an underground pipe tunnel. Additional facilities consist of the tunnel area, tank farm, and waste storage areas. Portions of the two buildings currently are used as office areas or waste processing facilities. Portions of the lower levels of the buildings remain substantially contaminated with radioactive materials. They have been physically isolated and are not being used. See the Site Map for the location of Environmental Restoration program activities.

The proposed action is the decommissioning and decontamination of four buildings and associated facility structures including tank farms, vaults and pipe tunnels, and removal of any contaminated soils.

Current activities by the Office of Nuclear Energy consist of an annual surveillance and maintenance program in place to ensure that the facility remains in a stable condition and that it continues to present no unacceptable risk to the public, the environment, or onsite personnel.

Decommissioning of certain facilities is currently planned to begin in FY 2002 and be completed by FY 2006. This estimate assumes that these activities will generate approximately 36 cubic meters (47 cubic yards) of transuranic waste.

Direct Program Management/Support

The Environmental Management program is not currently performing any activities at the Separations Process Research Unit facility. However, the Chicago Operations Office estimate accounts for direct program management support costs for limited planning and implementation activities necessary to conduct the surveillance and maintenance activities that occur once a year.

DESCRIPTION OF PERSONNEL

The Department of Energy's Chicago Operations Office has the direct line responsibility for managing the contract for the Separations Process Research Unit facility. All Full-Time Equivalents and support services contracts for Environmental Management program activities at the Separations Process Research Unit are included within personnel estimates in the Chicago Operations Office's site summary.

FUNDING ESTIMATE

The following table presents estimated funding information for the Separations Process Research Unit.

COMPARISON WITH PREVIOUS ESTIMATE

The cost estimates for the Separations Process Research Unit in the FY 1996 Baseline Environmental Management Report reflect a delay in decommissioning at the site's facilities. In the FY 1995 report, some costs associated with decommissioning were reflected in the FY 1995 to 2000 timeframe. These costs are now concentrated between   FY 2002 and 2006. However, the overall change in cost for this site is three percent.

Comparison Table

Activity	FY 1995 Life Cycle	FY 1995 Only 1	FY 1996 Life Cycle	Change in Dollars	Change in Percent
	Thousands of Dollars
Nuclear Mat. & Fac. Stab.	-	-	-	-	-
Environmental Restoration	149,588	-	144,852	­4,736	­3
Waste Management	-	-	-	-	-
Landlord	-	-	-	-	-
Program Management 2	-	-	-	-	-
Site Total	149,588	-	144,852	­4,736	­3
1 The FY 1995 life-cycle and annual costs are provided to determine the corrected FY 1995 cost. 2 Program Management was reported in an independent cost table last year, but is reported as a line item in the relevant program (Nuclear Material and Facility Stabilization, Environmental Restoration, and Waste Management) activity cost estimate tables for the FY 1996 Baseline Report.