Published: 1998
Total Pages: 186
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Solid Waste Storage Area (SWSA) 6, located at the US Department of Energy (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) facility, is a shallow land burial site for low-level radioactive waste (LLW) and other waste types. Wastes were disposed of in unlined trenches and auger holes from 1969 until May 1986, when it was determined that Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) regulated wastes were being disposed of there. DOE closed SWSA 6 until changes in operating procedures prevented the disposal of RCRA wastes at SWSA 6. The site, which reopened for waste disposal activities in July 1986, is the only currently operating disposal area for low-level radioactive waste at ORNL. In addition to SWSA 6, it was determined that hazardous wastes were treated at the Explosives Detonation Trench (EDT). Explosives and shock-sensitive chemicals such as picric acid, phosphorus, and ammonium nitrate were detonated; debris from the explosions was backfilled into the trench.