The following listing of US military source points is a summary of the most important contaminated areas out of a total of 150 military facilities now undergoing environmental remediation under the Dept. of DOE Environmental Management program. The Baseline Environmental Management Report (BEMR) cited at the beginning of this part of RADNET Section 11 contains information about all of the following source points. Additional site specific environmental reports will be reviewed and posted as they are received from the Dept. of Energy by RADNET throughout the winter and spring of 1997. For further information go to RADNET section 13, RADLINKS, and surf the many DOE links now available for persons interested in evaluating weapons production related anthropogenic radioactivity source points. Site specific environmental reports are available from the DOE upon request.
 

Argonne National Laboratory

A research facility located within the confines of the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory covering 1 sq. mile and consisting of 40 buildings and associated discharge ditches, waste ponds, cooling towers, etc. "The primary mission of the Argonne National Laboratory West was to support liquid metal reactor research and development of the Integral Fast Reactor Program (IFRP)" (BEMR, pg. Idaho-4), a fast breeder reactor which has now been canceled. The site of current spent nuclear fuel and waste treatment, including pyroprocessing, a type of fuel reprocessing. Little or no information is currently available about ANL as a past or present plume source point. ANL is the likely location of some french drains; the BEMR indicates total life cycle environmental restoration and waste management costs are $357,482,000. Included in remediation efforts are radioactive wastes storage tanks and "waste water handling/disposal systems such as ditches, ponds, pits, and drains" (BEMR, pg. Idaho-7). Dick Lindsay, Director of Information, informs RADNET that the Argonne National Laboratory not only is not "top secret," as previously described by the Editor of RADNET, but that "it is not associated with the military nor has it been except in trivial or peripheral ways. ... If you are a U.S. citizen and wish to tour you may do so, and that has always been the case! Top secret indeed." For a non-top secret installation, not associated with weapons production activities, ANL has certainly run up a fairly large life-cycle environmental waste restoration and waste management bill.
 

Brookhaven National Laboratory

A U.S. DOE research and development laboratory within 2,265 acres located 75 miles east of New York City in Upton, Long Island. This laboratory contains 24 separate facilities and "approximately 80 areas of interest" (BEMR pg. New York-7) which are the subject of DOE environmental remediation efforts or have been identified for further study. "The principal environmental medium of concern at Brookhaven National Laboratory is ground water. Because the Laboratory is situated over a sole-source aquifer providing potable water for Long Island, the Environmental Protection Agency placed it on the National Priorities List in 1989. ... Contaminants of concern ... that may have migrated through soils, surface water, and related transport mechanisms into the aquifer ... include metals, organic compounds, and radionuclides such as tritium and cesium-137. Contamination occurred as a result of accidental spills and/or past operating practices." (BEMR pg. New York-6). The Brookhaven site is the location of two nuclear research reactors: the High Flux Beam Reactor and the Brookhaven Medical Research Reactor. The High Flux Beam Reactor is currently the topic of intense public EPA and DOE scrutiny due to the discovery of a tritium plume allegedly originating from leaks in the 68,000 gallon spent fuel pool in the reactor's lower level. Levels of tritium have been recorded as high as 651,000 picocuries per liter, or 32 times the U.S. drinking water standard of 20,000 picocuries per liter. (Lexis-Nexis: EPA update 2/6/97). This specific plume allegedly bears no relationship to a number of other tritium plumes in the Brookhaven area groundwater, all of which are supposedly below the EPA's drinking water standard and probably originate from earlier uncontained releases of radionuclides and mixed wastes. The Brookhaven facility is an example of a small DOE facility with multiple source points of contamination overlying an important aquifer and located in a highly populated area. Uncontained releases of contaminants, including ethylene dibromide (EDB), originating decades ago have the potential for significant impact on drinking water supplies on Long Island; the multiple Brookhaven plumes have resulted in the recent closing of hundreds of private wells and the transfer of these residences to public water supply. The BEMR report focuses on 24 specific sources of contamination grouped in five "operable units" as well as a number of aboveground and underground waste storage tanks and cesspools. Life cycle remediation costs are estimated at $866,778,000 excluding the costs of disposing of spent fuel at the Savannah River facility. Brookhaven may be an example of where the High Flux Beam Reactor spent fuel pool leak may be used as a scapegoat to avoid the acknowledgment of the extensive uncontained releases of radioactivity and volatile chemicals of the past. No reference is made in the BEMR to a radiocesium source point, probably located in the biology forest in the southeastern part of the facility that was installed almost 40 years ago for the purpose of irradiating the forest and studying the resulting radiobiological effects. A number of the following citations reference this important and intense above ground installation, the current location and environmental impact of which are unknown.

Flaccus, E., Armentano, T.V., and Archer, M. (1974). Effects of chronic gamma radiation on the composition of the herb community of an oak-pine forest. Radiat. Bot. 14. 263-271.

Franz, E.H. and Woodwell, G.M. (1973). Effects of chronic gamma irradiation on the soil algal community of an oak-pine forest. Radiat. Bot. 13. 323-329.

Gschenaur, S.E. and Woodwell, G.M. (1974). The soil micro-fungi of a chronically-irradiated oak-pine forest. Ecology. 55. 1004-1016.

Holt, B.R. (1972). Radiosensitivity and distribution of common macro-fungi in a chronically irradiated oak-pine forest. Radiat. Bot. 12. 339-342.

U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. (February 1999). NRC report on Brookhaven reactor. U.S. NRC, Washington, DC. http://www.nrc.gov/OPA/reports/brookhvn.htm.

• The report is focused on the high flux beam reactor safety programs.
• "This NRC staff safety assessment identified no safety-significant issues, although several apparent instances of noncompliance with DOE and BNL requirements were noted." (Executive Summary).

Woodwell, G.M. and Rebuck, A.L. (1967). Effects of chronic gamma radiation on the structure and diversity of an oak-pine forest. Ecol. Monogr. 37. 53-69.
 

Fernald, Ohio (Feed Materials Production Center)

This small facility (9 plants, 1,148 acres) was established in 1951 for the purpose of processing uranium into a finished product suitable for weapons production. While no DOE high-level wastes are located at this facility, extensive contamination of the groundwater, soil, and air resulted from the careless operation of this plant in the early years of the production of almost a half million metric tons of uranium metal. Waste disposal in pits and surface storage areas as well as in drums and silos resulted in huge quantities of mixed wastes containing as much as 5,000 metric tons of uranium (Makhijani, et. al., Nuclear Wastelands, 1995, pg. 214) This site also contains radium-226 wastes, as well as thorium and a variety of mixed wastes including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), PCB's and trichloroethane. Of particular concern has been the huge quantities of uranium contaminated particulates released to the air during operation of this facility. Political pressures have resulted in Fernald's position among the top ranked DOE remediation sites; the result of the pressures to clean up this facility are unclear. Makhijani (Nuclear Wastelands, 1995) reports the Minimum Additive Wastes Stabilization (MAWS) program results in extensive "off/gas" contamination from the vitrification process as well as the creation of "approximately half a million metric tons of radioactive marbles that would result from even partial conversions of Fernald's on-site contaminated materials." (pg. 215).

Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. (June 16, 1993). Health and safety factors associated with DOE's management and direction of environmental restoration management contracts. Recommendation 93-4 to the Secretary of Energy.

• "The Board and its staff have been monitoring the efforts of the Department of Energy (DOE) in technically managing the Uranyl Nitrate Hexahydrate (UNH) stabilization project at the Fernald Environmental Management Project since DOE began preparations for operational testing in early 1992. ... The purpose of the project is to process the UNH into a filter cake for interim nuclear waste storage onsite pending final disposition." (pg. 1).
• "... the Board has noted recent events at other facilities under the cognizance of EM, including the Defense Waste Processing Facility at SRS and the Uranium Oxide Plant at Hanford, that appear to indicate fundamental safety problems resulting from defective discipline of operations." (pg. 2).
• "... the Board has concern stemming from health and safety considerations that (1) DOE may not have sufficient numbers of competent, trained headquarters and field personnel to technically manage such contracts, and (2) contracts may be negotiated and signed before DOE has developed internal plans on how to carry out its technical management and oversight responsibilities." (pg. 2).

• "The DNFSB staff has some concerns about the pyrophoric and reactive material stored at the FEMP. Hydrogen explosions caused two drums in 1989 and one in 1992 to violently rupture and blow their lids off. Corrosion of drums storing uranium and thorium is severe. Fernald Environmental Restoration Management Corporation (FERMCO) personnel believe that up to fourteen hundred drums may still be breached. As a result, FERMCO has overpacked or repacked thousands of drums since 1992."
• "The FEMP uranium inventory, counting only material with uranium concentrations above the economic discard limit, is about 6600 metric tons uranium (MTU), of which 90% is separated material and the remainder is recoverable residues. Of the separated material, 67% is depleted, 8% is natural, and 25% is enriched (up to 19.9%). The forms of the separated material are metal (54%), UF4 (33%), and UO3 (13%). An additional 1600 MTU is contained in over 11,000 MT of low-level radioactive waste (LLRW). The total volume of uranium product, residues, and waste is equivalent to 147,000 55-gallon drums, of which 42% is LLRW. The uranium is predominately stored in 55-gallon drums and 10-gallon cans. Metal fuel element cores are stored in A1-lined wooden boxes and metal ingots (a casting product) and derbies (UF4 and Mg reaction product) are stored unpackaged on metal and wooden skids."
• "The FEMP also has 927 MT of thorium in the forms of thorium nitrate gel (contains 4.3 kg of U-233) and solution, residues, metal, oxides, and other miscellaneous compositions. All of this material is classified as LLRW."
• The DNFSB staff believes that container degradation, especially for drums, is a significant problem at FEMP because containers have been stored unprotected outside. FERMCO personnel stated that the median lifetime of these outside containers is only three years because of the high humidity. Although they are trying to transfer containers into buildings (especially those material types considered to be more hazardous), approximately 23,000 drums are still stored outside, often with little or no protection from the rain. In addition, uranium metal is allowed to be stored outside if it is under a shelter, but these shelters often consist of only a metal roof and minimal siding around the sides which would probably not prevent rain from blowing onto the containers. Furthermore, there are leaks in the roof of Plant 6 which can allow rain to fall directly on the drums and materials below. The presence of leaks is a concern because unprotected uranium metal ingots and skulls were also stored in the same building."
• "Preparations are being made to overpack approximately 5600 drums of thorium hydroxides, oxides, and oxalate stored in Building 65 and ship them to the Nevada Test Site (NTS) for burial. These drums date from the 1970s and early 1980s and are in such poor condition that respirators are required in the building. The reason for the severe corrosion is that the drums were stored on plywood sheets rather than pallets. This allowed rain, which came in through holes in the roof and windows (no money was funded for repairs for eight years), to pool and collect around the drums. The Preliminary Safety Analysis Report estimates that up to 1400 drums may have been breached."
• "The FEMP was not designed for extensive on-site storage of nuclear material and no safety analysis reports examining uranium storage have been completed. The sheer volume of nuclear material and waste has resulted in containers being stored in the old plants, the pilot plant, warehouses, aluminum huts, tension support buildings, outside shelters, and any free space outside."
• "The inventory has been reduced from 61 million pounds in 1991 to 43 million pounds today. This is predominately due to shipping over 2,000 drum equivalents per week of LLRW to the NTS. FERMCO is also disposing of some mixed waste with Envirocare in Utah and shipping Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) waste (i.e., contaminated polychlorinated biphenyl and asbestos) to the Oak Ridge TSCA incinerator."

Makhijani, A. (October, 1996). Radioactivity in the Fernald neighborhood. Science for Democratic Action. An IEER (Institute for Energy and Environmental Research) publication. 5(3). pp. 16.

• This is the first in a series of 5 articles in vol. 5 no. 3 of the IEER series Science for Democratic Action, the entire issue of which is devoted to the impact of the Fernald facility.
• The first of the five articles includes a detailed description of the uranium processing sequence at the 9 plants comprising the Fernald facility.
• "The six waste pits at the site contain both radioactive and non-radioactive chemicals, including uranium isotopes, thorium-230 (a waste material from the uranium production process), thorium-232, and barium salts. In addition, the K-65 silos located on the site contain radium-226, a decay product of uranium which emits radon." (pg. 2).
• Another article in this volume is entitled Radiation exposure at Fernald: the dirty details: "Radon from the decay of radium-226 in the K-65 silos located on the site was the cause of the largest off-site doses. ... Inhalation of uranium dust was the next most important." (pg. 8).
• "Between March 15, 1978 and June 14, 1978 'a significant dust loss occurred in the Plant 9 dust collector serving the NPR furnace and the crucible burnout area.' The cause of the loss was 'extensive damage to the blow ring assembly and two bags pulled loose from their upper mountings.'" (pg. 9).
• This is a particularly interesting report detailing the environmental consequences of uranium metal production and the plumes and worker's radiation exposure which results from uranium releases during processing activities at this location.
• This report includes a summary of uranium release estimates to the air and surface water, and is another example of the clear and concise reporting of the IEER, the publications of which are among the most important documents pertaining to anthropogenic radioactivity. This IEER publication as well as other IEER reports on the uranium component of the weapons production cycle are important reminders that these plumes (thorium-230, 232, radium-226 and uranium-234, 235, 238, depleted uranium oxide, and depleted uranium hexafluoride) have a health physics significance equal to that of the fission products which also derive from the weapons production cycle.

In January 1943 the Hanford Site was established as the nation's first full time plutonium production facility. As part of the Manhattan project, plutonium production reactors were built along the Columbia River (100 Area); processing plants and associated facilities were constructed on a plateau in the center of the site (200 Areas); and fuel fabrication facilities were constructed in the southern component of the reservation (300 Area). The total size of the Hanford site is 560 sq. miles; the site is located in the southeastern part of the state of Washington in an isolated and desiccated area; the Columbia River forms the sites eastern boundary. An excellent site map is contained in the BEMR on page Washington 5; this report includes a summary of the stages of plutonium production at Hanford, including the fabrication of plutonium from uranium, fuel irradiation which converted small amounts of uranium to plutonium, and chemical processing in which the irradiated fuel elements were chemically processed to extract the plutonium. In the early days of operation of the Hanford facility, large amounts of uncontained radioactive wastes of every description were disposed of in the natural environment. Some effluents went directly into the Columbia River; other effluents went into burial trenches, partially lined underground vaults and other surface locations. Extensive use of deep well and shallow well injection technologies resulted in the disposal of unknown quantities of radioactive wastes in subsurface geological formations. By 1972 eight of nine production reactors had been shut down and most fuel separation facilities had also ceased operations. A fast flux test facility at the Hanford Reservation continues to be on hot standby (the facility is cooled by liquid sodium); the Clinton administration is considering restarting this facility to produce tritium for use in future nuclear weapons production. Radioactive wastes in contaminated material and liquid by-products are stored in 1,391 locations on this Reservation; "environmental contamination is found in surface and subsurface soils ... liquids (principally liquid low-level waste effluents) have been discharged into the soils and has contaminated 520 sq. km. of ground water ... the chemical processing of irradiated fuels generated the largest volume of Hanford's wastes" (BEMR, pg. Washington 6-7). Total life cycle remediation costs are estimated at $50,208,297,000. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory Integrated Data Base reports the Hanford Reservation inventory of high-level waste as of Jan. 1, 1996 at 347,900,000 Ci. (Also see additional comments on missing U.S. military (DOE) high-level wastes in part 14 of this section.)

The Panel on Radioactivity in the Marine Environment (1971) prepared an incomplete list of Annual discharges of radioactivity from the Hanford Reactor Operations to the Pacific Ocean (Ci). (p.28) part of which is included below.
 

Year	Beta	32P	51Cr	65Zn	239Np
1960	93,000 Ci	6,200 Ci	310,000 Ci	14,000 Ci	26,000 Ci
1961	-	11,000	310,000	16,000	24,000
1962	-	4,700	240,000	11,000	11,000
1963	-	4,400	320,000	10,000	18,000
1964	-	4,400	320,000	16,000	-
1965	-	4,000	290,000	18,000	-
1966	-	3,300	160,000	8,000	-
1967	-	4,400	224,000	15,000	-

• ²³⁹Nep grows into ²³⁹Pu.

• Since 1966 Columbia River concentrations have gradually fallen, but many of the long-lived radioisotopes generated at the time these activation products were released are still to be accounted for.

Beasley, T.M. (1986). Nickel-63 in Columbia River sediments below the Hanford Reservation. J. Environ. Radioactivity. 4. 1-10.

• "Nickel-63 (t1/2=100 y) has been measured in Columbia River sediments below the Hanford Reservation. The present-day inventory between the confluence of the Snake and Columbia Rivers and the Columbia River mouth is estimated at near 4.6 TBq (~125 Ci)." (pg. 1).

• "The lower Columbia River received large amounts of artificial radioactivity during the period from 1944 to 1970 as a consequence of the operation of single-pass plutonium production reactors located on the Hanford Reservation." (pg. 913).
• "...Additional plutonium-239 (in Columbia River sediments) arises from the decay of neptunium-239 produced in reactor effluent water from the old plutonium production reactors located on the Hanford Reservation." (pg. 913).

• "Even though the Columbia River received large amounts of radioactivity as a consequence of the operation of plutonium production reactors on the Hanford Reservation, we believe that the ^243,244Cm reported here is entirely derived from fallout and that our ability to detect these isotopes in river sediment is due to the concentrating effect of erosional processes on land which mobilize material containing ^243,244Cm (and other transuranic radionuclides) to the river, where they are subsequently sedimented." (pg. 624).

Benson, A.B. and Shook, L. (1985). Blowing in the wind: Radioactive contamination of the soil around the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. Hanford Education Action League, Spokane, WA.

• New regulations change Hanford guidelines for plutonium in soil from 10 nanocuries per gram to 100 nanocuries per gram (0.1 millicuries/kg).
• 12 million cubic meters of soil in the Hanford reservation had become "so contaminated as to constitute high level waste." (pg. 1).
• Americium-241, a decay product of ²⁴¹Pu, is expected to become as much of a radiation problem as total plutonium radioactivity in seventy to eighty years. (pg. 5).

Connor, T. (1986). Hot water: Groundwater contamination at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. Hanford Education Action League, Spokane, WA.

• Naturally flowing groundwater provides a pathway for Hanford derived radionuclides to travel to the Columbia River.
• Includes tank waste inventories and PUREX tritium plume contamination data, etc.

Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. (October 11, 1990). Safety at Single-Shell Hanford Waste Tanks. Recommendation 90-7 to the Secretary of Energy pursuant to Section 312(5) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended.

• "Immediate steps should be taken to add instrumentation as necessary to the single shell tanks containing ferrocyanide that will establish whether hot spots exist or may develop in the future in the stored waste."

Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. (July 19, 1993). Hanford Waste Tanks Characterization Studies. Recommendation 93-5 to the Secretary of Energy pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 2286a(5) Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended.

• "In Recommendation 90-7, the Board emphasized the urgent need for more rapid and complete sampling and analysis of tank wastes. The wastes in the Hanford tanks differ markedly from tank to tank. Identification of what specifically is in each tank is essential and urgent."
• "The Board has repeatedly expressed its dismay at the continued slow rate of conduct of this characterization program and has urged a greater rate of progress. At last count only 22 of the 177 tanks on the site have been sampled. Only four of those sampled were among the 54 tanks on the watch list of tanks that generate the greatest safety concerns."
• "The Board notes that a recently released DOE/RL audit (DOE-RL/OPA Audit 93-02, April 1993) of the sampling programs revealed significant weaknesses in the control, management, and technical implementation of core sampling, laboratory, and supporting activities."

Emery, R.M. and McShane, M.C. (1980). Nuclear waste ponds and streams on the Hanford Site: an ecological search for radiation effects. Health Physics. 38. 787-809.

Eslinger, P.W., Huesties, L.R., Maughan, A.D., Miley, T.B. and Walters, W.H. (1994). Data Compendium for the Columbia River Comprehensive Impact Assessment. PNL-9785, Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Richland, Washington.

Gerber, M. S. (1992). On the home front: the cold war legacy of the Hanford nuclear site. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln. 312 pp.

Martin, T. (Winter, 1993). Waste by any other name ... Deciding what goes into Hanford Grout. Perspective. Hanford Education Action League, Hanford, Washington. pg. 8-9.

Miley, T.B., and Huesties, L.R. (1995). List of currently classified documents relative to Hanford operations and of potential use in the Columbia River Comprehensive Impact Assessment. January 1, 1973-June 20, 1994. PNL-10459, Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Richland, Washington.

Napier, B.A., Batishko, N.C., Heise-Craff, D.A., Jarvis, M.F. and Synder, D.F. (1995). Identification of contaminants of concern. PNL-10400, Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Richland, Washington.

• This can be found also at the Columbia River Comprehensive Impact Assessment (CRCIA) URL (http://www.hanford.gov/crcia/hp-overv.htm) or see RAD 13: RADLINKS: Part II-D: DOE Laboratory Servers: PNL (Pacific Northwest Laboratory).

Robertson, D.E., Silker, W.B., Langford, J.C., Petersen, M.R. and Perkins, R.W. (1973). Transport and depletion of radionuclides in the Columbia River. In: Radioactive Contamination of the Marine Environment. Report No. IAEA-SM-158/9. IAEA, Vienna. 141-158.

• The last of nine plutonium production reactors were shut in January of 1971.
• "Some long-lived radionuclides have remained, being associated mainly with sedimentary deposits in the reservoir behind McNary Dam." (pg. 141).
• Typical concentrations for the three most common isotopes in sediment (64%, 14% and 7% respectively) are: ⁵⁵Fe: 1,100 d.p.m/g (18,300 Bq/kg); ⁶⁵Zn: 240 d.p.m./g (4,000 Bq/kg); ⁴⁶Sc: 120 d.p.m./g (2,000 Bq/kg).

Sanger, S.L. (1989). Hanford and the Bomb: An Oral History of World War II. Living History Press, Seattle, Washington.

Scheibe, T. and Yabusaki, S. (1993). Scaling of flow and transport behavior in heterogeneous groundwater systems. PNL-SA-25636. EOS Trans. AGU. 74(43) 251.

• "Three-dimensional numerical simulations using a detailed synthetic hydraulic conductivity field developed from geological considerations provide insight into the scaling of subsurface flow and transport processes. Flow and advective transport in the highly resolved, detailed field have been modeled using massively parallel computers, providing a realistic baseline for comparison of scaling techniques." (abstract).
• This report is available on the Internet at the Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Environmental Technology Division, Richland, Washington URL: http://terrassa.pnl.gov:2080/ETDpub/projects/scaling/scaling.html

Serber, R., (1992). The Los Alamos Primer. University of California Press, Berkeley, California.

Shook, L. and Benson, A. The storm of Hanford's radioactive iodine, "Ominous implications". The Hanford Journal, 5, 1-3.

• "Between 1944 and 1956, Hanford plutonium production facilities released about 530,000 curies of radioactive iodine-131 to the atmosphere of Eastern Washington." (pg. 1).

• Comprehensive description of the Hanford Site (560 sq. miles), its history, and the principal installation and sites used for the production of nuclear material.
• "Current waste management activities at the Hanford Site include primarily managing wastes with high and low levels of radioactivity (from the nuclear materials production activities) in the 200-East and 200-West Areas. Key waste management facilities include the waste storage tanks, Plutonium Uranium Extraction (PUREX) Plant, Plutonium Finishing Plant, Central Waste complex, Low-Level Burial Grounds, B Plant, and 242-A Evaporator. In addition, irradiated nuclear fuel is stored in the 100-K Area in fuel storage basins."
• "Environmental restoration includes activities to decontaminate and decommission facilities and to clean up or restore inactive waste sites. The Hanford surplus facilities program conducts surveillance and maintenance of such facilities, and has begun to clean up and dispose of more than 100 facilities."
• "The preliminary assessments conducted for the Hanford Site revealed approximately 1,100 known individual waste sites where hazardous substances may have been disposed of in a manner that requires further evaluation to determine impact to the environment."
• "Environmental monitoring of the Hanford Site consists of 1) effluent monitoring and 2) environmental surveillance including ground-water monitoring. ... The MEI [maximally exposed individual] potentially received 0.05% of the DOE dose limit and 0.02% of the national average background dose from natural sources. ... Special exposure scenarios not included in the above dose estimates include the potential consumption of game residing on the Hanford Site and exposure to radiation at the publicly accessible location with the maximum exposure rate."
• "Near-Facility Environmental Monitoring ... analytical results showed a large degree of variability; in general, the samples collected from media located on or directly adjacent to the waste disposal and other nuclear facilities had significantly higher concentrations than those farther away. As expected, certain radionuclides were found in higher concentrations within different operational areas. Generally speaking, the predominant radionuclides were activation products/gamma emitters in the 100 Areas, fission products in the 200/600 Areas, and uranium in the 300 Area."
• "Air Monitoring. ... Air samplers were primarily located at or near sites and/or facilities having the potential or history for release, with an emphasis on the prevailing downwind directions. Of the radionuclide analyses performed, cesium-137, plutonium-239,240, strontium-90, and uranium were consistently detectable in the 200 Areas; cobalt-60 was detectable in the 100-N Area. Air concentrations for these radionuclides were elevated near facilities when compared to the concentrations measured offsite by the Surface Environmental Surveillance Project."
• "Radiological Surveys. There were approximately 2,756 hectares (6,364 acres) of outdoor posted surface contamination and 981 hectares (2,423 acres) of posted underground radioactive material sitewide in 1994. These areas were typically associated with cribs, burial grounds, tank farms, and covered ponds, trenches, and ditches. The number of posted surface contamination areas varied because of an ongoing effort to clean, stabilize, and remediate areas of known contamination while new areas of contamination were being identified. New areas may have been identified because of contamination migration or the increased effort being made to investigate outdoor areas for radiological contamination."
• "The Columbia River was one of the primary environmental exposure pathways to the public during 1994 as a result of operations at the Hanford Site. Radiological and chemical contaminants entered the river along the Hanford Reach primarily through the seepage of contaminated ground water."
• "During 1994, samples were collected from seven Columbia River shoreline springs, contaminated as a result of past waste disposal practices at the Hanford Site. Contaminant concentrations in the springs were similar to those found in the ground water. All radionuclide concentrations measured in riverbank springs in 1994 were less than applicable DOE Derived Concentration Guides. However, strontium-90 in the 100-D and 100-H Areas, tritium in the 100-N Area and along the old Hanford Townsite, and total alpha in the 300 Area exceeded Washington State and federal Drinking Water Standards."
• "During 1994, approximately 800 Hanford Site wells were sampled to satisfy ground-water monitoring needs. ... Radiological monitoring results indicated that cesium-137, cobalt-60, iodine-129, strontium-90, technetium-99, total alpha, total beta, tritium, uranium, and plutonium concentrations were detected in levels greater than the Drinking Water Standard in one or more wells onsite."
• "Extensive tritium plumes extend from the 200-East and 200-West Areas into the 600 Area. The plume from the 200-East Area extends east and southeast, discharging to the Columbia River. This plume has impacted tritium concentrations in the 300 Area but at levels less than the Drinking Water Standard. The spread of this plume farther south than the 300 Area is restricted by the ground-water flow away from the Yakima River and the North Richland well field. Ground water with tritium at levels above the Drinking Water Standard also discharges to the Columbia River in the 100-N Area and immediate vicinity. A small but high concentration tritium plume near the 100-K East Reactor also may discharge to the river. Tritium at levels greater than the Drinking Water Standard was also found in the 100-D and 100-F Areas."
• "An extensive plume of carbon tetrachloride at levels greater than the Drinking Water Standard was found in ground water at the 200-West Area and extends into the 600 Area. This plume is associated with a less extensive plume of chloroform which may be a degradation product of the carbon tetrachloride. Maximum chloroform levels are also greater than its Drinking Water Standard."
• "Trichloroethylene was found at levels greater than the Drinking Water Standard in the 100-F Area and in the 600 Area to the west. Trichloroethylene was also detected at levels greater than the Drinking Water Standard in the 100-K and 200-West Areas. Trichloroethylene in the 300 Area was also measured at levels greater than the Drinking Water Standard."
• "A few wells [in the deeper confined aquifer] near source areas exhibited impacts of past site disposal practices."
• This report is available on the Internet at the Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Richland, Washington URL: http://www.pnl.gov/env/env_home.html

• "The purpose of this document ... to identify all injection wells on the Hanford Site. New injection wells will not be constructed on the Hanford Site except to receive uncontaminated stormwater or groundwater heatpump return flow." (abstract).

• "The overall goal of the privatization framework embodied in the RFP is to sharpen mission focus, improve performance, and save taxpayer dollars without, in any way, sacrificing the standards of radiological and industrial safety and environmental protection." (pg. 1).
• "Approximately 56 million gallons of waste containing approximately 240,000 metric tons of processed chemicals and 177 mega-curies of radionuclides are currently being stored in 177 tanks. These caustic wastes are in the form of liquids, slurries, saltcakes, and sludge. In 1991, the Tank Waste Remediation System (TWRS) Program was established to manage, retrieve, treat, immobilize, and dispose of these wastes in a safe, environmentally sound, and cost-effective manner." (pg. 2).
• "DOE's approach is to utilize, to the extent possible, established and functioning external regulatory authorities without requiring the contractor to go through DOE." (pg. 2).
• "...current uncertainties [include] with regard to waste characteristics, the effectiveness of [vendor] technology with Hanford waste, and the regulatory framework for protection of workers and the general public." (TWRS Privatization Background: http://twins.pnl.gov:8001/twrs_rfp/background.htm).
• "...the approach to privatization will be conducted in two phases. The first phase will be a Proof-of-Concept/Commercial Demonstration Phase. Based upon the feasibility study, the first phase would involve the pretreatment, low-level waste vitrification of approximately 6-13 percent of the waste over a five year period. ... The second phase will be the Full-Scale Production phase. Facilities will be sized so all of the remaining waste can be processed and immobilized on a schedule that will accommodate removing the waste in single-shell tanks by 2018." (TWRS Privatization Background: http://twins.pnl.gov:8001/twrs_rfp/background.htm).
• "Within this context, the Department pays for and will continue to pay for activities until the remediation process is complete, no matter how ineffectual the contractor is or how long it takes to complete the effort." (TWRS Privatization Background: http://twins.pnl.gov:8001/twrs_rfp/background.htm).
• The DOE Integrated Database Report for 1994 indicates the total on-site inventory of contained high-level waste is 348 megacuries. (pg. 15). The tank waste data is helpful in providing the information that 171 million curies of high-level waste is located somewhere on the Hanford Reservation other than in the 177 tanks now in the preliminary stages of remediation.

Woodruf, R.K., Hanf, R.W. and Lundgren, R.E. (1993). Hanford Site environmental report for calendar year 1992. PNL-8682. Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Richland, Washington.

Wurstner, S.K. and Freshley, M.D. (December 1994). Predicted impacts of future water level decline on monitoring wells using a ground-water model of the Hanford site. Report Number PNL-10196 UC-903. Prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy by Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Richland, Washington.

• "Since Hanford Site operations were curtailed in 1987, and the Site mission has shifted from the production of nuclear materials to environmental restoration, waste management, and technology development, the volume of water discharged to the ground has been greatly reduced. As a result, the water table has begun to decline, potentially impacting existing monitoring wells used by contractors on the Hanford Site."
• "Monthly effluent discharges from 1980 to 1992 were based on WHC effluent reports. Figure 2 shows the location of these discharge sites, and Figure 3 summarizes and compares the aggregate volumes in the 200 East, 200 West, 100-BC, and 100-N areas."
• This report is available on the Internet at the Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Richland, Washington URL: http://terrassa.pnl.gov:2080/~sig/reports/pnl-10196.html

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory Integrated Data Base reports the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory inventory of high-level waste as of Jan. 1, 1996 at 51,600,000 Ci. (Also see additional comments on missing U.S. military (DOE) high-level wastes in part 11 of this section; on site uncontained inventories of weapons production high-level waste and spent nuclear fuel are likely to be much higher than the amount noted in the ORNL data base.)

Environmental Science and Research Foundation. (August 1996). Idaho National Engineering Laboratory Site Environmental Report for Calendar Year 1995. Environmental Science and Research Foundation Report Series, Number 014 (ISSN 1089-5469). Environmental Science and Research Foundation, Idaho Falls, ID.

• Section 1.2 of this report lists INEL missions and facilities which include Argonne National Laboratory West which is the Integral Fast (breeder) Reactor (IFR) located at the University of Chicago. On site facilities include: Idaho Chemical Processing Plant (ICPP) (US Navy nuclear fuel storage facility); Test Area North (TAN) (former test site for nuclear powered airplanes; now houses TMI fuel rods); Test Reactor Area (TRA); Power Burst Facility (PBF) (low-level waste processing); Naval Reactors Facility (NRF); Radioactive Waste Management Complex (RWMC) (low-level waste and transuranic waste management); and a Central Facilities Area (CFA) (offices and laboratories).
• Nowhere in this report does it mention any facilities utilized for the storage of high-level waste; the INEL inventory as of December 31, 1994 is listed at 51.6 million curies in DOE's Integrated DataBase, pg. 15.
• This report includes a detailed description of the environmental restoration program without mentioning any specific locations of high-level waste, other than the dry rod consolidation project where radiation fields as high as 7,000 R/hr result from shearing fuel assembly skeletons now stored in TAN hot shop north silo (pg. 3-24).
• This report notes "the most economical option for dry storage of Three Mile Island spent fuel stored at the INEL was to build a new facility at ICPP ... currently only industrial and low-level radioactive wastes are being disposed at the INEL. Other waste types are being stored for eventual disposal at the site or elsewhere, or until treatment technologies are available" (pg. 3-25).
• Figure 4.16 illustrates average mesoscale dispersion isopleths of air concentrations at ground level normalized to unit release. This figure, which uses the MESODIF model (see pg. 4-40) illustrates significant releases from the TRA (test reactor area) and the ICPP, although a PhD in advanced mathematics would be useful in interpreting the data illustrated. Table 4.13 gives the radionuclide composition of airborne effluents, the principle sources of which are also the TRA and the ICPP. Total ¹³⁷Cs airborne emissions are listed as 3.0 x 10^-4curies; ²³⁹Pu airborne emissions as 1.6 x 10^-7 ci.
• Figure 4.17 (pg. 4-43) illustrates radionuclides contributing to maximum individual dose in 1995: ¹²⁹I, 59.7%; ⁴¹Ar, 38.6%; other, 1.7%.
• No specific mention is made of the locations of deep well injection sites for low-level waste, but Fig. 5.1 plus 5.2 (pg. 5-4,5) contain a detailed map of US geological survey well locations for monitoring the Snake River plain aquifer. No USGS data is printed in this report pertaining to these test wells. Figure 5.3 provides a description of the distribution of tritium in the Snake River plain aquifer; Fig. 5.4 of the distribution of ⁹⁰Sr (pg. 5-6,7).
• One of the more bizarre aspects of the INEL annual Site Environmental Report, as well as other National Laboratory reports, is the measurement of air concentrations of radioactive contaminants in millionths of curies per thousandths of liters. Traditionally air contamination has been measured in picocuries per cubic meter; the more up to date reporting units in use throughout European communities are microbecquerels per cubic meter. One milliliter equals one millionth of a cubic meter; use of this much smaller reporting unit makes it almost impossible to record small changes in air concentrations in contaminants deriving from source points at INEL or elsewhere which might be indicative of ongoing releases. The minimum detectable air concentration for gross beta analysis is listed at 5x10^-15µCi/ml; this data would be much easier to interpret if stated in microbecquerels / cubic meter, but ease of interpretation is the opposite of the goal of this and other site environmental reports.

• "Radiological environmental surveillance for 1995 found that most radioactivity from INEL operations could not be distinguished from worldwide weapons testing fallout and natural radioactivity" (pg. 17).
• A total of 1,380 curies of airborne radionuclides were released in 1995; 99% of which was short-lived and nonreactive gasses. Of 84 curies released to seepage ponds, 80 curies were from tritium. "All discharges directly into the Snake River plains aquifer ceased in 1984" (pg. 17).
• High volume air filters failed to detect any man-made radionuclides; low volume air filters detected 12 man-made radionuclides at 9 locations (pg. 18).
• Three on-site wells showed detectable concentrations of strontium; one food sample showed a trace of radioactive iodine; INEL cesium and cobalt contaminated soils resulted in slight contamination of prong-horned antelope and mule deer. Waterfowl continued to show INEL derived cesium contamination, but at much lower levels than documented in earlier reports (pg. 20-22).
• This report makes the following observation "most concentrations represented background radiation the source of which is natural processes in world wide fallout" (pg. 22), another reminder that background radiation now includes weapons derived and Chernobyl derived fallout.
• Neither this nor the previous site environmental report contains any detailed listing of nuclide specific or media specific data which would enable the reader to better understand the INEL source points which might contribute to the presence of anthropogenic radioactivity near this facility. No mention is made of the cumulative fallout record of strontium, cesium, or plutonium, nor is any necessary since the overall environmental monitoring report is not detailed enough to differentiate the source points of these radionuclides, nor to confirm the report observations that most contamination does not derive from INEL operations.

Halford, D.K. et al. (February 1981). Radionuclide Concentrations in Waterfowl using a Liquid Radioactive Disposal Area and the Potential Radiation Dose to Man. Health Physics. 40. p. 173-181.
 

Unknown, before 1980	Idaho National Engineering Laboratory	Waterfowl	137Cs	5,400,000 pCi/kg (200,000 Bq/kg fresh weight)
Unknown, before 1980	Idaho National Engineering Laboratory	Waterfowl	51Cr	1,300,000,000 pCi/kg fresh weight (4,816,000 Bq/kg)

• These are the highest levels ever recorded in unclassified literature for contamination of waterfowl within the U.S.A. Prior to capture, these waterfowl had been feeding in the high-level waste effluent percolation ponds located in the Test Reactor Area at the INEL.
• Deconstruction and deactivation of components of this Test Reactor Area were begun in June of 1995 (see INEL Site Environmental Report for Calendar Year 1995 referenced below, page 3-14.) The TRA ponds are the probable locations of significant discharges of uncontained high-level wastes during the early years of the operation of this facility.

Gallegos, G. (1995). Surveillance monitoring of soils for radioactivity: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory 1976 to 1992. Health Physics. 69(4). pg. 487-493.

• "^239+240Pu data for locations downwind from the Livermore site were found to be statistically significantly higher than for upwind locations." (pg. 487).

• "In the event of a radiological accident that leads to implementation of the FRERP [U.S. Federal Radiological Emergency Response Plan], DOE is responsible for activating the Federal Radiological Monitoring and Assessment Program (FRMAP). ARAC [Atmospheric Release Advisory Capability] is the modeling o...mulation capability that would provide the FRMAP with initial consequence assessments and visual depictions of an accident's impact. From first alert until full staffing and activation of the Federal Radiological Monitoring and Assessment Center (FRMAC), ARAC's calculations would be a primary source of consequence estimation. Once the FRMAC measurement and monitoring systems are activated (18-24 hours), the ARAC calculations begin to transition over to roles such as (1) a reference for measurement data consistency checks, (2) source term derivation (if unknown) from measurements and model simulations, (3) material mass budget reconciliations, and (4) long range consequence, detectability, and ultimate fate in the environment." (pg. 1).

This 43 square mile national laboratory was established in 1943 to design develop and test nuclear weapons. The BEMR report (1996) cited at the beginning of this part of RADNET section 11 notes "an important function of the laboratory has been processing plutonium metal and alloys from nitrates solution feedstock provided by other production facilities ... 1945 - 1978. Other operations included reprocessing nuclear fuel, processing polonium and actinium, and producing nuclear weapons components" (BEMR vol. 3, pg. New Mexico 26). "A major source of environmental contamination was waste being discharged into the environment or buried in material disposal areas ... residual contamination may exist in more than 7 million cubic meters, primarily soils and sediments ... in approximately 2100 potential release sites" (BEMR vol. 3, pg. New Mexico 27). The BEMR report divides major environmental restoration activities into six field units, with a detailed description of restoration activities in each unit. Total life cycle cost estimates for this location are $623,650,000. Excellent maps are included in the BEMR summary.

Graf, William L., (1994). Plutonium and the Rio Grande: Environmental Change and Contamination in the Nuclear Age. Oxford University Press, New York, Oxford.

• An excellent bioregional survey of the plutonium inventory of sediments in the northern Rio Grande system, with a central focus on the mass budgets of surface water and plutonium bearing river sediments.
• Two primary source points of plutonium are considered in this study: the Los Alamos National Laboratory, and the nearby (upwind) Nevada Test Site.
• "between 1945 and 1952 LANL handled large amounts of plutonium as part of the Manhattan project ... during this time the laboratory emptied untreated plutonium waste into the alluvium of Los Alamos Canyon. After 1952, the laboratory released relatively small amounts of treated plutonium waste ... the plutonium was absorbed onto sedimentary particles ... the fate of those sediments is also the fate of the plutonium" (pg. 3).
• "Acid sewers, consisting mostly of buried pipes with some links above ground, carried the untreated liquid across the mesa top at Los Alamos through a main line that ended on the north edge of Acid Canyon ... a short distance down stream it joins Pueblo Canyon ... to Los Alamos Canyon, which leads to the Rio Grande." (pg. 113).
• 1943 - 1950 releases are possibly as high as 3,000 mCi (Lane, 1985) ... Graf uses a minimum estimate of 150 mCi distributed at an average rate of 25 mCi/year .... "If the empirical data that Lane used are correct, the rate could have been 3 to 30 times higher than this minimum value" (pg. 123, 124).
• Table 7.2 (pg. 125) summarizes Graf's release estimates; the text itself provides a detailed history of LANL facility activities and waste processing treatment.
• Contribution of Los Alamos' LANL to the annual plutonium flux in the entire system is estimated at 9%. (pg. 149). "90% of the plutonium released at Los Alamos is still in the tributary canyon." (pg. 150). "The canyon will contribute plutonium from Los Alamos for another 100 to 600 years depending on the magnitude of the original inventory." (pg. 240).
• A definitive study of the relationship between plutonium transport and geological processes, this excellent study provides a preliminary glimpse of Los Alamos as a source point of anthropogenic radioactivity.
• The comprehensive bibliography includes many interesting Los Alamos related environmental surveys as well as the most important of thousands of studies of plutonium and its behavior in the environment.
• Hopefully the typographical error on page 30 (one picocurie is not equal to 2.2 disintegrations per second) is not replicated in the very liberal (i.e. low) estimates of LANL discharges in the early years of its operation. Exactly 25 mCi/year 1945-1950?? And what other radionuclides accompanied the discharge of plutonium at this location?

• "The RLWTF is 30 years old and nearing the end of its useful design life. The facility was designed at a time when environmental requirements, as well as more effective treatment technologies, were not inherent in engineering design criteria. The evolution of engineering design criteria has resulted in the older technology becoming less effective in treating radioactive liquid wastestreams in accordance with current National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) and Department of Energy (DOE) regulatory requirements. Therefore, ... LANL is in need of capabilities to efficiently treat radioactive liquid waste onsite or to transport the waste off site for treatment and/or disposal." (abstract summary).

Hanson, W.C. (1975). Ecological considerations of the behavior of plutonium in the environment. Health Physics, 28, 529-537.

• "At Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory... three different canyons have received Pu effluents at different time periods, providing study areas of various "environmental ages" of Pu up to 30 yr." (p.533)
• "The chronic input of low-level radioactive liquid effluent into one of the canyons (Mortandad) over the past 10 yr has resulted in ²³⁸Pu and ²³⁹Pu concentrations in alluvial soils that are 2-3 orders of magnitude higher than background samples and about 1000 times the concentration in the discharge water." (p.533)
• "Los Alamos Canyon, with the largest watershed of the three, essentially "flushes" along its length each year. This apparently accounts for Pu transport throughout its length to the Rio Grande River." (p. 533)
• "Resuspension of Pu into the air mass above contaminated soil occurs over a highly variable range of 10-2 to 10-11m-1..." (p. 529)

Nyhan, J.W., Drennon, B.J., Abeele, W.V., Wheeler, M.L., Purtymun, W.D., Trujillo, G., Herrera, W.J., and Booth, J.W. (1985). Distribution of Plutonium and Americium Beneath a 33-Year-Old Liquid Waste Disposal Site. Journal of Environmental Quality. vol. 14. pg. 501-9.

Purtymun, W.D., Johnson, G.L., and John, E.C. (1966). Distribution of Radioactivity in the Alluvium of a Disposal Area at Los Alamos, New Mexico. U. S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 550-D. U. S. Geological Survey, Washington, D.C.

Purtymun, W.D. (1971). Plutonium in Stream Channel Alluvium in the Los Alamos Area, New Mexico. (USAEC Report No. LA-4561). Los Alamos, NM: Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory.

Purtymun, W.D. (1974). Storm Runoff and Transport of Radionuclides in DP Canyon, Los Alamos County, New Mexico. Los Alamos National Laboratory Report LA-5744. Los Alamos National Laboratory. Los Alamos, N.M.

Purtymun, W.D., Peters, R.J., Buhl, T.E., Maes, M.N., and Brown, F.H. (1987). Background concentrations of Radionuclides in Soils and River Sediments in Northern New Mexico, 1974-1986. Los Alamos National Laboratory Report LA-11134-MS, UC-11. Los Alamos National Laboratory. Los Alamos, N.M.

Purtymun, W.D., Peters, R.J., and Maes, M.N. (1990). Transport of Plutonium in Snowmelt Runoff. Los Alamos National Laboratory Report LA-11795-MS, UC-902. Los Alamos National Laboratory. Los Alamos, N.M.

Shroyer, J.A. (1998). Peering into Los Alamos; Secret Mesa:  Inside Los Alamos National Laboratory. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, NY.

Stoker, A., Ahlquist, A.J., Mayfield, D.L., Hanson, W.R., Talley, A.D., and Purtymun, W.D. (1981). Radiological Survey of the Site of a Former Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Plant (TA-45) and the Effluent Receiving Areas of Acid, Pueblo, and Los Alamos Canyons, Los Alamos, New Mexico. Los Alamos National Laboratory and U.S. Department of Energy Report LA-8890-ENV, UC-70. Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, N.M.