Maxey Flats Disposal Site

Presented by: Joseph Barker

Rick Wagoner

Alisa Applegate

Jacqueline Miley

Sheri White

History of Maxey Flats

279 acre waste burial facility for radioactive material

located in Fleming County, KY

Waste was put in trenches from 1963 to 1976

Closed in 1977

Reasons For Shutting Down

Surface water and decomposition of the wastes have produced radioactive leachate that is migrating outside the restricted area

Reasons for Shutting Down (2)

There are 3 primary reasons for the shutdown Poor planning and

design Poor site management

and operations Poor governmental

regulation

Poor Planning and Design

A limited site survey was conducted at Maxey Flats There was movement of waste material leading to

contamination of soil In hindsight, it was determined that the soil was of

poor composition for a disposal site Soil composition wasn’t appropriate for building a soil

cap used for closing the trenches and was incapable of limiting the water flow into the trenches

The “bathtub effect” was create, trenches could fill up faster than it could leach out to surrounding soil

Poor Site Management and Operations

Liquid should be limited in the trenches, but poor operational practice of disposing of contaminated liquids on the slopes of the trenches increased the “bathtub effect”

Some containers were not filled all the way when stacking. So after time they settled in created shifts and cracks.

When cleaning up spills with earth moving equipment, they would track through the contaminated soil and spread it to the surrounding soils.

Poor Governmental Regulation

Government classification of low-level and high-level radioactive waste was flawed because it was based on method of production not radioactivity Maxey Flat was a low-level disposal facility

many of the waste had a higher radioactivity than spent fuel rods that were labeled as high-level radioactive waste

Hazards

There are 3 levels of radioactive waste High level Intermediate level Low level

3 Classes of low level waste A, B, and C – Least hazardous to most hazardous

Health effects are long term risk with low level exposure

Dangers of Low-level Radiation

Tritium cannot be absorbed into the skin and is only dangerous if consumed

Strontium-90 has been linked to tissue near the bone and bone cancer, as well as leukemia

Plutonium 238 and 239 can be inhaled or ingested causing skeleton diseases as well as liver problems

Cobalt 60 and Cesium-137 can cause malignant tumors and cancer

Impacts

Maxey Flats is located 300 feet above surrounding streams Rainwater runoff goes into the Rock Lick Creek that

leads to the Licking River The Licking River Leads to the Ohio River that supplies

water for a half a million people 300 people live within a five-mile radius of the

‘Restricted Area’ The closest residence is within ¼ mile There are 120 wells and 25 springs within this 5 mile

radius

Impacts (2)

Maxey Flats in 1 of 6 low-level radioactive waste sites that were licensed in the 60’s and early 70’s 3 of these sites including Maxey Flats have

been shutdown There is a multi-million dollar project to re-

engineer the topography to guard against any farther release of radioactive leachates

Lessons Learned From Maxey Flat

Design and operating procedures are important to site performance

Perform a complete geologic, soil, and water analysis to determine the site characteristics before establishing the waste site

Characteristics must be rigorously studies and evaluated to determine if the natural barriers will work in concern with the manmade structures of the disposal facility to safely contain the waste

Keeping water out of trenches reduces radionuclide, migration

Lessons Learned From Maxey Flat

A strong quality assurance program, employee training, and regulatory oversight are essential

Audits and regular inspections help to ensure that the waste reaching the disposal site has acceptable content and form

Monitoring the air, water, and living organisms on the near the disposal site to detect any migration of radioactive materials can be effectively accomplished and that problems can be remediated long before they threaten human health and the environment

References

What Have We Learned About Disposing of Low-Level Radioactive Waste? (1998), Retrieved Oct. 22, 2004, from http://www.state.nj.us/llrwsb/learned.htm

Saleska, Scott, (1990). Low-level radioactive waste: Gamma rays in the garbage. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Vol. 46, No. 3. Retrieved Oct. 22, 2004, from http://www.thebulletin.org/issues/1990/a90/a90saleska.html

KY Division of Waste Management, Maxey Flats, (2004), Retrieved Oct. 22, 2004, from

http://www.waste.ky.gov/programs/sf/Maxey+Flats.htm  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Kentucky NPL/NPL Caliber Cleanup Site Summaries,

Maxey Flats Nuclear Disposal, (2004), Retrieved Oct. 22, 2004, from http://www.epa.gov/region4/waste/npl/nplky/maxfltky.htm

Appleby, Alan, Ph.D., Costello, Martin, M.S., & Rose, Steven, M.S. (1996) What Lessons Have Been Learned From Early Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Facilities. Rutgers University, Department of Environmental Sciences. Retrieved on October, 20, 2004 from http://www.nj.gov/dep/rpp/llrw/download/fact17.pdf.

Makhijani, Arjun and Saleska, Scott (1996) High-Level Dollars, Low-Level Sense: Chapter 5: Summary and Recommendations. Retrieved on October 20, 2004 from http://www.ieer.org/pubs/highlvl4.html.

References

 CRCPD. (1996). Environmental monitoring report for commercial low-level radioactive waste disposal sites (1960s through early 1990s). The Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors (CRCPD) Committee on RadioactiveWaste Management. Published by the National Low-Level Waste Management Program, November 1996. 

EPA Facts About Cesium-137. (2002) http://www.epa.gov/superfund/resources/radiation/pdf/cesium.pdf. Retrieved October 22,2004.

EPA-Strontium. http://www.epa.gov/radiation/radionuclides/strontium.htm. Retrieved October 22,2004.

Hjorth, Linda S., Eichler, Barbara A., Khan, Ahmed S., & Morello, John A. (2003). Technology and Society A Bridge to the 21st Century. Columbus, OH: Prentice Hall.

Envirocare. (August 2001). http://www.xmission.com/~lwvut/envirocare.html. Retrieved October 22, 2004.

Characterization of Fractures at a Nuclear Waste Site Using Resistivity Imaging. (n.d). Retrieved October 23, 2004, from http://www.technos-inc.com/maxeyflats.html 

Wikipedia. Cobalt. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobalt. Retrieved October 22. 2004. Wikipedia. Plutonium.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutonium. Retrieved October 21, 2004.