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This report describes the calendar year 1999 compliance monitoring and environmental surveillance activities of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory management and operating contractor Environmental Monitoring Program. This report includes results of sampling performed by the Drinking Water, Effluent, Storm Water, Groundwater Monitoring, and Environmental Surveillance Programs. This report compares the 1999 results to program-specific regulatory guidelines and past data to evaluate trends. The primary purposes of the monitoring and surveillance activities are to evaluate environmental conditions, to provide and interpret data, to verify compliance with applicable regulations or standards, and to ensure protection of public health and the environment. Surveillance of environmental media did not identify any previously unknown environmental problems or trends, which would indicate a loss of control or unplanned releases from facility operations. The Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory complied with permits and applicable regulations, with the expectation of nitrogen in two disposal pond effluent streams iron and total coliform bacteria in groundwater downgradient from one disposal well, and coliform bacteria in drinking water systems at two facilities. Maintenance activities were performed on the two drinking water systems and tested prior to putting back into service. The monitoring and surveillance results demonstrate that the …

Throughout the scientific community, Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) is renowned for its leading-edge research in physics, medicine, chemistry, biology, materials, and the environment. BNL is committed to supporting its world-class scientific research with an internationally recognized environmental protection program. The 1999 Site Environmental Report (SER) summarizes the status of the Laboratory's environmental programs and performance, including the steady progress towards cleaning up the site and fully integrating environmental stewardship into all facets of the Laboratory's mission. BNL is located on 5,265 acres of pine barrens in Suffolk County in the center of Long Island, New York. The Laboratory is situated above a sole source aquifer at the headwaters of the Peconic River; therefore, protecting ground and surface water quality is a special concern. Approximately 3,600 acres of the site are undeveloped and serve as habitat for a wide variety of animals and plants, including one New York State endangered species, the tiger salamander, and two New York State threatened species, the banded sunfish and the stiff goldenrod. Monitoring, preserving, and restoring these ecological resources is a high priority for the Laboratory.

The Site Environmental Report for Brookhaven National Laboratory for the calendar year 1999, as required by DOE Order 231.1.

Measurements of partial {sup 235}U(n,2n{gamma}) {gamma}-ray cross sections have been carried out as a function of incident neutron energy using the GEANIE spectrometer at LANSCE/WNR. The yields of {gamma} rays resulting from the population of discrete levels in the residual nucleus {sup 234}U have been measured at incident neutron energies in the 1-20-MeV range. These data provide, with the aid of nuclear reaction modeling, a measurement of the {sup 235}U(n,2n) reaction cross section and serve as a proof of principle of the y-ray technique for the parallel 23gPu(n,2n) measurement [l]. This paper presents the analysis of the {gamma}-ray data and the extraction of partial {gamma}-ray cross sections as a function of incident neutron energy. Uncertainties associated with the spectroscopic analysis of the data and validation of the results are discussed in detail.

This report presents the latest {sup 239}Pu(n,2n){sup 238}Pu cross sections inferred from calculations performed with the nuclear reaction-modeling code system, IDA, coupled with experimental measurements of partial {gamma}-ray cross sections for incident neutron energies ranging from 5.68 to 17.18 MeV. It is found that the inferred {sup 239}Pu(n,2n){sup 238}Pu cross section peaks at E{sub inc} {approx} 11.4 MeV with a peak value of approximately 326 mb. At E{sub inc} {approx} 14 MeV, the inferred {sup 239}Pu(n,2n){sup 238}Pu cross section is found to be in good agreement with previous radio-chemical measurements by Lockheed. However, the shape of the inferred {sup 239}Pu(n,2n){sup 238}Pu cross section differs significantly from previous evaluations of ENDL, ENDF/B-V and ENDF/B-VI. In our calculations, direct, preequilibrium, and compound reactions are included. Also considered in the modeling are fission and {gamma}-cascade processes in addition to particle emission. The main components of physics adopted and the parameters used in our calculations are discussed. Good agreement of the inferred {sup 239}Pu(n,2n){sup 238}Pu cross sections derived separately from IDA and GNASH calculations is shown. The two inferences provide an estimate of variations in the deduced {sup 239}Pu(n,2n){sup 238}Pu cross section originating from modeling.

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An XRF specimen preparation method was developed to quantify the concentration of gallium in plutonium metal while minimizing the risk of contaminating the instrument with radioactive material. To ensure that homogeneous specimens are examined, plutonium is dissolved in dilute HCl and HNO{sub 3} prior to analysis. In the preliminary work here, non-radioactive aqueous gallium standards were prepared, and zinc was added as an internal standard to improve the accuracy and precision. Aliquots from these solutions were cast on Mylar XRF films and air dried prior to analysis. Two methods of casting the solutions were evaluated: (1) casting as a thin layer using a surfactant to wet the support film and (2) casting multiple small spots on the support film. Aqueous gallium standards were prepared and cast as dried residue specimens using each method. These specimens were then analyzed, and calibration curves were prepared. Highly linear calibrations were obtained for each preparation method when zinc was used as the internal standard (RMS values {le}1% of the standards concentration range in both cases). Based on this preliminary work, this dried residue process appears very promising for the accurate quantification of gallium in plutonium.

Gamma-ray spectroscopy is an important technique for the measurement of quantities of nuclear material holdup in processing equipment. Because the equipment in large facilities dedicated to uranium isotopic enrichment, uranium/plutonium scrap recovery or various stages of fuel fabrication is extensive, the total holdup may be large by its distribution alone, even if deposit thicknesses are small. Good accountability practices require unbiased measurements with uncertainties that are as small as possible. This paper describes new procedures for use with traditional holdup analysis methods based on gamma-ray spectroscopy. The procedures address the two sources of bias inherent in traditional gamma-ray measurements of holdup. Holdup measurements are performed with collimated, shielded gamma-ray detectors. The measurement distance is chosen to simplify the deposit geometry to that of a point, line or area. The quantitative holdup result is based on the net count rate of a representative gamma ray. This rate is corrected for contributions from room background and for attenuation by the process equipment. Traditional holdup measurements assume that the width of the point or line deposit is very small compared to the measurement distance, and that the self-attenuation effects can be neglected. Because each point or line deposit has a finite width and …

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The U.S. Department of Energy and ADA Environmental Solutions have begun a project to develop commercial flue gas conditioning additives. The objective is to develop conditioning agents that can help improve particulate control performance of smaller or under-sized electrostatic precipitators on utility coal-fired boilers. The new chemicals will be used to control both the electrical resistivity and the adhesion or cohesivity of the flyash. There is a need to provide cost-effective and safer alternatives to traditional flue gas conditioning with SO{sub 3} and ammonia. During the second reporting quarter for this project, design and development is continuing on an electrostatic tensiometer to measure cohesion of flyash layers. A dedicated test fixture to automate flyash electrical resistivity testing is also underway. Ancillary instrumentation to control gas humidification within these test fixtures is also under construction.

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Using existing experimental data for neutron-induced total, elastic, inelastic, reaction and fission cross sections, as well as results from nuclear model calculations and evaluations from nuclear reaction data libraries, we derived an estimate for the cross sections for the {sup 235}U(n,2n) and {sup 239}Pu(n,2n) reactions for the neutron energy range from threshold to approximately 12 MeV. In effect, our approach is based on subtracting the fission and inelastic cross sections from the total reaction cross section where the difference is expected to yield the (n,2n) cross section. In addition to this subtraction approach, a ratio method and a differential method have also been explored. For {sup 235}U(n,2n), as a test case, we arrive at a cross section consistent with previous measurements, and for {sup 239}Pu(n,2n) we obtain a peak value of 400 {+-} 60 mb for the incident neutron energy range of 10 {le} E{sub n} {le} 12 MeV.

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This Annual Report summarizes and highlights waste generation, waste reduction, pollution prevention accomplishments, and cost avoidance for 44 U.S. Department of Energy reporting sites for Calendar Year 1999. This section summarizes Calendar Year 1999 Complex-wide waste generation and pollution prevention accomplishments.

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Area 2 Bitcutter and Post-Shot Containment Shop Injection Wells Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 90 Post-Closure Monitoring requirements are described in section V.B.8.b of the Nevada Test Site Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Permit for a Hazardous Waste Management Facility No. NEV HW009, modified May 31, 1997, Revision 3. Post-closure care consists of the following: Semiannual inspections of the unit using an inspection checklist; Photographic documentation; Field note documentation; and Preparation and submittal of an annual report. The report includes copies of the inspection checklist, photographs, and recommendations and conclusions. The Post-Closure Inspection Checklists are found in Attachment A, a copy of the field notes is found in Attachment B, and a copy of the inspection photographs is found in Attachment C.

The collection of programs broadly termed Transparency Initiatives frequently involves physics measurements that are applied to items with sensitive or classified properties. The inability or reluctance to perform quantitative measurements, in the safeguards tradition, to such items, and then to expose the results to international examination, has impelled development of an attributes approach to measurements, following the philosophy if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, call it a duck, This approach avoids certain of the classification issues that would otherwise be associated with such measurements. Use of the attributes approach, however, continues to pose problems of interpretation, in light of the need to establish numerical thresholds whereby data obtained from the measurements can be evaluated to determine whether the attribute is present. In this paper we examine the foundations of the attributes approach and the steps used to determine appropriate attributes and thresholds, using examples from contemporary threat-reduction initiatives where possible. Implications for the detector technologies used in the measurements will be discussed, as will the characteristics of so-called information barriers intended to prevent inadvertent release of sensitive information during attributes measurements.

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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), is sponsoring research in advanced methods for controlling contaminants in hot coal gasifier gas (coal-derived fuel-gas) streams of integrated gasification combined-cycle (IGCC) power systems. The hot gas cleanup work seeks to eliminate the need for expensive heat recovery equipment, reduce efficiency losses due to quenching, and minimize wastewater treatment costs. Hot-gas desulfurization research has focused on regenerable mixed-metal oxide sorbents that can reduce the sulfur in coal-derived fuel-gas to less than 20 ppmv and can be regenerated in a cyclic manner with air for multicycle operation. Zinc titanate (Zn{sub 2}TiO{sub 4} or ZnTiO{sub 3}), formed by a solid-state reaction of zinc oxide (ZnO) and titanium dioxide (TiO{sub 2}), is currently one of the leading sorbents. Overall chemical reactions with Zn{sub 2}TiO{sub 4} during the desulfurization (sulfidation)-regeneration cycle are shown. The sulfidation/regeneration cycle can be carried out in a fixed-bed, moving-bed, or fluidized-bed reactor configuration. The fluidized-bed reactor configuration is most attractive because of several potential advantages including faster kinetics and the ability to handle the highly exothermic regeneration to produce a regeneration offgas containing a constant concentration of SO{sub 2}.

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This report covers our technical progress on fuel processing catalyst characterization for the specific purpose of hydrogen production for proton-exchange-membrane (PEM) fuel cells. These development efforts support DOE activities in the development of compact, transient capable reformers for on-board hydrogen generation starting from candidate fuels. The long-term objective includes increased durability and lifetime, in addition to smaller volume, improved performance, and other specifications required meeting fuel processor goals. The technical barriers of compact fuel processor size, transient capability, and compact, efficient thermal management all are functions of catalyst performance. Significantly, work at LANL now tests large-scale fuel processors for performance and durability, as influenced by fuels and fuel constituents, and complements that testing with micro-scale catalyst evaluation which is accomplished under well controlled conditions.