200 North Area
The 200 North Area was once an area where railcars containing spent nuclear fuel were stored for a
period of several weeks to months to allow radionuclides with very short half-lives to decay prior
to reprocessing. Spent fuel stored in this way required a constant flow of water through the railcars
to thermally cool the elements. The cooling water was then disposed at several sites within the 200
North Area.
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A CERCLA decision for cleanup of the 200 North Area was issued as part of the remaining
sites decision for the 100 Area. The remedy for these sites is to remove contaminated
material, treat as necessary, and dispose it in the Environmental Restoration Disposal
Facility. This action is nearly identical to the cleanup of spent fuel storage liquid
waste sites in the 100 Area and could easily be accelerated.
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Within the 200 North Area, there are a number of other small waste sites, contaminated structures,
and several contaminated railcars that were not included in the scope of the previous cleanup decision.
For remediation of this area to be complete, it will be necessary to develop cleanup plans for these
sources of contamination as well as the major waste sites. Including these actions together will allow
early completion of this geographic area and help to shrink the contaminated area of the Central
Plateau.
The 200 North sites are currently scheduled for remediation by 2026. This strategy accelerates the
activities so the work is completed in 2009.
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