Environmental site characterization, planning

The next step under the act is DOE s initial nomination of five locations for site characterization, based on a consideration of the guidelines and the environmental assessments to be prepared for each of the five nominated sites, followed by a recommendation of three candidate sites to the President for his approval. The DOE had intended to complete these actions in the summer of 1983 in order to permit the conduct of a sufficiently thorough site characterization program at each site to support the presidential recommendation of a site for the first repository by March 31,1987, as required by the act. The act requires that for each site under consideration, DOE conduct public hearings to solicit recommendations on issues to be addressed in the environmental assessment and in any site characterization plan to be used if the site is approved by the President. The specific date and location for these hearings will be established after consultation with state representatives. 

Steps in planning and conducting an environmental site characterization ... 

To know the initial conditions of the site, facility, or area, upfront planning is essential. If this is a nuclear decontamination effort, initial conditions must not only include the contamination and radiological conditions present, but must also take into account the conditions that could be encountered by the chemical hazards present, the industrial hazards of the site, the environmental conditions present, and the physical condition of the facility. These factors interact to create the unique environmental condition that must be recognized in the characterization and planning effort. 

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