EIN reports that Carmelo Melendez, the director of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Legacy Management (LM), will travel to South Texas during the week of March 13, 2018, to visit four former uranium mill sites. Director Melendez’s itinerary includes the Falls City site, which was remediated under the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA) Title I program and at which LM currently performs long-term surveillance and maintenance (LTSM). The tour will stop at the Conquista, Ray Point, and Panna Maria sites, which are undergoing cleanup and regulatory closure. The latter sites will transition from private ownership to LM under Title II of UMTRCA when remedial action is complete.
Each of the sites contains a disposal cell that encapsulates and stores low-level radioactive material from uranium milling operations. When these sites were operating, the mills used leaching processes to separate uranium from crushed ore. The mill tailings created in the process include the radioactive material that was placed in the disposal cell. The trip is part of a larger initiative by Melendez, who was appointed LM director in December 2016, to familiarize himself with LM sites around the nation. LM is committed to protecting human health, safety, and the environment through LTSM of remediated sites where radioactive materials were used.
At the Falls City site, which the DOE remediated between 1992 and 1994, Director Melendez will get a close look at LM’s LTSM efforts. At the Title II sites, he will discuss site operations, land use issues, and health and safety protections with representatives from Rio Grande Resources, the licensee for the Panna Maria site; ExxonMobil, the licensee for the Ray Point site; and ConocoPhillips, the licensee for the Conquista site.
LM works closely with Texas state regulators, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the licensees to reach solutions at these transition sites that are protective of public health and environment. LM’s mission is to fulfill the DOE’s post-closure responsibilities and ensure the future protection of human health and the environment. For more about the office, please visit www.energy.gov/lm/office-legacy-management.
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