Projects >> Thorium Nitrate MARSSIM Closures

World Environmental, Inc.

Thorium Nitrate MARSSIM Closures
Curtis Bay (MA) and Hammond (IN) Depot
Amount: $5.0 M

Background: The Defense National Stockpile Center (DNSC) is managed by the U.S. Department of Defense, with day-to-day operations being guided by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA). DNSC managed an inventory of over seven million pounds of thorium nitrate, stored at two DNSC depots - approximately five million pounds at Curtis Bay and another two million pounds at a depot in Hammond, Ind. DLA had contracted for the removal of the drums and was closing the Curtis Bay Depot site seeking to terminate the associated NRC license. The Hammond Depot site was also being closed by DLA. Both sites had stored thorium nitrate in fiber and steel drums under license by the Atomic Energy Commission and later from the NRC as part of the National Defense Stockpile.

Scope of Work:

Major elements of the project completed by Solutient Technologies included:

• Generated very specific work plans, including a Remediation, Health and Safety, Radiation Safety, and Quality Assurance plan for review and approval by ORISE (Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education) and ORNL (Oak Ridge National Lab) prior to work implementation.
• Conducted characterization surveys at 22 specific areas at the Curtis Bay Depot site consisting of three buildings, two concrete pads, sixteen and land mass areas, and one burial pit. Also conducted characterization surveys at 9 areas at the Hammond Depot consisting of three buildings and six landmasses.
• Performed remedial actions at all 31 specific sites including the removal of thorium contaminated soils and concrete from inside and outside the buildings at the sites.
• Established a waste profiling system based on radioactivity levels and matrix.
• Performed a 'MARSSIM' equivalent survey and submitted a Certificate of Completion to ORISE, who then performed the MARSSIM surveys and verified that all 31 areas met the final clean-up criteria approved by the NRC.
• Excavated, loaded, prepared, manifested, and shipped for disposition 9,732 tons of soil and concrete debris in 98 rail cars.

Solutient's remediation activities and verification surveys, which were validated by ORISE, resulted in a successful project which will result in termination of the NRC licenses at Curtis Bay Depot and Hammond Depot per NUREG 1575 Multi-Agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation Manual (MARSSIM).