Methodologies used, constraints imposed, and lessons learned in the removal of radioactively contaminated concrete slab and subslab soil at the Elza Gate site

This paper discusses the methodologies used to remove a large contaminated concrete slab and underlying contaminated soil, the operational difficulties and problems encountered with the employed methodologies, the constraints imposed, the difficulties caused by these constraints, and the solutions implemented to expedite the work. The lessons learned on the job and recommendations are also presented. The work at the Elza Gate site is being conducted under the Department of Energy's (DOE) Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP), which is designed to identify, clean up, or otherwise control sites where low-level radioactive contamination remains from the early years of the nation's atomic energy program or from commercial operations causing conditions that Congress has authorized DOE to remedy. (author)