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Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Project Site LTS&M Planning

The Moab UMTRA Project Site is a former uranium-ore processing facility that is being remediated to relocate 16 million tons of uranium mill tailings and contaminated materials. The project includes surface and groundwater remediation, tamarisk removal, erosion control, and revegetation activities. The end state vision includes land ownership transfer, water rights, and coordination with stakeholders.

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Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Project Site LTS&M Planning

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  1. Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Project SiteLTS&M Planning Donald Metzler U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management Moab Federal Project Director LTS&M Conference Grand Junction, CO November 16, 2010

  2. Moab Site Background • Former uranium-ore processing facility (1956-1984) • Transferred to DOE ownership in 2001 • 400-acre site; 130 acres covered by uranium mill tailings pile • Largest uranium mill tailings pile (16 million tons) in the world to be relocated • Regulated by U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)

  3. Project Scope • Relocate 16 million tons of uranium mill tailings and other contaminated materials from the Moab site by rail to Crescent Junction, Utah, for permanent disposal • Being remediated under Title I of Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act • Actively remediate ground water at the Moab site • Remediate vicinity properties that exceed regulatory standards

  4. Moab UMTRA Project Site Arches National Park Moab U.S. Highway 191 Colorado River Rail Load Out Tailings Pile N

  5. Status • Currently shipping up to 144 containers per train, two trains per day, Monday through Friday • Through October 2010, about 2.5 million tons of mill tailings (15.5 percent of the total) shipped and disposed • Project end date currently at 2025; substantial additional annual funding required to meet 2019 legislated end date Crescent Junction disposal cell

  6. Moab Site Cleanup Requirements • Surface (soils) remediation • Moab site soils are being cleaned up to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards in 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)192 • 5 picocuries per gram (pCi/g) in top 6 inches and 15 pCi/g in subsurface • Ground water remediation • Biological Opinion identifies a limit of 0.3 mg/L ammonia in surface water • Anticipate active ground water remediation to be complete concurrent with surface remediation

  7. Supplemental Standards • 40 CFR 192 allows the development of alternate cleanup levels, or supplemental standards, based on an assessment of risk to human health and the environment for specific exposure scenarios • At Moab site, may be applied along utility corridors, under roadways, and for ground water

  8. Current Activities with Future in Mind • Tamarisk removal • Near ground water well field • Erosion control • Along hillside up to rail load out area • To assist with storm runofffrom U.S. Highway 191 and Moab Wash • Revegetation of disturbed areas with native species • Fauna study

  9. End State Vision • Land ownership and use • DOE will transfer ownership at completion of cleanup • Water rights on Colorado River―Could be sold separately • Park-like setting • Coordination with stakeholders • Other federal agencies • National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management • Discussing possible land transfer mechanisms and infrastructure and facilities disposition • NRC, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Corps of Engineers • Local government and community groups • Mill Tailings Project Steering Committee will likely act as reuse organization to represent community’s interests

  10. Crescent Junction Disposal Site • Land withdrawal • 2008: 500 acres permanently transferred to DOE • 2009: 20-year renewal of 936 acres held in temporary withdrawal, remaining 864 acres returned to public domain • Cell aligned in a east-to-west direction and roughly rectangular, about 5,200 feet long by 2,400 feet wide

  11. Crescent Junction Site Specifications • Cell excavated in phases; second phase begun in January • Tailings thickness: 25 feet below the surrounding grade and 25 feet aboveground • Up to 10-foot-thick, multi-layered cover composed of native soils and rock

  12. Crescent Junction Site LTS&M Planning • Permanent land transfer area will be fenced • Disposition of 28-mile construction waterline from Green River • Standpipes to be installedin tailings material to monitor transient drainage • Observation wells to be installed around cell perimeter

  13. Moab Project Information gjem.energy.gov/moab

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