Tuesday, November 4
How Low SHOULD We Go? Musings on Remediations, Risks and Realities
Speaker: Kathryn Higley
About the Speaker
Kathryn Higley, Oregon State University
Kathryn Higley is an OSU Distinguished Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering (NSE) in the College of Engineering at Oregon State University and the 7th President of the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP). She also holds a joint appointment with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) as a Chief Scientist in its Earth Systems Sciences Division. Previously she served for a decade as School Head of NSE and managed OSU’s Radiation Health Physics program, including developing its online graduate degree, into the largest in the country. Dr. Higley has been at Oregon State University since 1994 and conducts research on the environmental fate and transport of radionuclides. Her research has enabled her to help communities impacted by radiological contamination by working as a technical resource and liaison. As NCRP President she is also a Council Member of the nearly 100-year-old organization which advises the US Government on radiation safety issues. Dr. Higley has previously been a member of the International Commission on Radiological Protection and was formerly Chair of Committee 5: Protection of the Environment, where she helped develop international tools and guidance for protection of the environment from ionizing radiation. She is a Fellow of the Health Physics Society, and a Certified Health Physicist. Dr. Higley received both her Ph.D. and M.S. in Radiological Health Sciences from Colorado State University, and her B.A. in Chemistry from Reed College. She has held both Reactor Operator and Senior Reactor Operator’s licenses and is a former Reactor Supervisor for the Reed College TRIGA reactor.
Wednesday, November 5
Turning Tainted Legacies into Assets
Speaker: Darina Castillo
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Legacy Management (LM) mission is to fulfill DOE’s post-closure responsibilities and ensure the future protection of human health and the environment at more than 100 legacy sites across the United States and the territory of Puerto Rico. LM conducts long-term surveillance and maintenance at these sites. LM’s Beneficial Reuse Program promotes the productive use of LM-managed sites and assets that are no longer needed to protect the remedy, or residual contamination has been remediated. A systematic approach is utilized to evaluate these legacy sites to become assets to their communities. LM works with federal, state, and local community leaders, nonprofit organizations, city planners, and other members of the public to identify appropriate uses of land that will be compatible with current site conditions and with LM’s long-term surveillance and maintenance obligations and responsibilities.
The foundation of LM’s approach to reuse is contained in the Beneficial Reuse Management Plan. LM reviews land holdings periodically, and upon a sites’ transition into its portfolio, assesses and identifies beneficial reuse opportunities. To execute beneficial reuse opportunities, LM implements DOE’s integrated land-use planning processes by considering environmental, economic, ecological, social, and cultural factors affecting each site or parcel of land. Additionally, LM continually looks for opportunities to partner with other community groups or agencies to identify and support potential reuse opportunities. From disposal to a third party to renewable energy and commercial and industrial use to conservation, agriculture, and community use, the goal is to enhance a site’s value and performance. LM has 52 sites that are currently in some form of reuse, which is 100% of its eligible sites. LM has received U.S. Environmental Protection Agency National Federal Facility Excellence in Site Reuse Awards for six different sites over the last several years, recognizing noteworthy restoration and reuse of federal facility sites through innovative thinking and cooperation among federal agencies, states, Tribes, local partners, and developers.
About the Speaker
Darina Castillo, U.S. Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management
Darina Castillo is the team lead for the Environment, Safety, Health, and Quality, or ESH&Q, team, the Applied Studies and Collaborations Program Manager. Castillo’s responsibilities also include LM’s International Program. Castillo was formerly the program manager of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Legacy Management Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program, known as FUSRAP.
Castillo joined DOE in 2014 after being awarded a Presidential Management Fellowship, which is a federal leadership development program that trains fellows for the highest levels of public service careers. DOE hired Castillo as a site manager for FUSRAP. As a site manager, her daily responsibilities included institutional control inspections, groundwater monitoring, regulatory reporting, and stakeholder management. Castillo conducted a five-month detail with DOE Office of Environmental Management and a one-month stint with the DOE undersecretary for science and innovation.
As a site manager, Castillo led several interdisciplinary teams in regulatory compliance, project management, and contract management, which required collaboration with the Safety and Health; Records Management; Environmental Compliance; Quality Assurance; Education, Communication, History, and Outreach; and Asset Management teams to ensure the protection of remediation remedies. In 2022, Castillo became the FUSRAP program manager and held that position until she took on her current role.
Before joining DOE, Castillo served in several environmental science and engineering roles, including as a water quality researcher and geographic information system, or GIS, technician.
Castillo holds a Master of Science and Ph.D. in environmental engineering sciences from the University of Florida and a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from California State University, Sacramento.
Thursday, November 6
An Injectable Permeable Reactive Barrier for 90Sr Groundwater Remediation at Chalk River Laboratories
Speaker: Emily Saurette
Historical disposal of radioactive wastes has resulted in legacy groundwater contamination that must be managed in a safe and sustainable way. A novel injectable permeable reactive barrier (PRB) was designed for use at the Chalk River Laboratory site to passively remediate a 90Sr plume that is currently discharging to an ecological receptor. Traditionally, PRBs are installed perpendicularly to the direction of groundwater flow by excavating and then emplacing reactive media in the aquifer requiring that the contamination is near ground surface. This installation method also requires dewatering and subsequently, storage and treatment of large volumes of contaminated groundwater. Considering the radiological hazards associated with handling large volumes of active wastewater, the resources required to install a traditional PRB to treat 90Sr may be prohibitive. Injectable PRBs are installed by injecting the reactive media into the aquifer over the depth interval that the contamination occurs. The benefits of this technique include that the amount of reactive material required is optimized, as only the contaminated areas need to be treated; removal of contaminated groundwater or aquifer sediments is not required; much greater depths are accessible; placement is adaptable and is not limited to a straight trench; and the ability to be installed around or underneath existing infrastructure. Additionally, injectable PRBs may be a suitable countermeasure to intercept unexpected releases of contamination to groundwater systems from nuclear processing, power generating or disposal sites in both urban and remote locations, as they can be installed on demand. The design of the reactive medium and the novel injectable PRB installed at the Chalk River Laboratory will be discussed, including preliminary field results and lessons learned.
About the Speaker
Emily Saurette, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories
Emily Saurette is a hydrogeochemist working at Canadian Nuclear Laboratories in Chalk River, Ontario, Canada. Her research in contaminant hydrogeochemistry primarily focusses on radionuclide mobility in groundwater systems and the development of remediation strategies. She has extensive experience with advanced solid-phase characterization techniques to determine the mechanisms of contaminant exchange between the solid- and aqueous-phase. Emily holds a BSc degree in Environmental Geosciences and a MSc degree in Earth Sciences from the University of Waterloo.