Corrective Action Investigation Plan for Corrective Action Unit 375: Area 30 Buggy Unit Craters, Nevada Test Site, Nevada
Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 375 is located in Areas 25 and 30 of the Nevada Test Site, which is approximately 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada. Corrective Action Unit 375 comprises the two corrective action sites (CASs) listed below: • 25-23-22, Contaminated Soils Site • 30-45-01, U-30a, b, c, d, e Craters Existing information on the nature and extent of potential contamination present at the CAU 375 CASs is insufficient to evaluate and recommend corrective action alternatives (CAAs). This document details an investigation plan that will provide for the gathering of sufficient information to evaluate and recommend CAAs. Corrective Action Site 25-23-22 is composed of the releases associated with nuclear rocket testing at Test Cell A (TCA). Test Cell A was used to test and develop nuclear rocket motors as part of the Nuclear Rocket Development Station from its construction in 1958 until 1966, when rocket testing began being conducted at Test Cell C. The rocket motors were built with an unshielded nuclear reactor that produced as much as 1,100 kilowatts (at full power) to heat liquid hydrogen to 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit, at which time the expanded gases were focused out a nozzle to produce thrust. The fuel rods in the reactor were not clad and were designed to release fission fragments to the atmosphere, but due to vibrations and loss of cooling during some operational tests, fuel fragments in excess of planned releases became entrained in the exhaust and spread in the immediate surrounding area. Cleanup efforts have been undertaken at times to collect the fuel rod fragments and other contamination. Previous environmental investigations in the TCA area have resulted in the creation of a number of use restrictions. The industrial area of TCA is encompassed by a fence and is currently posted as a radioactive material area. Corrective Action Site 30-45-01 (releases associated with the Buggy Plowshare test) is located in Area 30 on Chukar Mesa. It was a Plowshare test where five nuclear devices were buried 140 feet (ft) deep in a row at 150-ft intervals. These devices were detonated on March 12, 1968, to produce a trench 254 ft wide, 865 ft long, and 70 ft deep. The mesa where the test was conducted is surrounded on three sides by ravines, and the entire end of the mesa is fenced and posted as a contamination area. These sites are being investigated because existing information on the nature and extent of potential contamination is insufficient to evaluate and recommend CAAs. Additional information will be obtained by conducting a corrective action investigation before evaluating CAAs and selecting the appropriate corrective action for each CAS. The results of the field investigation will support a defensible evaluation of viable CAAs that will be presented in the Corrective Action Decision Document. The sites will be investigated based on the data quality objectives (DQOs) developed on December 2, 2009, by representatives of the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office. The DQO process was used to identify and define the type, amount, and quality of data needed to develop and evaluate appropriate corrective actions for CAU 375.
- Research Organization:
- Navarro Nevada Environmental Services
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- DEAC5209NA28091
- OSTI ID:
- 975050
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/NV-1364; TRN: US201009%%412
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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