30 research outputs found
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A manual for implementing residual radioactive material guidelines
This manual presents information for implementing US Department of Energy (DOE) guidelines for residual radioactive material at sites identified by the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) and the Surplus Facilities Management Program (SFMP). It describes the analysis and models used to derive site-specific guidelines for allowable residual concentrations of radionuclides in soil and the design and use of the RESRAD computer code for calculating guideline values. It also describes procedures for implementing DOE policy for reducing residual radioactivity to levels that are as low as reasonably achievable. 36 refs., 16 figs, 22 tabs
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The comparison of element partitioning in two types of thermal treatment facilities and the effects on potential radiation dose
The US Department of Energy (DOE) is performing a technical analysis to support the potential development of risk-based, numerical radiological control criteria (RCC) for mixed waste from DOE operations. As part of the technical analysis, potential future radiation doses are being calculated for workers at thermal treatment facilities and members of the public residing near such facilities. This study compared two types of thermal treatment systems: a conventional combustion chamber with excess air, represented by a rotary kiln with afterburner, and an oxygen-deficient pyrolysis unit, represented by a plasma arc furnace. The purpose of the first part of this study is to estimate the partitioning for significant radionuclides and elements in the two types of thermal treatment systems. Excess-air systems are generally found to produce heavy-metal chlorides, oxides, and sulfates; plasma-arc systems tend to produce more volatile free metals. This difference causes a change in source term dominance from halide volatility to free metal volatility. Chemical thermodynamic methodology is used to estimate partitioning in the two treatment systems. The second part of the study examines how the potential radiation dose to workers handling residue materials is affected by partitioning of radionuclides at the different types of facilities
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Applications of RESRAD family of computer codes to sites contaminated with radioactive residues.
The RESIL4D family of computer codes was developed to provide a scientifically defensible answer to the question ''How clean is clean?'' and to provide useful tools for evaluating human health risk at sites contaminated with radioactive residues. The RESRAD codes include (1) RESRAD for soil contaminated with radionuclides; (2) RESRAD-BUILD for buildings contaminated with radionuclides; (3) RESRAD-CHEM for soil contaminated with hazardous chemicals; (4) RESRAD-BASELINE for baseline risk assessment with measured media concentrations of both radionuclides and chemicals; (5) RESRAD-ECORISK for ecological risk assessment; (6) RESRAD-RECYCLE for recycle and reuse of radiologically contaminated metals and equipment; and (7) RESRAD-OFFSITE for off-site receptor radiological dose assessment. Four of these seven codes (RESRAD, RESRAD-BUILD, RESRAD-RECYCLE, and RESRAD-OFFSITE) also have uncertainty analysis capabilities that allow the user to input distributions of parameters. RESRAD has been widely used in the United States and abroad and approved by many federal and state agencies. Experience has shown that the RESRAD codes are useful tools for evaluating sites contaminated with radioactive residues. The use of RESRAD codes has resulted in significant savings in cleanup cost. Analysis of 19 site-specific uranium guidelines is discussed in the paper
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User's manual for RESRAD version 6.
This manual provides information on the design and application of the RESidual RADioactivity (RESRAD) code. It describes the basic models and parameters used in the RESRAD code to calculate doses and risks from residual radioactive materials and the procedures for applying these models to calculate operational guidelines for soil contamination. RESRAD has undergone many improvements to make it more realistic in terms of the models used in the code and the parameters used as defaults. Version 6 contains a total of 145 radionuclides (92 principal and 53 associated radionuclides), and the cutoff half-life for associated radionuclides has been reduced to 1 month. Other major improvements to the RESRAD code include its ability to run uncertainty analyses, additional options for graphical and text output, a better dose conversion factor editor, updated databases, a better groundwater transport model for long decay chains, an external ground radiation pathway model, an inhalation area factor model, time-integration of dose and risk, and a better graphical user interface. In addition, RESRAD has been benchmarked against other codes in the environmental assessment and site cleanup arena, and RESRAD models have been verified and validated
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Release process for non-real property containing residual radioactive material
It is DOE`s objective to operate its facilities and to conduct its activities so that radiation exposures to members of the public are maintained within acceptable limits and exposures to residual radioactive materials are controlled. To accomplish this, DOE has adopted Order DOE 5400.51 `Radiation Protection of the Public and the Environment`, and will be promulgating IO CR Part 834 to codify and clarify the requirements of DOE 5400.5. Under both DOE 5400.5 and 10 CR Part 834, radioactively contaminated DOE property is prohibited from release unless specific actions have been completed prior to the release. This paper outlines a ten-step process that, if followed, will assist DOE Operations and contractor personnel in ensuring that the required actions established by Order DOE 5400.5 and 10 CR Part 834 have been appropriately completed prior to the release for reuse or recycle of non-real property (e.g., office furniture, computers, hand tools, machinery, vehicles and scrap metal). Following the process will assist in ensuring that radiological doses to the public from the released materials will meet applicable regulatory standards and be as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA)
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Residual radioactive material guidelines: Methodology and applications
A methodology to calculate residual radioactive material guidelines was developed for the US Department of Energy (DOE). This methodology is coded in a menu-driven computer program, RESRAD, which can be run on IBM or IBM-compatible microcomputers. Seven pathways of exposure are considered: external radiation, inhalation, and ingestion of plant foods, meat, milk, aquatic foods, and water. The RESRAD code has been applied to several DOE sites to calculate soil cleanup guidelines. This experience has shown that the computer code is easy to use and very user-friendly. 3 refs., 8 figs
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Best Available Technology (BAT) guidance for radiological liquid effluents at US Department of Energy Facilities
The US Department of Energy (DOE), in DOE Order 5400.5 (1990), directs operators of DOE facilities to apply the Best Available Technology (BAT) to control radiological liquid effluents from these facilities when specific conditions are present. DOE has published interim guidance to assist facility operators in knowing when a BAT analysis is needed and how such an analysis should be performed and documented. The purpose of the guidance is to provide a uniform basis in determining BAT throughout DOE and to assist in evaluating BAT determinations during programmatic audits. The BAT analysis process involves characterizing the effluent source; identifying and selecting candidate control technologies; evaluating the potential environmental, operational, resource, and economic impacts of the control technologies; developing an evaluation matrix for comparing the technologies; selecting the BAT; and documenting the evaluation process. The BAT analysis process provides a basis for consistent evaluation of liquid effluent releases, yet allows an individual site or facility the flexibility to address site-specific issues or concerns in the most appropriate manner
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Radiological control criteria for materials considered for recycle and reuse
Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) is conducting technical analyses to support the US Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Environmental Guidance, Air, Water, and Radiation Division (DOE/EH-232) in developing radiological control criteria for recycling or reuse of metals or equipment containing residual radioactive contamination from DOE operations. The criteria, framed as acceptable concentrations for release of materials for recycling or reuse, are risk-based and were developed through analysis of generic radiation exposure scenarios and pathways. The analysis includes evaluation of relevant radionuclides, potential mechanisms of exposure, and non-health-related impacts of residual radioactivity on electronics and film. The analysis considers 42 key radionuclides that DOE operations are known to generate and that may be contained in recycled or reused metals or equipment. Preliminary results are compared with similar results reported by the International Atomic Energy Agency, by radionuclide grouping