A Life Cycle Analysis System to Support D and D, Pollution Prevention, and Asset Recovery

This paper describes a life cycle analysis system (LCAS) developed to support US Department of Energy (DOE) decision-making regarding deactivation and decommissioning (D and D), pollution prevention (P2), and asset recovery, and its deployment to analyze the disposition of facilities and capital assets. Originally developed for use at the Oak Ridge East Tennessee Technology Park, this approach has been refined through application at Ohio Operations Office sites and is now being deployed at a number of DOE sites. Programs such as National Metals Recycle, the D and D Focus Area, P2, and Asset Utilization are successfully using the system to make better decisions resulting in lower cost to the taxpayer and improved environmental quality. The LCAS consists of a user-friendly, cost-effective, and analytically-sound decision-aiding process and a complementary suite of automated tools to handle data administration and multiple criteria life cycle analysis (LCA). LCA is a systematic and comprehensive process for identifying, assessing, and comparing alternatives for D and D, P2, and asset recovery at government sites, and for selecting and documenting a preferred alternative. An LCA includes all of the impacts (benefits and costs) that result from a course of action over the entire period of time affected by the action. The system also includes visualizations that aid communication and help make decision-making transparent. The LCAS has three major components related to data collection, decision alternative assessment, and making the decisions. Each component is discussed in-depth using the example of deployment of the LCAS to support asset recovery.