This 1997 special sampling project represents a special radiobiological sampling effort to augment the 1996 Long-Term Hydrological Monitoring Program (LTHMP) for Amchitka Island in Alaska. Lying in the western portion of the Aleutian Islands arc, near the International Date Line, Amchitka Island is one of the southernmost islands of the Rat Island Chain. Between 1965 and 1971, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission conducted three underground nuclear tests on Amchitka Island. In 1996, Greenpeace collected biota samples and speculated that several long-lived, man-made radionuclides detected (i.e., americium-241, plutonium-239 and -240, beryllium-7, and cesium-137) leaked into the surface environment from underground cavities created during the testing. The nuclides of interest are detected at extremely low concentrations throughout the environment. The objectives of this special sampling project were to scientifically refute the Greenpeace conclusions that the underground cavities were leaking contaminants to the surface. This was achieved by first confirming the presence of these radionuclides in the Amchitka Island surface environment and, second, if the radionuclides were present, determining if the source is the underground cavity or worldwide fallout. This special sampling and analysis determined that the only nonfallout-related radionuclide detected was a low level of tritium from the Long Shot test, which …

This annual report describes selected 1999 research accomplishments for the Environmental Dynamics and Simulation (ED and S) directorate, one of six research organizations in the William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL). These accomplishments are representative of the different lines of research underway in the ED and S directorate. EMSL is one of US Department of Energy's (DOE) national scientific user facilities and is the centerpiece of DOE's commitment to providing world-class experimental, theoretical, and computational capabilities for solving the nation's environmental problems. Capabilities in the EMSL include over 100 major instrument systems for use by the resident research staff, their collaborators, and users of the EMSL. These capabilities are used to address the fundamental science that will be the basis for finding solutions to national environmental issues such as cleaning up contamianted areas at DOE sites across the country and developing green technologies that will reduce or eliminate future pollution production. The capabilities are also used to further the understanding of global climate change and environmental issues relevant to energy production and use and health effects resulting from exposure to contaminated environments.

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the effectiveness of screening checkpoints at airports, focusing on the: (1) causes of screeners' problems in detecting dangerous objects and the efforts of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to address these problems; and (2) screening practices of selected foreign countries and the potential for using these practices to help improve screeners' performance in the United States."

The purpose of this calculation is to provide a bounding estimate of how thermal-hydrological-mechanical (THM) behavior of rock in the region surrounding an emplacement drift in a Monitored Geologic Repository subsurface facility may affect the permeability of fractures in the rock mass forming the region. The bounding estimate will provide essential input to performance assessment analysis of the potential repository system. This calculation also supports the Near Field Environment Process Model Report (NFE PMR) and will contribute to Site Recommendation. The geologic unit being considered as a potential repository horizon at Yucca Mountain, Nevada lies within a fractured, densely welded ash-flow tuff located in the Topopah Spring Tuff member of the Paintbrush Group. Fractures form the primary conduits for fluid flow in the rock mass. Considerable analysis has been performed to characterize the thermal-hydrologic (TH) behavior of this rock unit (e.g., CRWMS M&O 2000a, pp. 83-87), and recently the dual permeability model (DKM) has proved to be an effective tool for predicting TH behavior (CRWMS M&O 2000a). The DKM uses fracture permeability as a primary input parameter, and it is well known that fracture permeability is strongly dependent on fracture deformation (Brown. 1995). Consequently, one major unknown is how deformation …

The Carrier Preparation Building Materials Handling System receives rail and truck shipping casks from the Carrier/Cask Transport System, and inspects and prepares the shipping casks for return to the Carrier/Cask Transport System. Carrier preparation operations for carriers/casks received at the surface repository include performing a radiation survey of the carrier and cask, removing/retracting the personnel barrier, measuring the cask temperature, removing/retracting the impact limiters, removing the cask tie-downs (if any), and installing the cask trunnions (if any). The shipping operations for carriers/casks leaving the surface repository include removing the cask trunnions (if any), installing the cask tie-downs (if any), installing the impact limiters, performing a radiation survey of the cask, and installing the personnel barrier. There are four parallel carrier/cask preparation lines installed in the Carrier Preparation Building with two preparation bays in each line, each of which can accommodate carrier/cask shipping and receiving. The lines are operated concurrently to handle the waste shipping throughputs and to allow system maintenance operations. One remotely operated overhead bridge crane and one remotely operated manipulator is provided for each pair of carrier/cask preparation lines servicing four preparation bays. Remotely operated support equipment includes a manipulator and tooling and fixtures for removing and installing …

This document will develop a radionuclide distribution for the sludge fraction of sludge-contaminated waste stored in High Level Waste Tanks 40, 42 and 51 in accordance with the methodology outlined in WAC 2.02 (Rev. 4). A single, comprehensive characterization for supernate has been developed previously (Reference 5). This distribution is based on the assumption that sludge-contaminated waste from tanks 40, 42 and 51 may be co-mingled, and the actual contamination present on waste in a series of containers from these tanks will be representative of the mean radionuclide distribution. This document also describes the methodology for application of radionuclide distributions representative of the sludge and supernate fractions of sludge-contaminated waste to individual waste packages.

Among the civil service retirement issues addressed in bills introduced thus far in the 106th Congress are the correction of retirement coverage errors for federal employees assigned to the wrong retirement system; immediate eligibility for federal employees to participate in the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP); improved portability of pension benefits; and repeal of the temporary increase in employee retirement contributions that was mandated by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. Other bills would expand TSP eligibility to include members of the armed services; improve pension coverage for temporary and part-time federal employees; and designate several categories of federal employees as law enforcement officers for purposes of determining their retirement benefits.

This report describes the control decisions for flammable gas hazards in double-contained receiver tanks (DCRTs) made at control decision meetings on November 16, 17, and 18, 1999, on April 19,2000, and on May 10,2000, and their basis. These control decisions, and the analyses that support them, will be documented in an amendment to the Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR) (CHG 2000a) and Technical Safety Requirements (TSR) (CHG 2000b) to close the Flammable Gas Unreviewed Safety Question (USQ) (Bacon 1996 and Wagoner 1996) for DCRTs. Following the contractor Tier I review of the FSAR and TSR amendment, it will be submitted to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of River Protection (ORP) for review and approval.

This report describes the control decisions for flammable gas hazards in waste transfer systems (i.e., waste transfer piping and waste transfer-associated structures) made at control decision meetings on November 30, 1999a and April 19, 2000, and their basis. These control decisions, and the analyses that support them, will be documented in an amendment to the Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR) (CHG 2000a) and Technical Safety Requirements (TSR) (CHG 2000b) to close the Flammable Gas Unreviewed Safety Question (USQ) (Bacon 1996 and Wagoner 1996). Following the Contractor Tier I review of the FSAR and TSR amendment, it will be submitted to the US. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of River Protection (ORP) for review and approval. The control decision meeting on November 30, 1999 to address flammable gas hazards in waste transfer systems followed the control decision process and the criteria for control decisions described in Section 3.3.1.5 of the FSAR. The control decision meeting agenda, attendance list, and introductory and background presentations are included in Attachments 1 through 4. The control decision discussions on existing and other possible controls for flammable gas hazards in waste transfer systems and the basis for selecting or not selecting specific controls are summarized in …

The main purpose of this document is to describe the thermal energy balance used in the USNT module of the NUFT code (Nitao, 1998) and its derivation. We also address several specific issues that have arisen within the Yucca Mountain Project.

Battelle received five samples from Hanford waste tank 241-AP-101, taken at five different depths within the tank. No visible solids or organic layer were observed in the individual samples. Individual sample densities were measured, then the five samples were mixed together to provide a single composite. The composite was homogenized and representative sub-samples taken for inorganic, radioisotopic, and organic analysis. All analyses were performed on triplicate sub-samples of the composite material. The sample composite did not contain visible solids or an organic layer. A subsample held at 10 C for seven days formed no visible solids. The characterization of the 241-AP-101 composite samples included: (1) Inductively-coupled plasma spectrometry for Ag, Al, Ba, Bi, Ca, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, La, Mg, Mn, Na, Nd, Ni, P, Pb, Pd, Ru, Rh, Si, Sr, Ti, U, Zn, and Zr (Note: Although not specified in the test plan, As, B, Be, Co, Li, Mo, Sb, Se, Sn, Tl, V, W, and Y were also measured and reported for information only) (2) Radioisotopic analyses for total alpha and total beta activities, {sup 3}H, {sup 14}C, {sup 60}Co, {sup 79}Se, {sup 90}Sr, {sup 99}Tc as pertechnetate, {sup 106}Ru/Rh, {sup 125}Sb, {sup 134}Cs, {sup 137}Cs, {sup …

This report provides background information regarding the especially high gasoline prices in the upper Midwest during the late spring and early summer of 2000. While the Federal Trade Commission is investigating the possibility of collusion, several identifiable factors have contributed to this localized situation. Contributors to the higher prices appear to be problems at two pipelines supplying the area with gasoline, the use of ethanol-only reformulated gasoline in Chicago and Milwaukee, and the high price and low supply of crude oil. The crude oil situation has uniform nationwide impact. Wholesale prices in the Chicago spot market began to decline during the week of June 19 and have fallen by 40 cents per gallon at this writing. This report will be updated as events warrant

The scope of this analysis will be to develop the conceptual design of the closure seals and their locations in the Subsurface Facilities. The design will be based on the recently established program requirements for transitioning to the Site Recommendation (SR) design as outlined by ''Approach to Implementing the Site Recommendation Baseline'' (Stroupe 2000) and the ''Monitored Geologic Repository Project Description Document'' (CRWMS M&O 1999b). The objective of this analysis will be to assist in providing a description for the Subsurface Facilities System Description Document, Section 2 and finally to document any conclusions reached in order to contribute and provide support to the SR. This analysis is at a conceptual level and is considered adequate to support the SR design. The final closure barriers and seals for the ventilation shafts, and the north and south ramps will require these openings to be permanently sealed to limit excessive air and water inflows and prevent human intrusion. The major tasks identified with closure in this analysis are: (1) Developing the overall subsurface seal layout and identifying design and operational interfaces for the Subsurface Facilities. (2) Summarizing the general site conditions and general rock characteristic with respect to seal location and describing the …

This interim report summarizes the results of toxicity tests, Toxicity Identification Evaluations, and chemical analyses that have been conducted on SRS's NPDES Outfall X-08 and its contributing waste streams between November 1999 and June 2000.

The purpose of this analysis is to develop a Subsurface Facility layout that is capable of accommodating the statutory capacity of 70,000 metric tons of uranium (MTU), as well as an option to expand the inventory capacity, if authorized, to 97,000 MTU. The layout configuration also requires a degree of flexibility to accommodate potential changes in site conditions or program requirements. The objective of this analysis is to provide a conceptual design of the Subsurface Facility sufficient to support the development of the Subsurface Facility System Description Document (CRWMS M&O 2000e) and the ''Emplacement Drift System Description Document'' (CRWMS M&O 2000i). As well, this analysis provides input to the Site Recommendation Consideration Report. The scope of this analysis includes: (1) Evaluation of the existing facilities and their integration into the Subsurface Facility design. (2) Identification and incorporation of factors influencing Subsurface Facility design, such as geological constraints, thermal loading, constructibility, subsurface ventilation, drainage control, radiological considerations, and the Test and Evaluation Facilities. (3) Development of a layout showing an available area in the primary area sufficient to support both the waste inventories and individual layouts showing the emplacement area required for 70,000 MTU and, if authorized, 97,000 MTU.

The current BNFL Inc. flowsheet for the pretreatment of the Hanford high-level tank wastes includes the use of Superlig{reg_sign} materials for removing {sup 137}Cs from the aqueous fraction of the waste. The Superlig materials applicable to cesium removal include the cesium-selective Superlig 632and Superlig 644. These materials have been developed and supplied by IBC Advanced Technologies, Inc., American Fork, Utah. This report describes the testing of the Superlig 644 ion exchange material in a small dual-column system. The bed volume of the lead column was 18.6 mL (L/D = 7), and the bed volume of the lag column was 15.9 mL (L/D = 6) during the loading phase. The sample processed was approximately 1.6 L of diluted waste ([Na{sup +}] = 4.84 M) from Tank 241-AN-107 (Envelope C). This sample had been previously treated for removal of Sr/transuranic (TRU) values and clarified in a single tube cross-flow filtration unit. All ion exchange process steps were tested, including resin-bed preparation, loading, feed displacement, water rinse, elution, eluant rinse, and resin regeneration. A summary of performance measures for both columns is shown in Table S1. The Cs {lambda} values represent a measure of the effective capacity of the SL-644 resin. The Cs …

The current BNFL Inc. flow sheet for pretreating Hanford High-Level tank wastes includes the use of Superlig(reg.sign)639 (SL-639) in a dual column system for removing technetium-99 ({sup 99}Tc) from the aqueous fraction of the waste. This sorbent material has been developed and supplied by IBC Advanced Technologies, Inc., American Fork, UT. This report documents the results of testing the SL-639 sorbent with diluted waste [Na{sup +}] {approx} 5 M from Tank 241-AN-107 (an Envelope C waste, abbreviated AN-107) at Battelle Northwest Laboratories (BNW). The equilibrium behavior was assessed with batch contacts between the sorbent and the waste. Two AN-107 samples were used: (1) an archived sample from previous testing and (2) a more recent sample collected specifically for BNFL. A portion of the archive sample and all of the BNFL sample were treated to remove Sr-90 and transuranic elements (TRU). All samples had also been Cs decontaminated by ion exchange (IX), and were spiked with a technetium-95m ({sup 95m}Tc) pertechnetate tracer, {sup 95m}TcO{sub 4}{sup -}.The TcO{sub 4}{sup -} and total Tc K{sub d} values, assumed equal to the {sup 95m}Tc and {sup 99}Tc K{sub d}'s, respectively, are shown in Table S1. Values are averages of duplicates, which showed significant scatter. …

Plasma facing components in TFTR contain an important record of plasma wall interactions in reactor grade DT plasmas. Tiles, flakes, wall coupons, a stainless steel shutter and dust samples have been retrieved from the TFTR vessel for analysis. Selected samples have been baked to release tritium and assay the tritium content. The in-vessel tritium inventory is estimated to be 0.56 g and is consistent with the in-vessel tritium inventory derived from the difference between tritium fueling and tritium exhaust. The distribution of tritium on the limiter and vessel wall showed complex patterns of co-deposition. Relatively high concentrations of tritium were found at the top and bottom of the bumper limiter, as predicted by earlier BBQ modeling.

Structural and functional materials used in solid- and liquid-fueled energy systems are subject to gas- and condensed-phase corrosion and erosion by entrained particles. For a given material, its temperature and the composition of the corrodents determine the corrosion rates, while gas flow conditions and particle aerodynamic diameters determine erosion rates. Because there are several mechanisms by which corrodents deposit on a surface, the corrodent composition depends not only on the composition of the fuel, but also on the temperature of the material and the size range of the particles being deposited. In general, it is difficult to simulate under controlled laboratory conditions all of the possible corrosion and erosion mechanisms to which a material may be exposed in an energy system. Therefore, with funding from the Advanced Research Materials Program, the University of North Dakota Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC) is coordinating with NCC Engineering and the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) to provide researchers with no-cost opportunities to expose materials in pilot-scale systems to conditions of corrosion and erosion similar to those occurring in commercial power systems.