Air Monitoring Modeling of Radioactive Releases During Proposed PFP Complex Demolition Activities

This report is part of the planning process for the demolition of the 234-5Z, 236-Z, 242-Z, and 291-Z-1 structures at the Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP) facilities on the Hanford Site. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) supports the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company (CHPRC) demolition planning effort by making engineering estimates of potential releases for various potential demolition alternatives. This report documents an analysis considering open-air demolition using standard techniques. It does not document any decisions about the decommissioning approaches; it is expected that this report will be revisited as demolition plans are finalized

Assessment of the HV-C2 Stack Sampling Probe Location

Tests were performed to evaluate the location of the air-sampling probe in the proposed design for the Waste Treatment Plant’s HV-C2 air exhaust stack. The evaluation criteria come from ANSI/HPS N13.1-1999, “Sampling and Monitoring Releases of Airborne Radioactive Substances from the Stacks and Ducts of Nuclear Facilities.” Pacific Northwest National Laboratory conducted the tests on a 3.67:1 scale model of the stack. Limited confirmatory tests on the actual stack will need to be conducted during cold startup of the High Level Waste Treatment Facility. The tests documented here assessed the capability of the air-monitoring probe to extract a sample representative of the effluent stream in accordance with criteria in ANSI/HPS N13.1. The test parameters covered the expected range of system flowrates with both one and two operating fans. The current stack design calls for the sampling probe to be located about 10 diameters downstream of the junction of the duct from Fan A with the stack. In accordance with the statement of work and the test plan, the test measurements were made at that location and also at one point upstream and another downstream. An adjustment was made for the distance between a typical sampling probe inlet and the centerline of its mounting flange. Thus, the test measurements were made at three positions designated as Test Port 1, 2, and 3, respectively. The designed HV-C2 exhaust system includes dampers on the fan discharges. Custom-scale model dampers were fabricated to simulate the same number and configuration of damper blades shown in the design documents received from BNI. A subset of the test runs was run without the dampers to determine whether the dampers should be included in future tests on scale models

ARAMS/FRAMES JOINT FREQUENCY DATA (JFD) GENERATOR

An ARAMS/FRAMES utility entitled ''Joint Frequency Data (JFD) Generator'' provides the capability of creating joint frequency tables. The resultant JFD tables contain summaries of the frequency of occurrence of meteorological dispersion, wind speed, and wind direction that are required as input in climatological air dispersion models. The JFD Generator computations are made by an updated version of the EPA STAR (STAbility ARray) program. Surface observations are combined with computed seasonally and diurnally varying solar flux rates to estimate the ambient atmospheric dispersion rates, represented as a stability category. The wind speeds and directions are obtained directly from the hourly surface observation data. The product is a file in a format that can be directly read by an air dispersion model. The JFD Generator can input hourly meteorological surface observation data in CD-144, Samson, and SCRAM data formats. An enhanced joint frequency table file that can be read directly by the ARAMS/FRAMES interface is produced. The output file has a format can be used by the MEPAS air dispersion program or can be modified for input to other models requiring joint frequency input

Analysis of Radioactive Releases During Proposed Demolition Activities for the 224-U and 224-UA Buildings - Addendum

A post-demolition modeling analysis is conducted that compares during-demolition atmospheric concentration monitoring results with modeling results based on the actual meteorological conditions during the demolition activities. The 224-U and 224-UA Buildings that were located in the U-Plant UO3 complex in the 200 West Area of the Hanford Site were demolished during the summer of 2010. These facilities converted uranyl nitrate hexahydrate (UNH), a product of Hanford’s Plutonium-Uranium Extraction (PUREX) Plant, into uranium trioxide (UO3). This report is an addendum to a pre-demolition emission analysis and air dispersion modeling effort that was conducted for proposed demolition activities for these structures

Sensitivity Analysis of Hardwired Parameters in GALE Codes

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission asked Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to provide a data-gathering plan for updating the hardwired data tables and parameters of the Gaseous and Liquid Effluents (GALE) codes to reflect current nuclear reactor performance. This would enable the GALE codes to make more accurate predictions about the normal radioactive release source term applicable to currently operating reactors and to the cohort of reactors planned for construction in the next few years. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to define the importance of hardwired parameters in terms of each parameter’s effect on the emission rate of the nuclides that are most important in computing potential exposures. The results of this study were used to compile a list of parameters that should be updated based on the sensitivity of these parameters to outputs of interest

SPRAYTRAN 1.0 User’s Guide: A GIS-Based Atmospheric Spray Droplet Dispersion Modeling System

SPRAY TRANsport (SPRAYTRAN) is a comprehensive dispersion modeling system that is used to simulate the offsite drift of pesticides from spray applications. SPRAYTRAN functions as a console application within Environmental System Research Institute’s ArcMap Geographic Information System (Version 9.x) and integrates the widely-used, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-approved CALifornia PUFF (CALPUFF) dispersion model and model components to simulate longer-range transport and diffusion in variable terrain and spatially/temporally varying meteorological (e.g., wind) fields. Area sources, which are used to define spray blocks in SPRAYTRAN, are initialized using output files generated from a separate aerial-spray-application model called AGDISP (AGricultural DISPersal). The AGDISP model is used for estimating the amount of pesticide deposited to the spray block based on spraying characteristics (e.g., pesticide type, spray nozzles, and aircraft type) and then simulating the near-field (less than 300-m) drift from a single pesticide application. The fraction of pesticide remaining airborne from the AGDISP near-field simulation is then used by SPRAYTRAN for simulating longer-range (greater than 300 m) drift and deposition of the pesticide

Improved Formulations for Air-Surface Exchanges Related to National Security Needs: Dry Deposition Models

The Department of Homeland Security and others rely on results from atmospheric dispersion models for threat evaluation, event management, and post-event analyses. The ability to simulate dry deposition rates is a crucial part of our emergency preparedness capabilities. Deposited materials pose potential hazards from radioactive shine, inhalation, and ingestion pathways. A reliable characterization of these potential exposures is critical for management and mitigation of these hazards. A review of the current status of dry deposition formulations used in these atmospheric dispersion models was conducted. The formulations for dry deposition of particulate materials from am event such as a radiological attack involving a Radiological Detonation Device (RDD) is considered. The results of this effort are applicable to current emergency preparedness capabilities such as are deployed in the Interagency Modeling and Atmospheric Assessment Center (IMAAC), other similar national/regional emergency response systems, and standalone emergency response models. The review concludes that dry deposition formulations need to consider the full range of particle sizes including: 1) the accumulation mode range (0.1 to 1 micron diameter) and its minimum in deposition velocity, 2) smaller particles (less than .01 micron diameter) deposited mainly by molecular diffusion, 3) 10 to 50 micron diameter particles deposited mainly by impaction and gravitational settling, and 4) larger particles (greater than 100 micron diameter) deposited mainly by gravitational settling. The effects of the local turbulence intensity, particle characteristics, and surface element properties must also be addressed in the formulations. Specific areas for improvements in the dry deposition formulations are 1) capability of simulating near-field dry deposition patterns, 2) capability of addressing the full range of potential particle properties, 3) incorporation of particle surface retention/rebound processes, and. 4) development of dry deposition formulations applicable to urban areas. Also to improve dry deposition modeling capabilities, atmospheric dispersion models in which the dry deposition formulations are imbedded need better source-term plume initialization and improved in-plume treatment of particle growth processes. Dry deposition formulations used in current models are largely inapplicable to the complex urban environment. An improved capability is urgently needed to provide surface-specific information to assess local exposure hazard levels in both urban and non-urban areas on roads, buildings, crops, rivers, etc. A model improvement plan is developed with a near-term and far-term component. Despite some conceptual limitations, the current formulations for particle deposition based on a resistance approach have proven to provide reasonable dry deposition simulations. For many models with inadequate dry deposition formulations, adding or improving a resistance approach will be the desirable near-term update. Resistance models however are inapplicable aerodynamically very rough surfaces such as urban areas. In the longer term an improved parameterization of dry deposition needs to be developed that will be applicable to all surfaces, and in particular urban surfaces

Testing IH Instrumentation: Analysis of 1996-1998 Tank Ventilation Data in Terms of Characterizing a Transient Release

An analysis is conducted of the 1996-1998 Hanford tank ventilation studies of average ventilation rates to help define characteristics of shorter term releases. This effort is being conducted as part of the design of tests of Industrial Hygiene’s (IH) instrumentation ability to detect transient airborne plumes from tanks using current deployment strategies for tank operations. This analysis has improved our understanding of the variability of hourly average tank ventilation processes. However, the analysis was unable to discern the relative importance of emissions due to continuous releases and short-duration bursts of material. The key findings are as follows: 1. The ventilation of relatively well-sealed, passively ventilated tanks appears to be driven by a combination of pressure, buoyancy, and wind influences. The results of a best-fit analysis conducted with a single data set provide information on the hourly emission variability that IH instrumentation will need to detect. 2. Tank ventilation rates and tank emission rates are not the same. The studies found that the measured infiltration rates for a single tank are often a complex function of air exchanges between tanks and air exchanges with outdoor air. This situation greatly limits the usefulness of the ventilation data in defining vapor emission rates. 3. There is no evidence in the data to discern if the routine tank vapor releases occur over a short time (i.e., a puff) or over an extended time (i.e., continuous releases). Based on this analysis of the tank ventilation studies, it is also noted that 1) the hourly averaged emission peaks from the relatively well-sealed passively-vented tanks (such as U-103) are not a simple function of one meteorological parameter – but the peaks often are the result of the coincidence of temporal maximums in pressure, temperature, and wind influences and 2) a mechanistic combination modeling approach and/or field studies may be necessary to understand the short-term temporal characteristics of transient releases - This requirement has implications in both the design of IH field tests and in understanding transient plumes during the times that worker complaints were recorded