The Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) is a
(USACE) project to manage and cleanup environmental contamination that resulted from early
United States Atomic Energy Commission
The United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by U.S. Congress to foster and control the peacetime development of atomic science and technology. President H ...
activities. Cleanup activities were initially performed under the supervision of the
United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United Stat ...
(DOE), until 1997 when the United States Congress passed authority for cleanup activities to the USACE.
The primary source of contamination at the locations stems from the processing of uranium ores and the disposal of the byproducts. The major sources of site contamination are
uranium
Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...
,
thorium
Thorium is a weakly radioactive metallic chemical element with the symbol Th and atomic number 90. Thorium is silvery and tarnishes black when it is exposed to air, forming thorium dioxide; it is moderately soft and malleable and has a high me ...
, and
radium
Radium is a chemical element with the symbol Ra and atomic number 88. It is the sixth element in group 2 of the periodic table, also known as the alkaline earth metals. Pure radium is silvery-white, but it readily reacts with nitrogen (rather t ...
. In addition to the radiological contaminants there are semi-volatile organic compounds,
volatile organic compound
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are organic compounds that have a high vapour pressure at room temperature. High vapor pressure correlates with a low boiling point, which relates to the number of the sample's molecules in the surrounding air, a ...
s, and heavy metals comingled at the sites.
Table of FUSRAP Sites
Data from multiple sources
[ Buffalo district site]
References
External links
Saint Louis FUSRAP SiteBuffalo District FUSRAP WebpageNorth Atlantic/NY fusrap
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fusrap
Radioactive waste
United States Army Corps of Engineers
Nuclear weapons infrastructure of the United States