The Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP) identified storage areas where Department of Energy (DOE) had failed to characterize and inventory certain “hazardous materials.”  These hazardous materials were located in DMSAs (DOE Material Storage Areas). 

In October 1999 the DOE Phase I independent investigation of the PGDP identified DMSAs where DOE had failed to characterize and inventory certain hazardous materials. There are 160 DMSAs located across the site including “islands” within United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC) operating facilities. 

The DMSAs were created in late 1996 when DOE “de-leased” areas of the plant that USEC didn’t want so that USEC could obtain its Nuclear Regulatory Commission license.  Information obtained during a tour of the DMSAs and during characterization and remediation work in one DMSA carried out at the request of the Department of Justice led the state to determine that DOE had violated hazardous waste statutes and regulations and its hazardous waste permit by failing to properly characterize the wastes stored in the DMSAs.  A Notice of Violation (NOV) issued Sept. 5, 2000, required DOE to formally notify the state of these storage areas and to properly characterize and manage all wastes within them according to state laws and regulations.

DOE submitted a revised characterization work plan on April 16, 2001, as required by the Sept. 5, 2000, NOV.  Although a conflict still exists between the Kentucky Division of Waste Management and the DOE concerning certain aspects of the characterization work plan and the NOV, DOE has begun work pursuant to the plan.  The ongoing fieldwork includes making an inventory of the DMSA contents; addressing nuclear criticality safety concerns; determining if the waste is hazardous, nonhazardous, mixed, TSCA (Toxic Substances Control Act) or radioactive; sampling and analysis; and waste packaging and storage. 

Current Documents:

Characterization Report