Maxey Flats Disposal Site

1
Maxey Flats Disposal Site

• Presented by Joseph Barker
• Rick Wagoner
• Alisa Applegate
• Jacqueline Miley
• Sheri White

2
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

3
Reasons For Shutting Down

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

4
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

5
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 wasnt 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

6
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.

7
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

8
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

9
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

10
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

11
Impacts (2)

• Maxey Flats in 1 of 6 low-level radioactive waste
  sites that were licensed in the 60s and early
  70s
• 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

12
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

13
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

14
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.h
  tm
• 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/iss
  ues/1990/a90/a90saleska.html
• KY Division of Waste Management, Maxey Flats,
  (2004), Retrieved Oct. 22, 2004, from
• http//www.waste.ky.gov/programs/sf/MaxeyFlats.ht
  m 
• 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/np
  l/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/rp
  p/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.ht
  ml.

15
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/p
  df/cesium.pdf. Retrieved October 22,2004.
• EPA-Strontium. http//www.epa.gov/radiation/radio
  nuclides/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.co
  m/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/Co
  balt. Retrieved October 22. 2004.
• Wikipedia. Plutonium.http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
  Plutonium. Retrieved October 21, 2004.