Oak Ridge National Laboratory Considers Options for Disinterring Jars of Nuclear Material

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee is considering options for dealing with 50 to 70 buried glass jars containing an unstable uranium-plutonium mixture, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 8).

It was unclear why the radioactive material from old reactor fuel studies was buried in fragile jars, which were buffered with a carbon coating and plunged into an oil base several decades ago, according to U.S. Energy Department official David Adler. Steel drums and boxes were used to contain the waste, but were expected to deteriorate over the years.

A 2005 attempt to excavate the jars in Trench 13 — one of 22 in a waste burial area at the laboratory — ended abruptly when a fire ignited when pyrophoric material made contact with oxygen.

The jars are supposed to be removed from the burial site by Sept. 30 of next year, but the fate of the substance remains uncertain. The environmental management firm Bechtel Jacobs evaluated methods of handling the material and Energy Department officials are expected to discuss the review with Tennessee officials within the next several months. ....