An evaluation of air effluent and workplace radioactivity monitoring at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant

Technical Report · Mon Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1993

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/10134693· OSTI ID:10134693

Bartlett, W T ^[1]

---

1. Environmental Evaluation Group, Carlsbad, NM (United States)

Improvements are needed in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) air effluent and workplace radioactivity monitoring prior to receipt of radioactive wastes. This report provides a detailed review Zf radioactivity air monitoring regulatory requirements and related facility design requirements. Air monitoring data, supplied by the Westinghouse Isolation Division, are analyzed. The WIPP Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR) requires that the WIPP radiological facilities always have multiple confinement barriers to prevent the accidental release of radioactive material to the environment. The Waste Handling Building has standard confinement barriers that satisfy the regulatory requirements, but the underground confinement barriers.include a more complex system for filtering air in the event of-an accidental release. A continuous air monitor (CAM) is an integral part of the underground confinement barrier strategy. For the last four years`` the reliability and sensitivity of the CAMs have been the subject of numerous reports and meetings which are summarized in this report. Data supplied to the Environmental Evaluation Group (EEG) show that the Station A CAM, which monitors the underground.exhaust, does not satisfy the requirements of the FSAR. The CAM system is not fail-safe, and operations appear to be affected by high levels of salt aerosol and poor detector performance. Additional test information is needed to establish the limits of CAM performance. Findings and recommendations are also provided on alternative monitoring methods, procedures and calculations.

• Research Organization: New Mexico Inst. of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM (United States); Environmental Evaluation Group, Carlsbad, NM (United States); Environmental Evaluation Group, Albuquerque, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-89AL58309
• OSTI ID: 10134693
• Report Number(s): DOE/AL/58309--52; EEG--52; ON: DE93008837
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

052002
053002
054000
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540130
AIR POLLUTION
COMPLIANCE
EXHAUST SYSTEMS
HEALTH AND SAFETY
PERFORMANCE
RADIATION DETECTORS
RADIATION MONITORING
RADIOACTIVE AEROSOLS
RADIOACTIVE EFFLUENTS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS MONITORING AND TRANSPORT
REGULATIONS
WASTE DISPOSAL AND STORAGE
WIPP