Sandia's activities in uranium mill tailings remedial action

The Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978 requires that remedial action be taken at over 20 inactive uranium mill tailings sites in the United States. Standards promulgated by the EPA under this act are to be the operative standards for this activity. Proposed standards must still undergo internal review, public comment, and receive Nuclear Regulatory Commission concurrence before being finalized. Briefly reviewed, the standards deal separately with new disposal sites (Part A) and cleanup of soil and contaminated structures at existing locations (Part B). In several cases, the present sites are felt to be too close to human habitations or to be otherwise unacceptably located. These tailings will probably be relocated. New disposal sites for relocated tailings must satisfy certain standards. The salient features of these standards are summarized