Uranium mill decommissioning - an update on the Edgemont experience

This paper describes the Edgemont Uranium Mill Decommissioning Project. An estimated 5.4 million tons of contaminated material including approximately 2.5 million tons of uranium mill tailings will be moved to a disposal site approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The decommissioning activities will be carried out by Silver King Mines, Inc., under a management services contract to the Tennessee Valley Authority. The primary advantages of the disposal site chosen are the short distance from the existing site and the approximately 650 feet of relatively dense impermeable shales above the shallowest known aquifer. Three large ore stockpiles containing about 100,000 pounds of uranium have been moved from the mill site to a proposed mine site. The decommissioning project will be carried out by using the existing labor force to the maximum extent possible thus preventing a population influx and the accompanying socioeconomic input to the city of Edgemont, SD