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Contacts: Pete Genzer, (631) 344-3174 or Mona S. Rowe, (631) 344-5056

Department of Energy Seeks Public Comment On BNL Reactor Cleanup

Proposed plan reviews decommissioning alternatives for High Flux Beam Reactor

January 10, 2008

High Flux Beam Reactor (click image to download hi-res version)

UPTON, NY - The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is seeking public comment on a proposed decommissioning plan for the inactive High Flux Beam Reactor at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). The public comment period will be open from Thursday, January 10 through Monday, March 17, 2008. The decommissioning plan, known as the Proposed Remedial Action Plan for the High Flux Beam Reactor, along with its accompanying Feasibility Study, is available at http://www.bnl.gov/hfbr and at the Mastics-Moriches-Shirley, Brookhaven Lab, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency libraries.

Information sessions will be held on Tuesday, March 4, 2008 from noon to 2 p.m. in BNL's Berkner Hall, Room D, and from 7 to 9 p.m. in Berkner Hall, Room B. A public meeting on the Proposed Plan will be held on Thursday, March 6, 2008 from 7 to 9 p.m. in Brookhaven Lab's Medical Department conference room. All members of the public are invited to attend and comment.

The Proposed Plan, which reflects community and regulatory agency input, describes and evaluates the remedial alternatives considered and the "preferred" alternative for the decommissioning of the High Flux Beam Reactor (HFBR).

The HFBR was a research reactor that operated at BNL between 1965 and 1996. Used solely for scientific research, the HFBR provided neutrons for experiments in materials science, chemistry, biology, and physics. The HFBR was permanently closed in 1999.

The HFBR complex consists of a domed reactor confinement building, several smaller ancillary buildings, and a 300-foot-tall red-and-white striped exhaust stack. Portions of the confinement building structures, systems, and components are contaminated with radionuclides and also contain non-radioactive hazardous materials.

As a result of past operations, the HFBR complex currently contains approximately 65,000 curies of radioactive material - primarily iron-55, cobalt-60, nickel-63, europium-154 and europium-155 - most of which were created during reactor operations when neutrons from the reactor struck the metal and concrete of the reactor internal components, control rod blades, reactor vessel, thermal shield, and biological shield. Smaller amounts of radioactivity are in the confinement building, ancillary structures, and in the soils under the building.

Several actions have been taken since 1998 to prepare the HFBR for permanent decontamination and dismantling. Spent fuel elements were removed from the spent fuel pool and were shipped to an off-site facility for disposal, along with primary coolant (heavy water) from the spent fuel pool. The confinement structure and the spent fuel canal were modified to meet Suffolk County Article 12 requirements, which regulate toxic and hazardous materials storage and handling to abate, control, and prevent pollution of the county's water resources. In addition, shielding, chemicals, and scientific equipment were removed and disposed of or reused. In 2006, ancillary buildings in the HFBR complex including the stack monitoring facility, cooling tower basin, water treatment house, pump house, switchgear house, and guard house were dismantled and removed.

Cleanup Alternatives and the Preferred Alternative

The four cleanup alternatives for the HFBR complex described in the Proposed Plan were developed by DOE with input from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, NYS Department of Health, and the Suffolk County Department of Health Services. The first, Alternative A, is a "No Action" alternative, required as a baseline for comparison purposes. Alternatives B, C, and D all provide for the complete removal of the HFBR complex, but the timing for the removal activities for each alternative differs as follows:

• Alternative B, Phased Decontamination and Dismantlement (D&D), provides for the removal of the ancillary buildings by the end of 2020. Soils and underground ducts and piping will also be removed by the end of 2020. The control rod blades (CRBs), activated components, confinement building, and remaining soils will be removed after a decay period that does not exceed 65 years following the finalization of the HFBR Record of Decision. A 65-year decay-in-storage period will allow the dose rate at one foot from the reactor components to fall below a "high radiation area" threshold, enabling removal of the components using conventional demolition techniques. The projected cost of this alternative is $142 million.
• Alternative C, Phased D&D with Near-Term CRB Removal, provides for the CRBs and beam plugs to be removed by the end of 2020. The ancillary buildings, soils, and underground ducts and piping will also be removed. The remaining activated components, the confinement building, and the remaining soils will be removed after a decay period that does not exceed 65 years following the finalization of the HFBR Record of Decision. The projected cost of this alternative is $144 million.
• Alternative D, Near-Term D&D, provides for the removal of the entire HFBR complex by the end of 2026. The projected cost of this alternative is $205 million.

After considering all input, DOE is recommending Alternative C as the preferred alternative in the Proposed Plan. It is rated high in all five CERCLA criteria for which relative ratings were established (overall protection of human health and the environment, compliance with applicable or relevant and appropriate requirements, long-term effectiveness, short-term effectiveness, and implementability) and achieves the remedial action objectives described in the Feasibility Study and the Proposed Plan.

Next Steps

DOE and BNL encourage public input to ensure that the cleanup decision for the HFBR complex is considerate of community expectations and is protective of human health and the environment. The public is invited to review and comment on the proposed plan and feasibility study during the formal public comment period, which runs from Thursday, January 10, 2008 through Monday, March 17, 2008. Written comments may be e-mailed to tellDOE@bnl.gov, faxed to 631-344-3444, or mailed to:

Michael D. Holland
Manager U.S. Dept. of Energy-Brookhaven Site Office
Attn: HFBR Decommissioning Project
Bldg. 464
P. O. Box 5000
Upton, NY 11973-5000

After the public comment period ends, DOE will review public comments and make a final decision on the cleanup remedy. A "responsiveness summary," which compiles the public comments and DOE's responses to them, will be part of a Record of Decision that documents the final cleanup agreement.

Members of the public seeking additional information should contact Jeanne D'Ascoli, Brookhaven National Laboratory, at (631) 344-2277 or dascoli@bnl.gov; or John Carter, U.S. Department of Energy, at (631) 344-5195 or jcarter@bnl.gov.

Environmental remediation at Brookhaven Lab is carried out under requirements of the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). CERCLA requires that the selected cleanup remedy must protect human health and the environment. The cleanup remedy also must be cost-effective, comply with other laws, and, to the greatest extent practical, use permanent solutions, alternative treatment technologies, and resource-recovery alternatives.

Past operations at the Laboratory have resulted in soil and groundwater contamination. Remediation work is conducted under the framework of an interagency agreement among the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and N.Y. State Department of Environmental Conservation. The Department of Energy owns the Brookhaven property, and oversees and funds the cleanup program.

Number: 08-X2  |  BNL Media & Communications Office

One of ten national laboratories overseen and primarily funded by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Brookhaven National Laboratory conducts research in the physical, biomedical, and environmental sciences, as well as in energy technologies and national security. Brookhaven Lab also builds and operates major scientific facilities available to university, industry and government researchers. Brookhaven is operated and managed for DOE’s Office of Science by Brookhaven Science Associates, a limited-liability company founded by Stony Brook University, the largest academic user of Laboratory facilities, and Battelle, a nonprofit, applied science and technology organization.

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