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In
July, 1990, Governor William P. Clements signed the Agreement
in Principle (AIP) between the State of Texas and the U.S.
Department of Energy. That agreement enables the state of
Texas to help protect human health and safety and the environment
at and around the Pantex Plant through environmental oversight
and emergency response.
The
AIP has been renewed every five years since then, with the
most recent agreement signed by Governor Rick Perry on September
12, 2005. It will be up for renewal on September 30, 2010.
Located
in Carson County about 17 miles northeast of Amarillo, the
Pantex Plant is owned by the United States Department of Energy
(DOE) for the purpose of assembling and disassembling nuclear
weapons. It began as a conventional bomb plant during World
War II, was sold to Texas Tech University at the end of the
war, and then reclaimed by the United States government at
the beginning of the cold war.
As
part of the DOE weapons complex, Pantex assembled the parts
that were sent by other facilities around the nation. Those
other facilities engaged in activities that produced both
hazardous and radioactive waste. While the plan was for significant
amounts of the radioactive waste to be shipped to the Waste
Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), delays in opening the WIPP resulted
in the waste being stored on site, especially at the Idaho
National Environmental Laboratory and the Rocky Flats Plant
near Boulder, Colorado.
Beginning
in the 1970’s, governors whose states hosted weapons
plants began petitioning the Department of Energy for assistance
in cleaning up the sites. Governor Cecil Andress of Idaho
eventually filed suit. In 1989, the U.S. Justice Department,
along with the FBI, the state of Colorado, and the Environmental
Protection Agency, raided the Rocky Flats Plant. Significant
environmental hazards were uncovered and the plant was shut
down.
Those
actions culminated in then Secretary of Energy Admiral Watkins
to propose an Agreement in Principle between DOE and states
hosting nuclear defense facilities, with the focus on environmental
cleanup. Emergency response activities were added to the agreement
and a number of states signed on.
In
Texas, the program is administered by the Pantex Program of
the State Energy Conservation Office. The work is divided
between emergency response and environmental cleanup, with
a number of state and local governmental agencies doing the
work.
Emergency
Response Program
The
AIP provides funding for state and local emergency responders
to prepare for and respond to any scenario that could result
from any credible incident at the Pantex Plant. Communication
equipment is updated as needed and exercised on a regular
basis. Emergency responders are trained how to use radiological
instruments and respond to an incident involving radiological
hazards. Both tabletop and full-scale exercises, involving
scenarios with both hazardous materials and radioactive materials,
are conducted with the cooperation of the Pantex Plant. Members
of the public living within a 10-mile Emergency Planning Zone
around the Pantex Plant are offered radios that will warn
them in the event of an incident with possible off-site consequences.
In addition, a series of sirens has been erected around the
perimeter to warn the public of any potential problems. Also,
the local phone book has instructions for members of the public
to follow should the warning systems be activated.
Environmental
Cleanup Program
The
state of Texas entered into an accelerated cleanup agreement
with DOE with environmental cleanup at the Pantex Plant to
be completed in 2008. DOE and TCEQ have successfully characterized
the nature and extent of the constituents of concern and are
currently working on the baseline risk assessment and remedy
selection. Once cleanup is complete and in the monitoring
stage, the cleanup activity at the Pantex Plant will be transferred
from Environmental Management to the Legacy Management program
within DOE.
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DOE
NNSA BWXT Pantex Plant Facility
Carson County
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History of the
Pantex Plant
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Pantex
Environmental Restoration Project
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