The mixed waste focus area mercury working group: an integrated approach for mercury treatment and disposal

In May 1996, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Mixed Waste Focus Area (MWFA) initiated the Mercury Work Group (HgWG), which was established to address and resolve the issues associated with mercury- contaminated mixed wastes. Three of the first four technology deficiencies identified during the MWFA technical baseline development process were related to mercury amalgamation, stabilization, and separation/removal. The HgWG will assist the MWFA in soliciting, identifying, initiating, and managing all the efforts required to address these deficiencies. The focus of the HgWG is to better establish the mercury-related treatment needs at the DOE sites, refine the MWFA technical baseline as it relates to mercury treatment, and make recommendations to the MWFA on how to most effectively address these needs. The team will initially focus on the sites with the most mercury-contaminated mixed wastes, whose representatives comprise the HgWG. However, the group will also work with the sites with less inventory to maximize the effectiveness of these efforts in addressing the mercury- related needs throughout the entire complex

Study of Plutonium Oxide Powder Emissions from Simulated Shipping Container Leaks

To provide data to facilitate the predictions of PuO{sub 2} emissions through leaks in PuO{sub 2} shipping containers under accident conditions, a series of experiments was conducted using PuO{sub 2} powder and an experimental system designed to simulate a shipping container leak. Over two hundred experiments were completed. The experimental parameters investigated were the leak size/type, internal system pressure, agitation of the apparatus, leak orientation with respect to the powder location and the run time. No single parameter appeared to have any observable effect on the quantities of PuO{sub 2} emitted. However, there was an apparent dependency on the interaction between the orifice area and the internal pressure. The dependency took the form of a function of A{radical}P. Although this functional form was suggested by the data, the data were not sufficient to allow a more detailed function to be determined. The results of experiments in which the run time was variable produced the observation that changes in the run time did not result in changes in the quantities of PuO{sub 2} emitted. This observation led to the conclusion that the majority of PuO{sub 2} observed is emitted during the initial pressurization of the leak tube

Workshop on Radiological Surveys in Support of the Edgemont Clean-up Action Program

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, has given Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) the responsibility for the development of procedures for the identification of offsite structures and properties in the vicinity of Edgemont, South Dakota, that require remedial action because of elevated radiation levels caused by residual radioactivity as defined in the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978. In order to acquaint interested investigators with the procedures PNL has developed and the measurements that have been performed at Edgemont using these procedures, and also to obtain suggestions for the improvement of these procedures, PNL organized a "Workshop on Radiological Surveys in Support of the Edgemont Clean-up Action Program" on behalf of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. This workshop was held in Denver on January 21 and 22, 1981. On the first day of the workshop an in-depth discussion of the procedures employed in the entire radiological survey program at Edgemont was held. It included a description of the equipment, techniques and procedures employed in radon daughter measurements within structures, indoor and outdoor gamma radiation surveys, and 226Ra measurements in surface and sub-surface soil samples. On the second day, the results of the measurements that have been conducted at Edgemont were presented. During the afternoon an open discussion of the radiological survey procedures used at Edgemont was held for the purpose of obtaining suggestions for the possible improvement of these procedures. Many useful suggestions were made and a few modifications in the survey procedures at Edgemont have been made in response to these suggestions

Real-Time Remediation Utilizing The Backpack Sodium Iodide System And The U.S. EPA Triad Approach

Real-time characterization during remediation activities is being accomplished at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) with the use of the backpack sodium iodide system (BaSIS). The BaSIS is comprised of a 3-in. by 5-in. sodium iodide (NaI) detector, differential corrected global positioning system (GPS), and portable computer, integrated into a lightweight backpack deployment platform. The system is operated with specialized software that allows the operator and/or remediation field manager to view data as they are collected. Upon completion of planned excavation stages, the area is surveyed for residual radiological contamination. After data collection is complete, data is available to the remediation field manager as a contour map showing the area(s) that require further excavation. The use of real-time measurement systems, rapid turn-around time of data, and dynamic work strategy support the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Triad approach. Decisions are made in real-time as to the need for further remediation. This paper describes the BaSIS system calibration, testing and use, and outlines negotiations with the appropriate CERCLA regulatory agencies (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, and U.S. Department of Energy Idaho Operations Office) to allow the use of real-time instrumentation during the remediation process, and for confirmation surveys. By using the BaSIS in such a manner, the INL seeks to demonstrate compliance with remediation objectives

QTL detection by multi-parent linkage mapping in oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.)

A quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis designed for a multi-parent population was carried out and tested in oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.), which is a diploid cross-fertilising perennial species. A new extension of the MCQTL package was especially designed for crosses between heterozygous parents. The algorithm, which is now available for any allogamous species, was used to perform and compare two types of QTL search for small size families, within-family analysis and across-family analysis, using data from a 2 × 2 complete factorial mating experiment involving four parents from three selected gene pools. A consensus genetic map of the factorial design was produced using 251 microsatellite loci, the locus of the Sh major gene controlling fruit shell presence, and an AFLP marker of that gene. A set of 76 QTLs involved in 24 quantitative phenotypic traits was identified. A comparison of the QTL detection results showed that the across-family analysis proved to be efficient due to the interconnected families, but the family size issue is just partially solved. The identification of QTL markers for small progeny numbers and for marker-assisted selection strategies is discussed