[en] Laboratory experiments were conducted to measure the extent to which trace concentrations of radioactive materials would sorb on well construction materials and to assess the rapidity with which sorption would occur. The radionuclides employed in these studies were tritium, Cs-137, and Co-57. Solutions with trace concentrations of these radionuclides were contacted with casings of PVC, fiber-glass-epoxy, stainless steel, carbon steel, and steel rods coated with epoxy. The PVC showed no interaction with the tritium or Cs-137 during contact times of two hours to three weeks; however, it did sorb Co-57. The fiber-glass-epoxy also interacted only with the cobalt. The stainless steel sorbed cesium and cobalt. The epoxy-coated steel rods did not interact measurably with any of the radionuclides so long as the coating was intact. The sorption reactions generally were apparent after a few days of contact; in the case of carbon steel, they were detectable in a few hours

[en] Short communication

[en] The article provides some background information on wastes dumped into the Arctic Seas and describes the progress made within the framework of International Arctic Seas Assessment Project (IASAP) lunched to assess the health and environmental implications of the dumping. 1 tab

[en] The paper describes the radiological risks for the personnel during the normal operation of the reprocessing plant at La Hague and the measures taken to apply effectively the ALARA principle. 2 figs

[en] ENRESA has dismantling a uranium mill facility and restored the site since 1991 to 1994. Since 1997, 19 uranium mines are being re mediated. The Andujar uranium mill was operational since 1959 to 1981. The remedial action plan performed in the Andujar mill site involved stabilizing and consolidating the uranium mill tailings and contaminated materials in place. Mill equipment, building and process facilities have been dismantled and demolished and the resulting metal wastes and debris have been placed in the pile. The tailings mass has been reshape by flattening the side slopes and cover system was placed over the pile. The uranium mines are located in Extremadura and Andalucia. There is a great diversity among the mines in terms of the magnitude of the disturbed areas by mining work and the effects on the environment, including excavations, waste rock piles, abandoned shafts and galleries, and remaining of surface structures and facilities. Remedial measures include the sealing for shafts and openings to prevent collapse of mine workings and subsidence, the dewatering and the open-pit excavation and the treatment of the contaminated waters, the disposal and the stabilization of mining debris piles to prevent dispersion, the placement of a re vegetated cover over the piles to control dust and erosion, and the restoration of the site. (Author)

[en] The Savannah River Site (SRS) has upgraded its aqueous emergency response capability to model the transport of pollutants released from SRS facilities during normal operation or accidents through onsite streams to the Savannah River. The transport and dispersion modules from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) WASP5 model were incorporated into the SRS emergency response system, called the Weather Information and Display (WIND) System. WASP5 is a water quality analysis program that simulates surface water pollutant transport, using a finite difference method to solve the advective transport equation. Observed tritium concentrations in the SRS streams and the Savannah River from an accidental release from K-Reactor, one of the SRS nuclear material production reactors, were used to benchmark the new model. Although all SRS reactors have since been deactivated, this release of tritiated water occurred between December 22 and 25, 1991, through the K-Reactor secondary cooling water discharge. Analyses of reactor discharge water suggested the leak began sometime during December 22. The leak was positively identified and isolated on December 25. Following the release, tritium concentrations were tracked and measured as the tritiated water flowed from the K-Area outfall into Indian Grave Branch and pen Branch, through the Savannah River swamp, past the mouth of Steel Creek, and down the Savannah River. The measured tritium concentrations at Steel Creek, Highway 301, Becks Ferry and Abercorn Creek were used for benchmarking

[en] This paper describes the ambient air sampling program for collection, analysis, and reporting of radioactive air contaminants in and around Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Particulate matter and water vapor are sampled continuously at more than 50 sites. These samples are collected every two weeks and then analyzed for tritium, and gross alpha, gross beta, and gamma ray radiation. The alpha, beta, and gamma measurements are used to detect unexpected radionuclide releases. Quarterly composites are analyzed for isotopes of uranium (²³⁴U, ²³⁵U, ²³⁸U), plutonium (²³⁸Pu, ^239/249Pu), and americium (²⁴¹Am). All of the data is stored in a relational database with hard copies as the official records. Data used to determine environmental concentrations are validated and verified before being used in any calculations. This evaluation demonstrates that the sampling and analysis process can detect tritium, uranium, plutonium, and americium at levels much less than one percent of the public dose limit of 10 millirems. The isotopic results also indicate that, except for tritium, off-site concentrations of radionuclides potentially released from LANL are similar to typical background measurements

[en] An assessment of Los Alamos National Laboratory's management system related to facility compliance with an element of the Clean Air Act was performed under contract by a team from Northern Arizona University. More specifically, a Federal Facilities Compliance Agreement (FFCA) was established in 1996 to bring the Laboratory into compliance with emissions standards of radionuclides, commonly referred to as Rad/NESHAP. In the fall of 1996, the four-person team of experienced environmental managers evaluated the adequacy of relevant management systems to implement the FFCA provisions. The assessment process utilized multiple procedures including document review, personnel interviews and re-interviews, and facility observations. The management system assessment was completed with a meeting among team members, Laboratory officials and others on November 1, 1996 and preparation of an assessment report

[en] At the request of the Risk Analysis Group (RAG), and in support of the Tritium Facilities SAR, the Safety Information Management and Analysis group (SIMA) determined specific frequency values dealing with tritium releases and fire related incidents. All results summarized herein are based upon actual facility operating data from the Tritium Fault Tree Databank. The Descriptive Statistics function within Excel was utilized to compute initiator event frequencies from appropriate event data. All calculations have been technically reviewed to ensure that they are accurate mathematical representations of actual operating history as recorded in the databank

[en] A field investigation characterizing contamination at the Rocky Flats Plant (Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site) near Golden, Colorado revealed unexpectedly high moisture contents in the unsaturated soil column (vadose zone) beneath several of the Plant's Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) sludge drying beds. Because these beds were seldom in use, researchers had hypothesized that the water required to maintain the saturated conditions observed beneath several of the sludge drying beds was coming from sources other than the beds themselves. In an effort to substantiate this hypothesis, a one-dimensional physically-based unsaturated flow model was utilized to simulate the vertical movement of moisture from the sludge drying beds into the unsaturated soil column below. The model was run to simulate vertical flow over a two-year period and results indicated that no significant changes from initial conditions were apparent. This evidence supports the hypothesis that the high moisture contents found beneath the sludge drying beds are being fed by sources other than infiltration of sludge applied to the beds themselves. This paper presents the details of the simulation and provides further evidence of the hypothesized flow regime