Decontamination and Decommissioning of Uranium Facilities cont'd

DOE-HDBK-1113-98

Radiological Safety Traning for Uranium Facilities

Module 102 - The Nuclear Fuel Cycle

facilities and surrounding areas to a nonhazardous condition. To accomplish this, several

"remediatio n" programs are i n place and oth ers are develo ping.

One cleanup program is:

Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Program

This program is intended to cleanup uranium mill sites and associated "vicinity

properties." It covers 24 mill sites and more than 4,800 properties throughout

the Nation. The goals of the program are to reduce radon release from mill

tailings to acceptable levels by burial, and to restore affected land and

facilities/structures to unrestricted use.

Each cleanup project presents different types and levels of hazards to workers.

Additionally, general safety hazards become a significant factor due to the types of

processes and equipment used to remove the uranium-contaminated materials. Usually

these projects require some level of structural decontamination and soil remediation.