Crews perform demolition of the R-MAD facility. R-MAD is one of several Nevada National Security Site facilities which supported the nuclear rocket program that ended in 1973
Waste management specialists disposed approximately 1.8 million cubic feet of low-level and mixed low-level radioactive waste at the Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Site, which amounts to 2,558 shipments and 13,173 packages of waste. These volumes constitute approximately 5 percent of the low-level and mixed low-level waste generated throughout DOE complex. This photo shows Area 5 waste disposal operations
In 1950, President Truman established what is now known as the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS), to perform nuclear weapons testing activities. In support of national defense initiatives, a total of 928 atmospheric and underground nuclear weapons tests were conducted at the NNSS between 1951 and 1992, when a moratorium on nuclear testing began.
The U.S. Department of Energy's Environmental Management (EM) Program was established in 1989 to identify and address areas impacted by historical nuclear research, development, and testing across the United Sites. In Nevada, EM activities focus on groundwater, soil, and on-site facilities, radioactive, hazardous, and sanitary waste management and disposal; and environmental planning.
As a result of historic underground nuclear testing, some of the groundwater beneath the NNSS is contaminated. At this time, there is no proven, cost-effective technology that removes deep, extensive contamination from complex geology. Therefore, the NNSS is forecasting the location, potential direction and fl ow of contaminants. This is accomplished through strategicallyplaced well drilling and extensive sampling which provides data for computer models. All this information is used to enhance and expand the monitoring network which ensures the protection.
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
The low-level radioactive waste disposed at the NNSS is generated by cleanup activities at the NNSS and other U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Department of Defense sites across the country. Examples of this waste include contaminated construction debris, scrap metal, soil, and equipment. Some of this waste includes hazardous constituents.
Waste is disposed in engineered cells excavated to various depths. Continuous monitoring of air, groundwater, and soil serves as an early detection system in the unlikely event that contamination migrates from the immediate disposal area.