Hazard ranking system evaluation of CERCLA inactive waste sites at Hanford: Volume 3: Unplanned-release sites (HISS data base)

The purpose of this report is to formally document the assessment activities at the US Department of Energy (DOE) Hanford Site. These activities were carried out pursuant to the DOE orders that address the Comprehensive Environmental Response, and Liability Act (CERCLA) Program for the cleanup of inactive waste sites. The DOE orders incorporate the US Environmental Protection Agency methodology, which is based on the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986. This methodology includes:PA/SI, remedial investigation/feasibility study, record of decision, design and implementation or remedial action, operation and monitoring, and verification monitoring. Volume 1 of this report discusses the CERCLA inactive waste-site evaluation process, assumptions, and results of the Hazard Ranking System methodology employed. Volume 2 presents the data on the individual CERCLA engineered-facility sites at Hanford, as contained in the Hanford Inactive Site Surveillance (HISS) Data Base. Volume 3 presents the data on the individual CERCLA unplanned-release sites at Hanford, as contained in the HISS Data Base. 13 figs

Assurance Program for Remedial Action (APRA) microcomputer-operated bibliography management system

Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) provided technical assistance to the Office of Operational Safety (OOS) in developing their Assurance Program for Remedial Action (APRA). The APRA Bibliography Management System (BMS), a microcomputer-operated system designed to file, locate and retrieve project-specific bibliographic data, was developed to manage the documentation associated with APRA. The BMS uses APRABASE, a PNL-developed computer program written in dBASE II language, which is designed to operate using the commercially available dBASE II database software. This document describes the APRABASE computer program, its associated subprograms, and the dBASE II APRA file. A User's Manual is also provided in the document. Although the BMS was designed to manage APRA-associated documents, it could be easily adapted for use in handling bibliographic data associated with any project

Risk assessment in the DOE Assurance Program for Remedial Action

This document provides information obtained during the performance of risk assessment tasks in support of the Assurance Program for Remedial Action (APRA) sponsored by the Office of Operational Safety of the Department of Energy. We have presented a method for the estimation of projected health effects at properties in the vicinity of uranium mill tailing piles due to transported tailings or emissions from the piles. Because radon and radon daughter exposure is identified as the principal factor contributing to health effects at such properties, the basis for estimating lung cancer risk as a result of such exposure is discussed in detail. Modeling of health risk due to a secondary pathway, ingestion of contaminated, home-grown food products, is also discussed since it is a potentially important additional source of exposure in certain geographic locations. Risk assessment methods used in various mill tailings reports are reviewed. The protocols for radiological surveys conducted in DOE-sponsored remedial action programs are critically reviewed with respect to their relevance to the needs of health risk estimation. The relevance of risk assessment to the APRA program is discussed briefly

Toxicology profiles of chemical and radiological contaminants at Hanford

This document summarizes toxicology information required under Section 3.3 (Toxicity Assessment) of HSRAM, and can also be used to develop the short toxicology profiles required in site assessments (described in HSRAM, Section 3.3.5). Toxicology information is used in the dose-response step of the risk assessment process. The dose-response assessment describes the quantitative relationship between the amount of exposure to a substance and the extent of toxic injury or disease. Data are derived from animal studies or, less frequently, from studies in exposed human populations. The risks of a substance cannot be ascertained with any degree of confidence unless dose-response relations are quantified. This document summarizes dose-response information available from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The contaminants selected for inclusion in this document represent most of the contaminants found at Hanford (both radiological and chemical), based on sampling and analysis performed during site investigations, and historical information on waste disposal practices at the Hanford Site

Trace element variations in coeval holocene speleothems from GB cave, southwest England

We report trace element (Mg, Sr and Ba) records based on laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) from three coeval Holocene speleothems from Great Chamber in GB Cave, southwest England. The trace element records are placed on a common timescale on the basis of a suite of TIMS Th-230-U-234 ages. This permits assessment of the reproducibility of the trace element record in coeval speleothems. The tract element records are not coherent, raising debuts over the reliability of individual trace element records as potential archives of palaeoenvironmental information. Mg/Sr in speleothem calcite has been proposed as a potential palaeothermometer as Mg partitioning into calcite from water is temperature-dependent. while Sr partitioning into calcite is temperature-independent. However, we present the results of calculations which demonstrate that the observed Mg/Sr values in the three stalagmites cannot have been produced by Holocene temperature changes alone and that other processes must play a dominant role. We present a model which suggests that the observed trace element variations in the three speleothems reflect hydrological mixing of waters in the epikarstic zone above the cave which have interacted with two geochemically distinct source rocks (calcite and dolomite).</p