Nevada Test Site Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Site (RWMS)

Waste & Environmental Services

Our staff have considerable experience in baseline development and documentation, groundwater characterization, environmental restoration (ER), waste management, human health and ecological risk assessment, and supporting services. Our experience and expertise in specific key areas of environmental and risk assessment services are summarized below.

• Baseline Development and Documentation: Our personnel have extensive experience in preparing baseline documentation for U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) sites to support the proposed scope of work, schedule, and budgets to DOE and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) in order to obtain fiscal year funding. We have prepared various portions of baseline documentation for the Sandia ER project; Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)’s ER, Trausuranic (TRU) Waste Management, and Sealed Source Recovery projects; the Pantex ER; and Ashtabula ER projects. Our baseline packages have been approved by DOE and we have contracted with DOE to evaluate baselines at many DOE sites, including Sandia National Laboratories, Nevada Test Site (NTS), LANL, Pantex, Kansas City, and the Lovelace Research Facility.
• Site Characterization and Environmental Restoration: Our staff have considerable experience in characterizing contaminated sites, performing groundwater studies, and developing closure strategies for DOE sites throughout the nation. OMICRON can provide technical services to delineate the nature and extent of contaminated sites so that closure alternatives can be negotiated with regulators. We have performed regional groundwater studies in a variety of hydrogeologic environments, and are familiar with the challenges of characterizing potential groundwater contamination and achieving regulatory closure.
  
  We have prepared a variety of technical documents, including work plans, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Remedial Facility Investigations (RFIs), Feasibility Studies (FSs), Environmental Impact Statements (EISs), Environmental Assessments (EAs), monitoring reports, and various closure reports, such as Voluntary Corrective Action (VCA) and No Further Action (NFA) reports.
• Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessments: OMICRON can develop and prepare both ecological and human health risk assessments. Our personnel have conducted risk assessments at a number of sites, including LANL, Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site (RFETS), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), and Pantex. We understand the requirements of a quantitative risk process to develop a site conceptual model with viable receptors and exposure pathways coupled to defined land use. We have developed soil-based cleanup levels, chemicals of concern (COCs) selection processes, exposure point concentrations, and detailed uncertainty analyses. Our staff engineers are knowledgeable about the statistical requirements and methodologies necessary to support risk assessment in accordance with the latest U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidance.
• Waste Management/Decontamination and Decommissioning (D&D): We have extensive experience in waste management and D&D activities, including, among others, waste inventory reviews, certification, design support, safety basis documentation, and preparation of D&D plans, at both DOE and commercial sites. OMICRON supported the development of the new DOE Standard on Preparation of Safety Basis Documents for TRU Waste Facilities (DOE-STD-5506).