The U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE) created the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) in 1974 to identify, investigate, and cleanup or control radiological contamination at sites used by the Manhattan Engineer District (MED) and the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) from the 1940s through the 1960s. The USDOE had identified 46 sites in the program and finished remediation at 24 of the smaller ones before the end of 1997. With the passage of the Energy and Water Resources Appropriation Act of 1998 the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) was designated by Congress with responsibility to manage and execute the FUSRAP. The Linde Site located in Tonawanda, New York was operated by the MED from 1942-1946 to extract uranium from several high-grade ores. This natural uranium was subsequently enriched in U-235 elsewhere in the United States and ultimately used to produce energy or weapons. Though in the process of reviewing alternative disposal options by 1995, the USDOE had operated FUSRAP with a strategy requiring virtually all materials remediated be disposed of at only one Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensed facility. The change in management of the FUSRAP in 1997 allowed the disposal policy of low levels of radioactively contaminated materials found at the remaining sites to be reexamined. This paper presents some of the innovative regulatory and technical approaches employed at the Linde Site that are resulting in project cost savings while meeting applicable or relevant and appropriate requirements as well as fulfilling commitments made to the local community.
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