The LANL Environmental Restoration (ER) Program Office, established in October 1989, is faced with the challenge of assessing and cleaning up nearly 1,8000 potentially hazardous waste sites according to an aggressive corrective action schedule that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mandated on May 23, 1990, in a Resource, Conservation, and Recovery Act (RCRA) Part B Permit. To maximize program efficiency, the ER Program Office will implement a unique management approach designed to maximize the use of laboratory technical expertise. The Installation Work Plan, which provides a blueprint for the program, has been submitted to EPA for review and approval. A work plan for characterization of Technical Area 21, an early plutonium processing facility, is also nearing completion. The feasibility of an expedited cleanup of the Laboratory's worst hazardous waste release has been modelled using a computer code originally developed by LANL to assist the nuclear weapons testing program. A sophisticated Geographic Information System has been implemented to assist in data management and presentation, and the design of a Mixed Waste Disposal Facility is underway. 6 refs., 2 figs.

Environmental restoration (ER) projects have presented the DOE and cost estimators with a number of properties that are not comparable to the normal estimating climate within DOE. These properties include: An entirely new set of specialized expressions and terminology. A higher than normal exposure to cost and schedule risk, as compared to most other DOE projects, due to changing regulations, public involvement, resource shortages, and scope of work. A higher than normal percentage of indirect costs to the total estimated cost due primarily to record keeping, special training, liability, and indemnification. More than one estimate for a project, particularly in the assessment phase, in order to provide input into the evaluation of alternatives for the cleanup action. While some aspects of existing guidance for cost estimators will be applicable to environmental restoration projects, some components of the present guidelines will have to be modified to reflect the unique elements of these projects. The purpose of this Handbook is to assist cost estimators in the preparation of environmental restoration estimates for Environmental Restoration and Waste Management (EM) projects undertaken by DOE. The DOE has, in recent years, seen a significant increase in the number, size, and frequency of environmental restoration projects …

This report presents the results of a study of a new circulator test facility for the New Production Reactor Modular High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor. The report addresses the preconceptual design of a stand-alone test facility with all the required equipment to test the Main Circulator/shutoff valve and Shutdown Cooling Circulator/shutoff valve. Each type of circulator will be tested in its own full flow, full power helium test loop. Testing will cover the entire operating range of each unit. The loop will include a test vessel, in which the circulator/valve will be mounted, and external piping. The external flow piping will include a throttle valve, flowmeter, and heat exchanger. Subsystems will include helium handling, helium purification, and cooling water. A computer-based data acquisition and control system will be provided. The estimated costs for the design and construction of this facility are included. 2 refs., 15 figs.

This report discusses the following topics on the advanced neutron source: quality assurance (QA) program; reactor core development; fuel element specification; corrosion loop tests and analyses; thermal-hydraulic loop tests; reactor control concepts; critical and subcritical experiments; material data, structural tests, and analysis; cold source development; beam tube, guide, and instrument development; hot source development; neutron transport and shielding; I C research and development; facility concepts; design; and safety.

This report documents the results of the US Department of Energy's (DOE's) Environmental Audit conducted by the DOE Headquarters Office of Environmental Audit within the Bonneville Power Administration's (BPA's) Lower Columbia Area. The BPA facilities included in the Audit are the Ross Complex in Vancouver, Washington; the substations of North Bonneville, North Bonneville Annex, Camas, and Longview within the state of Washington; and the Acton and Troutdale Substations within the state of Oregon. The independent Audit was conducted by a team of professionals from DOE and contractors. The purpose of the Audit is to provide the Secretary of Energy, Admiral James D. Watkins, Ret., with the status of environmental programs within BPA's Lower Columbia Area. The Environmental Audit team identified 25 findings dealing with the lack of conformance with federal and state laws and regulations and DOE Orders, and 7 findings in which BMPs were not attained. Although all findings require corrective action, none required cessation of operations or reflect situations that present an immediate risk to public health or the environment. The Audit team noted inadequacies in PCB management included storage, labeling, reporting, and spill control. The most significant causal factors for the findings include lack of policy implementation …

Scientific and public interest in greenhouse gases, climate warming, and global change virtually exploded in 1988. The Department's focused research on atmospheric CO{sub 2} contributed sound and timely scientific information to the many questions produced by the groundswell of interest and concern. Research projects summarized in this document provided the data base that made timely responses possible, and the contributions from participating scientists are genuinely appreciated. In the past year, the core CO{sub 2} research has continued to improve the scientific knowledge needed to project future atmospheric CO{sub 2} concentrations, to estimate climate sensitivity, and to assess the responses of vegetation to rising concentrations of CO{sub 2} and to climate change. The Carbon Dioxide Research Program's goal is to develop sound scientific information for policy formulation and governmental action in response to changes of atmospheric CO{sub 2}. The Program Summary describes projects funded by the Carbon Dioxide Research Program during FY 1990 and gives a brief overview of objectives, organization, and accomplishments.

This two-volume report, the Oak Ridge Reservation Environmental Report for 1989, is the nineteenth in an annual series that began in 1971. It reports the results of a comprehensive, year-round program to monitor the impact of operations at the three major US Department of Energy (DOE) production and research installations in Oak Ridge on the immediate areas' and surrounding region's groundwater and surface waters, soil, air quality, vegetation and wildlife, and through these multiple and varied pathways, the resident human population. Information is presented for the environmental monitoring Quality Assurance (QA) Program, audits and reviews, waste management activities, land special environmental studies. Data are included for the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), and Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant (ORGDP). Volume 1 presents narratives, summaries, and conclusions based on environmental monitoring at the three DOE installations and in the surrounding environs during calendar year (CY) 1989. Volume 1 is intended to be a stand-alone'' report about the Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) for the reader who does not want an in-depth review of 1989 data. Volume 2 presents the detailed data from which these conclusions have been drawn and should be used in conjunction with Volume 1.