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Title: Assessing environmental risk of the retired filter bed area, Battelle West Jefferson

Abstract

Initial investigations conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy, Chicago Operations Office, and by Argonne National Laboratory used seismic refraction profiling, electrical resistivity depth sounding, conductivity profiling, magnetic gradiometry, and ground-penetrating radar to study environmental geophysics in the area of the Battelle West Jefferson site`s radiologically contaminated retired filter beds. The investigators used a combination of nonintrusive technologies and innovative drilling techniques to assess environmental risk at the filter beds and to improve understanding of the geology of the Big Darby Creek floodplain. The geophysical investigation, which showed that the preferred groundwater pathway is associated with a laterally extensive deposit of silty sand to sand that is less than 12 ft deep in the floodplain area, also guided the location of cone penetrometer test sites and piezometer installation. Cone penetrometer testing was useful for comparing continuous logging data with surface geophysical data in establishing correlations among unconsolidated materials.

Authors:
; ;  [1]
  1. and others
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Argonne National Lab., IL (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Environmental Restoration and Waste Management, Washington, DC (United States)
OSTI Identifier:
531101
Report Number(s):
ANL/ESD/TM-139
ON: DE97009355; TRN: 97:019406
DOE Contract Number:
W-31109-ENG-38
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: Apr 1997
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
05 NUCLEAR FUELS; 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; RADIOACTIVE WASTE FACILITIES; REMEDIAL ACTION; RADIOACTIVE WASTES; GROUND DISPOSAL; RADIOECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION; SOILS; RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION; GROUND WATER; BATTELLE COLUMBUS LABORATORY; RISK ASSESSMENT; OHIO; ANL; SITE CHARACTERIZATION; US DOE

Citation Formats

Miller, S.F., Thompson, M.D., and Glennon, M.A.. Assessing environmental risk of the retired filter bed area, Battelle West Jefferson. United States: N. p., 1997. Web. doi:10.2172/531101.
Miller, S.F., Thompson, M.D., & Glennon, M.A.. Assessing environmental risk of the retired filter bed area, Battelle West Jefferson. United States. doi:10.2172/531101.
Miller, S.F., Thompson, M.D., and Glennon, M.A.. Tue . "Assessing environmental risk of the retired filter bed area, Battelle West Jefferson". United States. doi:10.2172/531101. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/531101.
@article{osti_531101,
title = {Assessing environmental risk of the retired filter bed area, Battelle West Jefferson},
author = {Miller, S.F. and Thompson, M.D. and Glennon, M.A.},
abstractNote = {Initial investigations conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy, Chicago Operations Office, and by Argonne National Laboratory used seismic refraction profiling, electrical resistivity depth sounding, conductivity profiling, magnetic gradiometry, and ground-penetrating radar to study environmental geophysics in the area of the Battelle West Jefferson site`s radiologically contaminated retired filter beds. The investigators used a combination of nonintrusive technologies and innovative drilling techniques to assess environmental risk at the filter beds and to improve understanding of the geology of the Big Darby Creek floodplain. The geophysical investigation, which showed that the preferred groundwater pathway is associated with a laterally extensive deposit of silty sand to sand that is less than 12 ft deep in the floodplain area, also guided the location of cone penetrometer test sites and piezometer installation. Cone penetrometer testing was useful for comparing continuous logging data with surface geophysical data in establishing correlations among unconsolidated materials.},
doi = {10.2172/531101},
journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1997},
month = {Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1997}
}

Technical Report:

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  • TERA Corporation presents the results of a detailed seismic risk analysis of the Battelle Memorial Institute's Nuclear Research Facility at West Jefferson, Ohio. This report focuses on earthquakes.
  • Potential environmental consequences in terms of radiation dose to people are presented for postulated radionuclide releases caused by severe natural phenomena at the Battelle Memorial Institute Columbus Laboratories JN-1b Building at the West Jefferson site. The severe natural phenomena considered are earthquakes, tornadoes, and high straight-line winds. Maximum radioactive material deposition values are given for significant locations around the site. All important potential exposure pathways are examined. The most likely 50-year committed dose equivalents are given for the maximum-exposed individual and the population within a 50-mile radius of the plant. The maximum radioactive material deposition values likely to occur offsitemore » are also given. The most likely calculated 50-year collective committed dose equivalents are all much lower than the collective dose equivalent expected from 50 years of exposure to natural background radiation and medical x-rays. The most likely maximum residual plutonium contamination estimated to be deposited offsite following the events are well below the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposed guideline for plutonium in the general environment of 0.2 ..mu..Ci/m/sup 2/. The likely maximum residual contamination from beta and gamma emitters are far below the background produced by fallout from nuclear weapons tests in the atmosphere.« less
  • The post-remedial-action surveys involved only the remaining, newer segment of the original Plutonium Facility and those outdoor environs at the former location of the buried autoclave and old holding tanks. The assessment activities conducted during the three surveys included determination of surface contamination levels, both fixed and removable, through direct instrument and smear surveys; measurement of ambient external penetrating radiation levels at 1-meter heights throughout the involved areas; measurement of the concentrations of radon, thoron, and actinon daughters and longer-lived radionuclides within air samples; and determination of concentrations of uranium, plutonium, americium, neptunium, the thorium-232 decay chain, and the radium-226more » decay chain in soil and other material samples from the involved areas. The direct instrument and smear surveys were performed on all accessible floor, wall, and overhead surfaces and ductwork in the laboratory and corridor areas, mechanical room, and men's locker room, where the false ceiling, formerly at the 12-ft level, had been removed. In the office areas, the accessible floors, walls, and overheads were surveyed to the height of the existing 8-ft false ceiling. Although the office areas were adjacent to, not part of, the affected areas, it was possible that radioactive materials could have been carried by the ventilation system, spilled, or otherwise tracked into these adjacent areas. In some building areas, surfaces might hae been retiled, painted, or otherwise covered since the beginning of use of radioactive materials; however, the instruments used for the direct survey had some capability to detect beta-gamma activity on the underlying surfaces. 5 refs., 8 figs., 8 tabs.« less
  • The potential airborne releases of radionuclides (source terms) that could result from wind and earthquake dmage are estimated for the Battelle Memorial Institute Columbus Laboratories JN-1b Building at the West Jefferson site in Ohio. The estimated source terms are based on the damage to barriers containing the radionuclides, the inventory of radionuclides at risk, and the fraction of the inventory made airborne as a result of the loss of containment. In an attempt to provide a realistic range of potential source terms that include most of the normal operating conditions, a best estimate bounded by upper and lower limits ismore » calculated by combining the upper-bound, best-estimate, and lower-bound inventories-at-risk with an airborne release factor (upper-bound, best-estimate, and lower-bound if possible) for the situation. The factors used to evaluate the fractional airborne release of materials and the exchange rates between enclosed and exterior atmospheres are discussed. The postulated damage and source terms are discussed for wind and earthquake hazard scenarios in order of their increasing severity.« less
  • An aerial radiological survey to measure terrestrial gamma radiation was carried out over the United States Department of Energy's Battelle Nuclear Science Facility located in West Jefferson, Ohio. Gamma ray data were collected over a 5.5 km/sup 2/ area centered on the facility by flying east-west lines spaced 61 m apart. Processed data indicated that on-site radioactivity was primarily due to radionuclides currently being processed due to the hot lab operations. Off-site data showed the radioactivity to be due to naturally occurring background radiation consistent with variations due to geologic base terrain and land use of similar areas.