RMDF leach-field decontamination. Final report [electronic resource].
- Published
- Washington, D.C. : United States. Dept. of Energy, 1982.
Oak Ridge, Tenn. : Distributed by the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, U.S. Dept. of Energy. - Physical Description
- Pages: 61 : digital, PDF file
- Additional Creators
- Rockwell International, United States. Department of Energy, and United States. Department of Energy. Office of Scientific and Technical Information
Access Online
- Restrictions on Access
- Free-to-read Unrestricted online access
- Summary
- The objective of the decontamination effort was to place the Radioactive Materials Disposal Facility (RMDF) leach field in a condition suitable for release for unrestricted use. Radioactively contaminated soil was excavated from the leach field to produce a condition of contamination as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA). The contaminated soil was boxed and shipped to an NRC-licensed burial site at Beatty, Nevada, and to the DOE burial site at Hanford, Washington. The soil excavation project successfully reduced the contamination level in the leach field to background levels, except for less than 0.6 mCi of Sr-90 and trace amounts of Cs-137 that are isolated in cracks in the bedrock. The cracks are greater than 10 ft below the surface and have been sealed with a bituminous asphalt mastic. A pathways analysis for radiation exposure to humans from the remaining radionuclides was performed, assuming intensive home gardening, and the results show that the total first year whole body dose equivalent would be about 0.1 mrem/year. This dose equivalent is a projection for the hypothetical ingestion of vegetables grown on the site. Assuming that an average adult consumes 64 kg of green leafy vegetables per year and that the entire yearly supply could be grown on the site, the amount of ingested Sr-90 and Cs-137 is calculated to be 1100 pCi/year and 200 pCi/year. This ingested quantity would produce a total first year whole body dose equivalent of 0.10 mrem, using the accepted soil-to-plant transfer factors of 0.0172 and 0.010 for Sr-90 and Cs-137, respectively. The whole body dose equivalent exposure value of 0.1 mrem/year is far below the tentative limit established by NRC of 5 mrem/year for areas released for unrestricted use.
- Report Numbers
- E 1.99:esg-doe-13385
esg-doe-13385 - Subject(s)
- Other Subject(s)
- Abandoned Sites
- Decommissioning
- Decontamination
- Radioactive Waste Disposal
- Soils
- Radioactivity
- Cesium 137
- Contamination
- Nuclear Facilities
- Radiation Doses
- Removal
- Strontium 90.
- Alkali Metal Isotopes
- Alkaline Earth Isotopes
- Beta Decay Radioisotopes
- Beta-Minus Decay Radioisotopes
- Cesium Isotopes
- Cleaning
- Doses
- Even-Even Nuclei
- Intermediate Mass Nuclei
- Isotopes
- Management
- Nuclei
- Odd-Even Nuclei
- Radioisotopes
- Strontium Isotopes
- Waste Disposal
- Waste Management
- Years Living Radioisotopes
- Note
- Published through SciTech Connect.
09/15/1982.
"esg-doe-13385"
"DE82021125"
Carroll, J W; Marzec, J M; Stelle, A M. - Funding Information
- AM03-76SF00701
View MARC record | catkey: 14151411