What it says: Since 1989, EM has completed work at 91 of the original 107 DOE remediation sites, shrinking its overall program footprint by 90 percent. In this new report, EM projects further achievements this year and in the years ahead at the remaining locations in 11 states.
“The strategic vision not only lays out EM’s planned slate of accomplishments for this year but also outlines a decade of anticipated progress across the breadth of the program,” White said.
The report highlights planned achievements between 2020 and 2030, including the following:
Initiating radioactive tank waste treatment at the Hanford Site in Washington State.
Closing 22 of 51 underground waste tanks and completing the disposal of legacy transuranic waste at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.
Completing the construction of the Outfall 200 Mercury Treatment Facility, along with completing the disposition of the remaining legacy transuranic waste and uranium-233 at the Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee.
Completing the treatment of remaining liquid sodium–bearing waste and completing shipments of legacy transuranic waste from the Idaho National Laboratory site.
Completing key infrastructure upgrades at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico.
Completing legacy cleanup activities at the Nevada National Security Site.
The EM strategic vision report can be found at <www.energy.gov/em/mission/annual-priorities-strategic-vision>.
The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) has issued an outline of planned accomplishments over the next decade to capitalize on progress it has made in cleaning up former government weapons and research sites over its first 30 years. The release of the 66-page report, A Time of Transition and Transformation: EM Vision 2020-2030, was announced on March 9 by William “Ike” White, DOE senior advisor for environmental management, during the 2020 Waste Management Conference in Phoenix, Ariz.
