Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management Progress on Defense-Related Uranium Mines Program - 18119
The Defense-Related Uranium Mines (DRUM) Program provides the structure and basis for the US Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management (LM) to manage the verification and validation (V and V) of defense-related uranium mines (mines) that provided ore to the Atomic Energy Commission from 1947 to 1970. V and V activities are conducted to fully understand the scope of potential problems posed by these mines by determining their location, reclamation or remediation status, and potential impacts to public safety, human health, and the environment. Land management agencies have limited resources and have generally not conducted comprehensive inventories of abandoned uranium mines, thus adding to the need to undertake this program. LM has entered into memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and US Forest Service (USFS) to facilitate a better understanding of the scope of the problem posed by these mines. Currently, LM has executed MOUs with the BLM state offices in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming and the USFS Rocky Mountain Region, which includes the national forests in Colorado, Wyoming, and South Dakota. This collaborative effort with partner agencies has led LM to develop a V and V Work Plan that describes the numerous activities and types of data to be collected at the mines. V and V activities verify actual mine location, collect coordinates of mining-related features, collect radiological data and soil samples, identify potential physical safety hazards, prioritize mines using a risk-based screening approach, and report the information to partner agencies. The partner agencies may use the reports to assess priorities and determine if any further action is warranted. The DRUM Program goals are to: - Improve data quality and content in the LM national inventory of abandoned uranium mines; - Conduct site-specific reconnaissance at mines for data verification and validation; - Exchange mine information with other federal agencies and state governments to help address mines presenting the greatest risks; - Develop reports for each mine that will contain a risk scoring assessment to help each agency develop priorities. The preliminary risk screening methodology was based on a joint effort between LM and BLM to develop factors that would be based on field observations, field data, and laboratory data using a multiple-lines-of-evidence approach. The multiple-lines-of-evidence assessment allows land managers the opportunity and flexibility to query specific criteria and make rankings based on specific priorities. The risk screening for each mine is based on evaluating the primary hazards of physical safety and risks to human health and several modifying factors that include accessibility and ecological/environmental risks. Gamma radiation scans are performed across the disturbed area of the mine, and soil samples are taken from waste rock piles and drainages, when applicable. This paper presents the results of performing inventory, environmental sampling, and risk ranking along with other accomplishments and lessons learned during the initial year of V and V activities and reporting. (authors)