Safety of the High-Level Uranium Ore Residues at the Niagara Falls Storage Site, Lewiston, New York (1995) / Chapter Skim
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BACKGROUND
BACKGROUND
Pages 7-36
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From page 7... ...
, at Fernald, OH, where they were stored along with K-65 residues shipped directly from Mallinckrodt and with K-65 and other residues produced by uranium recovery operations performed at the FEMP site. Although a different uranium separation process was used at the FEMP site than was used at the Mallinckrodt Chemical Works, the K-65 residues at the two sites are essentially the same in chemical and radiological properties.
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From page 8... ...
Residues K-65 3,000 1,881 195 L-30 6,000 87 87 F-32 500 0.2 0.2 L-50 1,500 6 6 Contaminated Wastes R-1O residues and soil 45,000 5 5 Remaining Contaminated soils 134.500 3 3 Totals ~ 90,500 ~ ,982 296 K-65 residues -- from processing ore containing 35-60% U3O~ L-3() residues -- from processing ore containing ~ 10°/O U3O~ F-32 residues -- from processing ore containing unknown precentage of U3O~ L-50 residues -- from processing ore containing - 7% U3O8 R-1O residues -- from processing ore containing ~ 3.5% U3O~
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From page 9... ...
O 1 2 ~ ~ FIGURE 1. Location Map for Niagara Falls Storage Site (NFSS)
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From page 10... ...
For example, the uranium concentration in the original Belgium Congo ores from which the K-65 residues were derived ranged from 35 to 60 percent U3O8, whereas the concentration of uranium ores in sandstone deposits such as are found on the Colorado Plateau is from 0.2 to 0.4 percent U3O~. The other residues of concern stored originally at other locations at the NFSS were produced by processing of less concentrated ores at the Linde Ceramics Plant at Tonawanda, NY.
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From page 11... ...
c' FIGURE 2. Plan View of the Waste Containment Structure tWCSl, Showing Location of Cellars of Buildings 410, 41~,413, and 414 that Contain Residues (after U.S.
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From page 12... ...
Long-Term Management at Humid Site (Oak Ridge) Long-Term Management of Residues at Hanford, Wastes at NFSS Long-Term Management of Residues at Hanford, Ocean Dispersal of Wastes Long-Term Management of Residues at Oak Ridge, Wastes at NFSS Long-Term Management of Residues at Oak Ridge, Ocean Dispersal of Wastes From U.S.
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From page 13... ...
Implementation of any of the alternatives was projected to permanently commit some land to management of at least the NFSS residues and, in some alternatives, the NFSS wastes as well. The near-surface burial of the NFSS wastes and residues was stated by DOE to commit "the federal government (or its successor)
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From page 14... ...
The predominant health threat after 1,000 years would be to the "resident intruder" who might build a house in the contaminated materials, inhale air containing 222Rn gas and its radioactive decay daughter products, eat contaminated food grown in an on-site garden, and drink contaminated water from a well located at the edge of the contaminated area. A projected dose of 8,000 rem/year to the bronchial epithelium from the inhaled radon and its daughter products would likely result in death of such a resident intruder within a few years.
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From page 15... ...
This alternative would result in increased 222Rn and particulate releases which would affect the general public surrounding NFSS, at the Hanford site, and along the route followed between the two sites. However, radiological health effects to the general public are expected to be insignificant.
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From page 16... ...
Because of the larger ground water flow at Oak Ridge than at NFSS, the ground water contaminants would likely be diluted more than at NFSS, unless the ground water becomes saturated in both cases as it flow through the radium and thorium salts. It is predicted that ground water contamination will not occur in 1,000 years.
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From page 18... ...
This alternative would result in increased 222Rn and particulate releases that would affect the general public surrounding NFSS, at the Oak Ridge site, and along the route followed between the two sites. The risk to a resident intruder at Oak Ridge would be somewhat higher than that for Alternative 3b because the residues would not be diluted by the relatively large volume of waste.
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From page 19... ...
for Alternatives 1 and 2a to 0.30 and 0.28 for Alternatives 4b and 4d, respectively. For these latter alternatives, the health effect estimates were based on collective doses projected to result from particulate releases from NFSS wastes during transport to ocean disposal, together with 222Rn releases during the removal of the residues and their reburial at Hanford or Oak Ridge (U.S.
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From page 20... ...
Additional adverse radiological health effects were projected to occur in the situation where controls cease and one or more intruders reside in a house built in the contaminated residues and/or wastes, as given in Tables B-2 and B-3 (Appendix B)
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The clay dikes and cutoff walls constructed around the waste materials provide a barrier to horizontal radionuclide migration. The cutoff walls penetrate the gray clay sedimentary layer that forms the bottom of the containment structure.
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~ . Y ~ 2 :....;A Ho ~ _ S .~ Ah 1 CWM Chemical Services, tnc.
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. The engineered clay soil cutoff walls for the interim cap, and for the proposed long-term cap, are therefore imbedded into an excavation that extended at least 0.6 m into the underlying gray clay sedimentary unit.
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From page 26... ...
26 5, ~ a, Z - , We, ,J SAFETY OF NIAGARA FALLS STORAGE SITE r 1 ~ 1 1 ~ ~ O IN3WdUVO~ V8V9VI: eW3~S3 =VONONO INS ~ In Ct lo _ C Z ~ _ {1 -1 o Z \~t 8 ''S ' ,{ .
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1 FIGURE 8. Generalized Near-Surface Geological Column (Bechtel National, Inc., 1 984)
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The performance monitoring program, which has a limited duration, and which is distinct from the environmental monitoring program, was established to test the validity of the main engineering elements of the WCS function to minimize rainfall infiltration, to prevent pollution of ground water, and to prevent radon emanation 03echte! National, Inc., 1990~.
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From page 29... ...
Thus, materials moving in ground water would have to traverse longer distances before detection in the 28 sampling locations now outside the WCS, or in new wells to be insured. LON~TERM MAINTENANCE AND MONITORING In its September 1986 Record of Decision (ROD)
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From page 31... ...
However, there is currently no routine testing done to monitor pollutant migration which may impact the NFSS, and little information available on the current or long-term health risks posed by these neighboring sites. RADIOACTIVE CONTENT OF RESIDUES AT NFSS As has been mentioned previously, "residues" are distinguished from "wastes" at the NFSS, the term "residues" being applied to those contaminated materials that have a high 226Ra concentration.
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From page 32... ...
Silos ~ and 2 at the FEMP site contain 3,770 Ci of 226Ra and 685 Ci of 231h A very different approach has been adopted for managing the FEMP residues from that proposed by DOE for managing the NFSS residues. The fact that the FEMP residues are still in the silos and can be more readily removed by slurrying than the NFSS residues, which have been interred in an underground storage facility, is a significant difference between the sites and cannot be ignored when comparing and contrasting the disposal approaches (National Research Council, 1992, p.
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From page 34... ...
34 SAFETY OF CIGAR FAR SIO^GE SllB 1~ ^ S_ o ._ o ._ m = w .
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BACKGROUND Cot 0 E 0 Cot w 0 ~ CD o ~ ._ ~ _ ~ ~ O E 0 (D · C Ce ~ E U)
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From page 36... ...
While there may be merit in such a distinction in the context of managing and funding DOE's vast waste management complex, the Committee sees little technical reason for maintaining the distinction in the case of managing NFSS and the FEMP residues which are very similar in origin and content.
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