ML15309A199

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Responses to Comments on Aerial Radiation Survey Final 11 2 15
ML15309A199
Person / Time
Site: West Valley Demonstration Project
Issue date: 10/27/2015
From:
National Security Technologies
To:
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards
Amy M. Snyder, 301-415-6822
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CommentsandResponsesfortheDraftReportTitledAnAerialRadiologicalSurveyoftheWesternNewYorkNuclearServiceCenter

Page,Section, Paragraph By CommentDescription

Response

1 general NRC AsdiscussedattheJune9,2015teleconferencecallamongNewYorkState EnergyandResearchDevelopmentAuthoritys(NYSERDA),NRC,the EnvironmentalProtectionAgency(EPA),theNewYorkStateDepartmentof EnvironmentalConservation(NYSDEC)andDOEWVDP,theNRCanticipates thatNYSERDAwillperformadoseassessmentandexplaintheresultsin termsofpublicdosecompliance,forexample,100mrem/yrTEDEall pathways(10CFR20.1301(a)&20.1302),10mrem/yr(10CFR20.1101(d) and10CFR20.1301(e))requiringcompliancewiththeprovisionsoftheU.S.

EnvironmentalProtectionAgencysgenerallyapplicableenvironmental radiationstandardsin40CFRpart190).Withoutprohibitionsonlandusein theareainquestion(FloodPlain3),receptorscenariosconsistentwiththe environmentalconditionsandtopographyshouldbeconsidered.In addition,NYSERDAshouldperformasitespecificdoseassessmentto demonstratethatitisincompliancewithstandardsforoffsitereleases.The NRCanticipatesthatNYSERDAwilleitherprovideitsassessmenttoNRCor haveitavailableforinspection,ideallybeforethefinalaerialradiation surveyreportispublishedoritsresultsarediscussedpublicly.

TheNRCsuggeststhattheaerialradiationsurveyresultsshouldbeputinto contextwithrespecttopublichealthandsafetyanddiscussedeitherinthe AerialRadiationSurveyReportorthroughanothermeansatthesametime theAerialRadiationSurveyReportismadepublic.Inaddition,NRC suggeststhatthediscussionoftheaerialradiationsurveyresultsshould alsoaddress:1)howtheestimatedconcentrations(ifestimatesareused forthedoseassessment),actualsoilconcentrations(ifcollectedand analyzed),orbothcomparetothecurrentDerivedConcentrationGuideline Levels(DCGLs)inthePhaseIDecommissioningPlan;2)whetherthe scenariosusedtodeterminetheDCGLsinthePhaseIDecommissioning Planarestillappropriate;and3)anyplannedfollowonactionsandthe objectivesoftheproposedactions.Twoexamplestoconsiderare:1)soil andsedimentsampleswillbetakenoffsitetoconfirmthatthe concentrationsofCs137arebelowlevelsthatwillensuretheregulatory publicdoselimitisbeingmetand2)soilsampleswillbetakeninknown areasofCs137contaminationattheWVDPpremisesforqualityassurance toverifythattheCs137resultsderivedfromtheaerialradiationsurveyare reliable.

NYSERDAagreestoconductthefollowupsoilsamplinginthe offsiteareasandtopreparethedoseassessmentrequestedby theNRC.Ifradionuclidelevelsinthesoilarefoundtobe elevated,adoseassessmentwillbeconductedtoconfirmthat thereisnohealthandsafetyconcern.Becausetheareas sampledareoffsiteandareunrestricted,thedoseassessment resultswillbecomparedtothedoselimitsincludedin10CFR 20.1402RadiologicalCriteriaforUnrestrictedUse.DOE agreestoprovideadditionalgroundlevel,doseratedatafrom theWVDPtoaugmenttheaerialsurveyinordertoassistthe publictounderstandthatactualdoseratestoworkersandthe publicarewithinregulatoryandDOElimits.

RSLwastaskedwithonlytheaerialradiationsurveydata collectioneffort.BecauseRSLsscopeofworkdidnotinclude identifyingthesourceorlikelysourceofanycontamination thatmightbeidentified,NYSERDAwillprepareareport regardingenvironmentalreleasesfromthefacility.NYSERDAs CompanionReportwillincludeadiscussionofhistorical dischargesfromNFSoperations,thesoilsamplingresults,and thedoseassessment.DOEwillprovideasummaryofthe environmentalreleasedatafromtheAnnualSite EnvironmentalReportsfrom1982through2014tobeincluded withinthereport.

TheaerialsurveyresultswillbepresentedattheNovember WVDPQuarterlyPublicMeeting.NYSERDAispresently collectingthefollowupsoilsamples.Assumingthefield samplingactivitiescanbecompletedbyabouttheendof November,orbeforetheonsetofwinter(whichevercomes first)NYSERDAexpectstopresenttheresultsofthesoil samplinganddoseassessmentworkattheFebruary24 QuarterlyPublicMeeting.

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2 general EPA Providedateofdraftreport DateoflastdraftwasMay13,2015(itwasinthefilenamebut notthedocument).Datewillbeaddedtothefooterinthenext draft.

3 general NRC TheU.S.NuclearRegulatoryCommission(theNRC)concludesthatthe2014 aerialradiationsurveyappearstobecompletewithrespecttothe discussionofthetechnologyandthemethodologyusedtocollectthedata andprocesstheinformation.NRCbelievesthatthecomparisonintheaerial surveyreportbetweenthepreviousmappingsoftheCsprongtothe currentstudyissufficientbasistoconcludethatthecurrentstudywasnot significantlybiased;thereappearstoberelativelygoodagreementofthe spatialdistributionandmagnitudeoftheradiationlevelsassociatedwith theCsprong.Theprocedurestoaccountforbackground(toincludeCs137 fallout),elevationeffects,theorientationofcanyonwalls,andother featuresarewelldescribedandappeartobetechnicallysound.

DOEandNYSERDAagreewiththiscomment.

4 general NRC Wesuggestthatthereportbetteridentifyinthetextandinafigurethe locationofwheretheareaofelevatedCs137concentrationsinFloodPlain 3.

TheFloodPlain3Anomalyisnotmeanttobeaprecisely definedlocation,ratherageneralareaextendingamileorso alongCattaraugusCreek.TheelevatedCs137signaturesare indicatedinFigure21bythecoloredcontours(3060cps)just northoftheFloodPlain3Anomalylabelonthemap.The generalcoordinatesofthisareaaregiveninParagraph4of Section5.3inthereport.

TheadditionalmapswehaveproducedforNYSERDAtoinform followupmeasurementsshouldalsohelpdefinethisarea.

5 general NRC WesuggestthatanexaminationoftheareainquestioninFloodPlain3be performedtodeterminethecurrentlanduseandtheresultsbereflectedin thereport.

Thecurrentlandusewillbeidentifiedaspartofthesoil samplinganddoseassessmentactivitiesandwillbeprovidedin theseparateassessmentreport.

6 general EPA Aquickcalculationshowsthata1uR/hincreaseduetoCs137would requireabout5pCi/gCs137.Thisisaboutafactorof5to10higherthan whatIveseeninmostsoilsandsedimentsthatwerecollectedand analyzedlookingforcontaminationasopposedtosimplybackground.

Wedonotattempttoestimateanyvariationinexposurerate duesolelytoCs137,nordoweattempttorelateelevationsin anthropogenicorCs137extractionstoground(surfaceor volume)concentrations.Inferredsoilconcentrationsfrom exposureratemeasurementsareverystronglydependenton theassumeddistributionofcontaminantsthroughthesoil column,andwehavenobasisforchoosingonedistribution overanotherinanygivenareaofconcern.

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7 general DEC AsummaryofthehistoryofdischargesintotheButtermilk/Cattaraugus drainagesystemshouldbeincludedtoputthecurrentlevelsofsediment contaminationintoperspective.Thedepartmentrecommendsthatit includetheradioactivecontentdischargedbytheformerreprocessing operationsandbythemorerecentDOEoperationsatthesite,aswellas discusstherelativetimeframesduringwhichthosereleasesoccurred.It shouldalsobrieflydiscusstheimplicationsforthecurrentsediment contaminationinthestreambedsfromthecurrentandongoingreleases comparedtothoseofdecadesolderreleases.

Acomparisontohistoriccontaminationlevelsinsedimentsinthedrainage systemwouldprovidesomeperspectivefortheaveragereader.The contaminationlevelsalsoneedtobeputintoperspectiveforthepublicin regardtotherelativelevelofrisktopublichealthandtheenvironment.

RSLwastaskedwiththeaerialradiationsurveydatacollection effort.RSLwasnottaskedwithidentifyingthesourceorlikely sourceofanycontaminationthatmightbeidentified.

NYSERDAwillconductsoilsamplinganddoseassessmentsas followupactivitiestotheaerialsurvey.Whentheresultsof thesefollowupactivitiesarereported,thereportwillalso containatabularsummaryofliquideffluentreleasesfrom(1)

NFSoperationsfrom1966through1980and(2)WVDP operationsfrom1982through2014.

8 general DEC Thelevelsofcontaminationindicatedbytheaerialsurveyneedstobe verifiedbyagroundsurveyeffort.Ideally,arrangementsforthateffort shouldbeinplacebeforefinalizingthereportforpublicrelease.

Asdescribedabove,NYSERDAwillconductthefield measurementsandsoilsamplingactivitiesneededtoprovide theinformationneededtodemonstratethecontinued protectionofpublichealthandsafety.Theaerialsurvey resultswillbepresentedattheNovemberWVDPQuarterly PublicMeeting.NYSERDAispresentlycollectingthefollowup soilsamples.Assumingthefieldsamplingactivitiescanbe completedbyabouttheendofNovember,orbeforetheonset ofwinter(whichevercomesfirst)NYSERDAexpectstopresent theresultsofthesoilsamplinganddoseassessmentworkat theFebruary24QuarterlyPublicMeeting.

9 general DEC Thecolorgradationsinthefiguresdonotcorrelatewellwiththoseintheir scalesandarenoteasilydecipherableinmanycases.

NYSERDAnote:thetransparencyusedtoshowunderlyingtopography, features,etc.createsamismatchbetweenmappeddataanddatalegend.

Thiscolormismatchduetotransparencyisapparentlyaknown issuewithESRIsArcMapsoftware.Wehaveidentifieda workaroundthatshouldmakethelegendmoreconsistentwith thecontourcolors.Wewillrevisethemapsinallcustomer deliverables.

10 Figure6 EPA ProvideadditionalinformationonFieldOfViewconcept.Provide informationonwhetheranycollimatorswereused.Ifcollimatorswerenot used,thenprovideexplanationofthedifferencebetweensignal correspondingtothegammasemittedwithinFieldOfViewconedepicted inFigure6vssignalcorrespondingtothegammasemittedfromoutsidethe FieldOfViewcone.Provideexplanationonhowgammasarrivingfrom outsidetheFieldOfViewareaccountedfor.Basis:Itsnotclearhowthe gammasemittedfromoutsidetheFieldOfViewconewereaccountedforif collimatorswerenotused.

Detectorswerenotcollimated.Thefieldofviewconeisnot anindicatorofwhichgammaraysdid/didnotenterthe detectorsorwere/werenotaccountedforintheanalysis.The fieldofviewconceptisausefulruleofthumbforchoosingline spacingwhenplanningasurveytobalancegroundarea coveragewithtimeandcostofflightoperations.

Seee.g.Proctor(1997).Wewilladdthisreferencetothe report.

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11 Page7Para3.

Figure9and Page12.

EPA Clarifywhethertheworkingassumptionisthatthegammasfromairborne radonanditsdaughtersarepresentabovethewaterornotpresent.If present,arethesegammasproducethesamesignalsasgammasfrom airborneradonanditsdaughtersoverland.Explainwhetherupperplotin Figure9includescontributionsfromairborneradonanditsdaughtersand cosmicraysornot.Basis:Paragraph3Sentence2statesthatthewater effectivelyshieldsallcontributionstothegammaraycountrateinthe detectorsfromterrestrialsources,butdoesnotshieldradiationfromany airborneradonorradondaughters,orbackgroundfromcosmicrays.

Figure9captionstatesthatThewaterlinecountratedatawereusedto removeradonandcosmicraycontributionstotheoverallcountrate..That impliesthatthecountrateinupperplotinFigure9iscausedbyradonand cosmicrays.TherangeofcountratesinFigure9isabout800-2200cps, thatusingformulaonPage11,wouldcorrespondapproximatelyto0.3-0.8microR/hrthatdoesnotseemtoinclude4.2microR/hrcausedby cosmicrays(page12).

TheupperplotinFigure9includesgammacountsintheusual

~203000keVenergyrange,butmostofthecosmicray contributiontoexposurecomesfromhigherenergyphotons.

Thiscontributionisestimatedfromthedatausingcountsinthe overflowchannel(>~3000keV),basedonseparateworkby AMS(thereferencedMcCullough/Hotelingwork)andon spectrafromalargenumberofpastsurveys.

WewilladdanotetotheFig.9captionandaddtexttosection 4.1toindicatethis.

12 Page9Section 4.2.

EPA Provideinformationwhetherthecalculatedlambdaaccountsfor differencesingammaspectraeproducedbyanthropogenicsourcesvs naturalonlysources,asexplainedinSection4.2.Provideinformationon whetherthelambdawascalculatedusingsignalsfromonlynaturalsources.

Thealtitudespiralwasflownoveranareainitiallypresumed (andsubsequentlyconfirmed)nottobecontaminated, althoughitisnotstrictlynecessarythattheareaunderthe altitudespiralcontainonlynaturalsources.Aslongasthe radiologicalsignaturebeneaththealtitudespiralisrelatively uniformandrepresentativeofthesurveyarea,andtheterrain isflat,verylowlevelsofcontaminationarepermissiblewhen empiricallydeterminingthegammaattenuationfactor.

13 Page12.First Para.1.

EPA Provideinformationtowhatmeasurementheightabovegroundthe referencedintheparagraphexposurerate(0.4-0.8microR/hr) correspondstoandhowitwasdetermined.Provideinformationon mentionedvariationsofcosmicexposurerateduetolocalchangesin elevation.Provideinformationwhethertheselocalvariationswere accountedforinexposureratecalculationsandwhetherthesevariations werepropagatedtodeterminevariabilityanduncertaintyoftheoverall exposureratesthatarepresentedinthemaps.

Theradoncontributionisquotedat1mabovegroundandis basedonacalculationsimilartotheonedescribedincomment 13here.

Thecosmicexposurerateisattenuatedbyatmosphericdepth andconsequentlyvarieswithelevationabovemeansealevel.

Theselocalandtemporalvariationswerenottakeninto accountinthesubsequentexposureratecalculations.

Propagationoftheseuncertaintieswasperformed;these0.1 0.2uR/huncertaintiesaresmallcontributorstothe~0.5uR/h totalvariance.

14 Page13.

EPA Providelocation,totalareaanddescriptionofthereferenceareausedto calculateKA.

Theareaisapproximatelycircularwithradius~3500,andis locatedabout3milessoutheastoftheplant,nearthe southeasternmostcornerofthesurveyarea.Wewilladdtext tothereporttoidentifythis.

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15 Section4.3.

EPA ProvidecriticallimitfornetpeakareaincpsforCesiumextraction.Include thisinformationinCesiumextractionmapslegends.Provideinformation whetherthecountratesreportedinCesiumextractionmapsareaboveor belowthecriticallimit.

Asweunderstandtheterm,acriticallimitapplieswhenthere issomeestablishedthresholdfordecisionoraction,whichis notthecaseforthissurvey.Wechosenottoreportour measurementsintermsofcriticallimitsoractionlevels,butto reportintermsofdeviationfrombackground.Thefirstnon backgroundcontourcorrespondsto2standarddeviations abovebackground,etc.

16 Pages1617 Figures11,12, 14,15and Section5.2.1 EPA 1)ProvideLLDforthereportedExposureRatesinallbands.

2)Providedetailedquantitativejustificationof~1microR/hrprecisionin reportedbands.

3)Provideuncertaintiesandvariabilitiesat95%confidencelevelforall reportedbandsofvalues.

Basis:ReportedbandsofonemicroR/hrappearnottobejustifiedgiven providedinformation.Forexample,theroughconservativeestimateof uncertainty,givenprovidedintheDraftinformationandassumingnormal distributionforcountsineachmeasurement,mightgoasfollows:the reportedterrestrialBGrateis2-5microR/hr(Page20),i.e.,SD~1.5.The SDingrosscountratesbasedonthedatainFigure9andaccountingfor uncertaintiesinconversionfactorF,isabout1microR/hr.ThereforetheSD fornetcountrateisabout1.8or~2microR/hr.Ifresultsaretobereported with95%confidence,thatwouldcorrespondapproximatelytoreporting ExposureRate+/2*SDoraboutExposureRate+/4microR/hr.The exposureratesinalloftheExposureRatefiguresarereportedwith1 microR/hrprecision.

4)ImprovecolorschemeandshadesinallExposureRatefigures.

Basis:Inthecomparisonbelow,itappearsthatatleast6shadesare presentinthevicinityofZoarValleyincluding12microR/hrshadeband.

ThisisinconsistentwiththestatementinSection5.2thattheterrestrialBG rangeis2-5microR/hr.Thecolorshadesonthemapontheleftdoesnot seemtocorrespondtoalloftheshadespresentedinthelegendonthe right.Thepurplishshadesontheleftarenotpresentinthelegend.

NYSERDAnote:thetransparencyusedtoshowunderlyingtopography, features,etc.createsamismatchbetweenmappeddataanddatalegend.

Itsnotcleartowhatpoints1and3refer.TherearenoLLDsor uncertaintieswithinthebands.Theonlyrelevantquantityis theuncertaintyonthemeasurand,whichispoint2.

Theactualvarianceofourmeasurementisabout0.5uR/h.

Thereisastatisticalcomponentofabout0.3uR/h,andother sourcesofuncertaintybringupthetotalpointwisevarianceto 0.5.Thiswasstudiedwiththetestlinedatahere,aswellasin otherAMSstudies.

Thereisanadditionalnormalizationuncertaintyofabout8%

whenconvertingtoexposurerate(whichisgloballycorrelated acrossthemaps).Addingthesetogetherconservatively,we cameupwith1uR/hbands.

Notethatthevariancementionedinthecommenthere,25 uR/h,reflectsthevarianceoftheunderlyinggeology,andnot thesensitivityoftheAMSmeasurements.

Wewillrevisethemapstoimprovetheagreementbetween contourandlegendcolors(seeresponseto#9).

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17 page17 section5.1.1 DEC Pleaseaddinformationonwherethetestlinewaslocatedinrelationto ThielLangfordRoad.Thisissuerelatestothepotentialgamma contributionfromNORMintheroadgradematerial.Therewasareported gammacontributionfromroadbedmaterialonsimilarground measurementsmadeduringaerialsurveyeffortsfollowingtheFukushima disaster.TheDepartmentnotesthatitisnotuncommonforroadbed materialsinwesternNYtocontaineitherNORM,orinsomecases TENORM,atlevelsrangingfromslightlytoosignificantlyabovelocalsoil gammaratebackgroundvalues.Thiscouldaffectreadingsmadein proximitytosuchroads.

Theaerialtestlinemeasurementsweretaken150directly abovetheroadsurfacealongThielLangfordRoad.ThePIC groundmeasurementsweretakenatvaryingdistancesoffset fromThielLangfordRoad.Althoughwedocompareexposure ratemeasurementsmadebythePICtotheaerial measurements,thiswasnotthepurposeofthetestline measurements.Theprimaryuseoftheaerialtestline measurementsistoensuretheconsistencyofcountrate measurementsfromdaytoday(inconcertwithwaterline measurements).

Ifwehadobserveddisagreementbetweenexposurerate inferredfromaerialmeasurementsandtheexposurerate measuredalongthetestline,weagreethatNORM/TENORM elevationsfromtheroadbedwouldhavebeenanatural possiblecausetoinvestigate.

18 Pages1618, Table1and Figure11.

EPA ProvidetablereportingallPICmeasurementvalueswiththeir correspondinglocations.Explainwhyvaluesontestline,aspresentedin Figure11,appeartobefromdifferentdoseratebins,contrastingincolor withsurroundingareas.

Basis:Table1reportsAMSandPICvaluesoverlappingeachotherforthe testline,whilecolorcirclespresentedinFigures11appeartocontrastwith thesurroundingarea,i.e.differfromAMSvaluesatleastby1microR/hr.

PICmeasurementdataandlocationswereprovidedto NYSERDAinaseparatespreadsheet.ThecolorationinFigure 11isanartifactofthetransparency.Semitransparentblue circlesarebeingdrawnontopofasemitransparentbluelayer ontopofthebasemap;theresultisthatthecirclesappearto beadifferentcolorthanthecontourmap.Thereisnoperfect solutiontothisproblem,whichispreciselywhywealsoreport thiscorrespondenceinFigure13andTable1.(Alsonote:test linePICmeasurementsarenotincludedinFigure11.Theline ofPICmeasurements~2milesnorthoftheWVDPcorrespond tothealtitudespiral.)

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page18, section5.1.2, second paragraph DEC GiventhewidespreadlowconcentrationCs137contaminationwithinthe cesiumprong,andtherelativelylowexposureratevaluesdetectedbyboth theaerialandPICmeasurements,pleaseincludeadiscussionofwhatthe implicationsareforthechancesoftheaerialsurveymissingsmallelevated areasordeeperdepositsofCs137instreamsedimentsalongButtermilk andCattaraugusCreek.Includetheimplicationsforthelevelofground truthingneededinimpactedsedimentdepositswithinthestream floodplains.

Anaerialsurveyonlydetectsradiationfromradionuclides presentatornearthegroundsurface.Assuch,itisnot possibletodrawconclusionsaboutthepotentialforthe presenceofmoredeeplyburiedradionuclidesbasedonthe resultsofthisstudy.

Similarly,thedetailofscaleachievablefromanaerialsurveyis restrictedbythealtitudeatwhichitisflown,soitisnot possibletodrawconclusionsaboutfeaturesonascale significantlysmallerthantheeffectivefieldofviewofthe detectorsystem(inthiscase,a300radius).Anexception wouldbeifastrong(ontheorderofmillicuries),isolatedand unshieldedpointlikesourcewerepresentattheground surface-suchasourcewouldbevisibletothisdetection system.

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20 Page18Table 1.

EPA 1)IncludeinformationontheSiteInteriorinsimilarmannerasfortheTest Line,AltitudeSpiralandSiteExterior.

2)Clarifywhetheralluncertaintieshavebeenpropagatedandincludedin the+/SDpresentedintheTable,suchasthosefromallexplanatory variablesinformulaeonPages9and10.

1)TheaveragevaluesfortheAMSandPICmeasurementsfrom thesiteinteriorare,respectively,44.7+/-46.0and105.4+/-232.9 R/h.Becauseofthedecidedlynonnormaldistributionof values,itdoesnotmakesensetoaveragethem.Therelevant conclusiontodrawfromthesedataisratherthatthevalues inferredfromtheaerialdatadontmatchtheground measurementsinthisarea,aconsequenceofthevastly differentfieldsofviewforthetwomeasurementsystemsand potentiallylargegradientsintheexposureratefield.We believethisinformationisconveyedinthetextandinthethird plotinFigure13.

2)TheuncertaintieslistedinTable1comefromthestandard deviationofeachsetofmeasurements,asstatedinthefirst paragraphofSection5.1.1.

21 Page18Last Para.

EPA Provideinformationonthe(i)levelofglobalnucleartestingfalloutinthe areaand(ii)observedvariabilityofthatlevel.

TheintentofthestatementinthesecondparagraphofSection 5.1.2(thirdsentence)wastoqualitativelycomparetheCs137 peakintensityintheinsituandAMSmeasurementscollected inthisarea(Csprong)withspectracollectedelsewhereinthe surveyarea.Thestatementinthereportimpliesaquantitative comparison.Wewillrephrasethestatementtoreflectthis.

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page19, section5.3 DEC PleaseexplainwherethesecondofthetwoPICreadingsinthefloodplain wasperformedandwhattheresultsindicated.Pleasealsoexplainwhat,if anything,thislimitedPICdatasetforthelargefloodplainareaofthesurvey meansforthedatareviewandconclusions.

WewilladdtexttothereportsummarizingthesecondPIC measurementreferencedhere.

ThefactthatonlytwoPICmeasurementsweretaken specificallyinthefloodplainareashasnoconsequenceonthe conclusionsofthereport.ThePICmeasurementsareusedasa checkonthevalidityofthemethodtodetermineexposure ratefromtheaerialdatainareaswherethemethods assumptionsareapplicable.Inthissurveywecollectedmany otherpointsthatfitthatcriterionandweobservedgood agreement.

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23 Page19Figure 13.

EPA Includeregressionanalysislineintheplot.Include95%regressionanalysis confidenceband.

Theintentofthisplotwastoillustratethepresenceorabsence ofsystematicerrorinexposurerateinferredfromaerial measurementsvs.directgroundmeasurements,whichshould bedistributednarrowlyandsymmetricallyaboutthey=xline ifthereisnosystematicerror.Wefeelthatalthougha regressionfitwithconfidencebandsmaybeinteresting,given thenarrowrangeofvaluesamongthetestline,altitudespiral, floodplain,andsiteexteriordata,theslopewouldnotbevery meaningful.Additionally,specificallythesiteinterior measurementsarestronglydominatedbysystematiceffects uniquetoeachmeasurement,sotheslopeoftheregression linewouldalsonotbeverymeaningful.

24 Page20 Section5.2.

EPA Provideinformationonwhyonmostexposureratemaps,5colorshades canbeeasilydiscernedinallnonimpactedareaswhileitisstatedin Sections5.2and5.5thatthenaturalterrestrialbackgroundfallswithin25 microR/hr,i.e.,3colorshades.

Sections5.2and5.5claimthatnonimpactedareastypically havebackgroundswithin25uR/h.92%ofthenonimpacted surveyareafallswithinthisrange.

25 Page23Para 2.

EPA ProvideinformationwhetherelevatedAMSdoseratelevelsobservedin ZoarValleymanifestthemselvesinthesamemannerinasimilarterrain elsewherebutnotdownstreamtheanthropogenicsourceterm.Provide locationswithtopographysimilartoZoarValley.

Basis:Thegammascatteringtopographicexplanationisnotvisibleinmaps alongthecreeksupstreamthesourceorfurtherawaydownstream.

Lookingatatopographicmapofthesurveyarea (http://viewer.nationalmap.gov/viewer/),wedontseeany areasthatarecomparabletopographicallytothesamedegree asZoarValley;i.e.,elevationchangesof300500ft.overa horizontaldistanceof~500ftfromthecreekbedonbothsides ofthecreek.Thereareacoupleofbendsinthecreekupstream ofZoarValleythathavesomewhatstrong(butnotasstrongas ZoarValley)asymmetricelevationgradients(justtotheSW andNEofapproximatelat/lon42°27.6N,78°46W)thatalso showslightelevationsintheexposurerateandanthropogenic extractionmaps.Likewise,thereisasomewhatstrongterrain elevationgradientoneithersideoftheapproximatelat/lon42° 30.3N,78°59.1W(southofVersailles)thatshowsaslight elevationintheexposureratemapandpossiblyalsointhe anthropogenicmap,thoughnotverystrongineither.

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26 Page27Para 2.

EPA ProvideassumptionsusedindetailedanalysisforburiedCs137.

Basis:ItsnotclearhowpotentiallyburiedCs137wasruledout.CouldCs 137havemigrateddeeperinsoilintheseareas,sotheanthropogenic algorithmrevealsitspresencebecausemostofscatteredgammasstayin thelowenergyportionofthespectrumandstillgetcountedbutthe cesiumextractionalgorithmthatfocusesonlyonthenarrowpeakareaof thespectrum-didnot.

Wecanmakenodirectclaimsbasedonaerialdataalonethat cesiumisburiedvs.onthesurface.Weareonlyabletonote thatcertainspectralshapesmaybeconsistentwithcesium thatisbelowthesurface(lesspronouncedphotopeak)vs.on thesurface(strongerphotopeak).

Detailedanalysisismisleadingphrasing.Anexperiencedand trainedspectroscopistexaminedtheaerialspectratoconfirm thepresenceorabsenceofsignaturesfromcontaminant isotopes.

Wewillreplacethephrasedetailedanalysisofspectrawith careful,detailedinspectionofspectrainparagraphs1and2 ofSection5.4.1.

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page27, section5.4 DEC ThediscussionaboutCs137alongCattaraugusCreekisconsistentwiththe Departmentsunderstandingofdistributionpatternsfrompastsite discharges.LackofCs137inZoarValleywouldbeconsistentwiththe highererosion/scouringexpectedwithinthismoreconfinedvalley.Given theacknowledgementsthatsomeoftheaerialdataisconsistentwith cesiumbeingpresentdeeperinthesoilcolumn,andtheknownhistoryof cesiumsedimentcontaminationintheButtermilk/Cattaraugusdrainage system,thediscussionoftheFloodPlain3Anomalyshouldgobeyond theverycarefullywordedstatementthatitisnotpossibletospecifically determineifitssourceispastatmosphericfalloutorsedimenttransport fromtheWNYNSCdischarges.Itshoulddiscusswhatthelikelysourceof thiscontaminationis.

NYSERDAwillprepareareportregardingenvironmental releasesfromthefacility.NYSERDAsCompanionReportwill includeadiscussionofhistoricaldischargesfromNFS operations,thesoilsamplingresults,andthedoseassessment.

DOEwillprovideasummaryoftheenvironmentalreleasedata fromtheAnnualSiteEnvironmentalReportsfrom1982 through2014tobeincludedinthereport.Sincetheaerial surveyreportisintendedtobeareportonthedatacollection effortandwasnotintendedtoidentifysourcesofthe contamination,thestatementregardingapossiblefallout originfortheFloodplain3anomalywillberemovedfromthe report.

28 Page27 NRC Thedraftreportstatesthatfromthedataset,itisnotpossibleto determinethesourceoftheobservedcesiumsignatureintheFloodPlain3 Anomaly;morespecifically,itcannotbedeterminedwhethertheanomaly isduetomigrationofcontaminationdownstreamfromtheWNYNSC,is fromglobalfalloutfrompastnucleartesting,ororiginatesfromsomeother source.Wesuggestthatthereportfocusonthemostlikelysourceof contaminationinquestionratherthantryingtopreciselydeterminethe sourceofcontaminationwhichmaynotbepossible.Webelievethatsucha discussioninthereportisimportant,especiallyregardingthe contaminationinFloodPlain3thatwasnotidentifiedinpreviousaerial radiationsurveys.

NYSERDAwillprepareareportregardingenvironmental releasesfromthefacility.NYSERDAsCompanionReportwill includeadiscussionofhistoricaldischargesfromsite operations,thesoilsamplingresults,andthedoseassessment.

DOEwillprovideasummaryofthedatafromtheAnnualSite EnvironmentalReportdatafrom1982through2014tobe includedinthereport.Sincetheaerialsurveyreportis intendedtobeareportonthedatacollectioneffortandwas notintendedtoidentifysourcesofthecontamination,the statementregardingapossiblefalloutoriginfortheFloodplain 3anomalywillberemovedfromthereport.

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29 Page33Table 2.

EPA Provideinformationonwhethercosmicandradonandradonproducts gammasareaccountedforinthevaluespresentedintheTable.

Yes,cosmicray,radonandradonproductcontributionsto exposurerateareincludedinthenumbersreportedinTable2.

WewillupdatetheTable2captionandthetextinparagraph1 ofSection5.5.1toreflectthis.

30 Page34Para 1.

EPA Providediscussiononwhytheterrestrialbackgroundlevelshifteddown andwhetheritcorrespondstothedecayofthefalloutmaterial.

Thesystematicdifferenceinbackgroundlevelexposurerates betweenthe1984studyandthisoneisnotduetodecayof globalfallout.Theprevioussurveywasconductedover30 yearsagowithdifferenthardware,differentanalysissoftware, andadifferentbodyofpriorworktodrawfromindetermining conversionfactors.Althoughthebasicmethodologyhasnot changed,systematicdifferencesinresultsfromonesurveyto thenextmayoccurduetothesefactors.

Wewilladdtexttothereporttoaddressthis.

31 Page35Figure 24.

EPA Providelevelsofvariabilityanduncertaintyforeachbinofthepresented data.

Wearenotsurewhatisrequestedregardingeachbin.The relevantparametersaretheuncertaintyonagivenmeasurand andtheoverallvariabilityofthedata.Thebreakpointsforthe anthropogenicandcesiumextractionmapswerechosento facilitatedirectcomparisonbyusingstandarddeviationsabove backgroundasacommonmetric.Seeresponsetocomment

  1. 18.

32 Figure24 NRC Figure24inthereportshowsconcentrationsofradionuclidesinthe sedimentsofthestreamsystem(e.g.attheconfluenceoftherelevant streams)havebeenreducedmorethancanbeexplainedbyradiological decay;thatcontaminationmustendupsomewhereelseinthesystem.

Althoughtheobservationofoffsitecontaminationmaybeanewresult fromthecurrentsurvey,therehasbeenoffsitecontaminationforquite sometimeasdocumentedinvariousstudiesandreports.Therefore,we suggestthatthereportnotimplythatthecurrentobservationsofoffsite contaminationaresurprising.Wesuggestthatthereportcontainabrief discussionofhistoricalactivitiesandthelikelihoodoftheirinfluenceonthe resultsoftheaerialradiationsurveytoprovideanexplanationofthemost likelysourceofthecontaminationinquestion.Forexample,consideration ofthefollowingtopicsmaybehelpfulinthisregard:

  • FormerOperationsoftheReprocessingPlant:Thestreambed sediments,suspendedsediments,waterandbiotaofthecreek systemdownstreamoftheWesternNewYorkNuclearService Center(WNYNSC)havebeensampledonnumerousoccasions startingasearlyasthelate1960s.Thisshouldbediscussedin relationtotheaerialradiationsurveyresults.Muchofthe Particleboundcontaminantsthatarereleasedfromsite operationswillbesubjecttoacomplexsetofnaturalprocesses thatmayincludesomecombinationoftransportbyairor water,depositionanderosion.Assuch,itisnotsurprisingthat thedatamayreflecttheinfluenceofprocessesinadditionto radioactivedecay.

Thereportwillbereviewedtoensurethatitdoesnotprovidea sensethatthecurrentobservationsofcontaminationin downstreamareasissurprising.

NYSERDAwillconductsoilsamplinganddoseassessmentsas followupactivitiestotheaerialsurvey.Whentheresultsof thesefollowupactivitiesarereported,thereportwillalso containatabularsummaryofliquideffluentreleasesfrom(1)

NFSoperationsfrom1966through1980and(2)WVDP operationsfrom1982through2014.

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samplingwascompletedbyvariousStateorgovernmental agencies.Theresultsshowincreasesinconcentrationsofa numberofradionuclidesattributedtooperationoftheformer reprocessingplantactivities.Peakconcentrationsweregenerally around1969andweremainlytheresultofplannedreleasesfrom thewastewaterlagoons.Thoughconcentrationswereelevated abovebackgroundtheywerenotinviolationofAtomicEnergy Agencylimitsandstandardsatthetime.Inaddition,thereisa seriesofreportsbyOnishietal.,completedfrom1977to1982 (NUREG/CR1387andNUREG/CR2425),thatdocuments extensivecharacterizationofthestreamsysteminorderto collectdatatovalidateasedimentandradionuclidetransport model.Inthosereports,sampleswerecollectedforCs137,for example,andsomeoffsitesedimentsamplesexceeded100 pCi/gCs137.SomesamplestakenatthemouthofCattaraugus CreekwhereitentersintoLakeErieexceededaconcentrationof 100pCi/gCs137.

  • OtherNuclearLicensedFacilitiesinCattaraugusCounty:There areanumberoflicensednuclearfacilitiesinvicinity.Adiscussion ofhowthesefacilitiescouldorcouldnothavepotentially impactedenvironmentalradiationlevelsreportedintheaerial radiationsurveyandwhy(orwhynot)shouldbe discussed.
  • TheWestValleyDemonstrationProjectActSiteActivities:The dischargehistoryofplannedandunplannedradiologicalreleases asaresultofU.S.DepartmentofEnergyWestValley DemonstrationProjectAct(DOEWVDPAct)activitiesas comparedtothatofthereprocessingplantwhenitwas operationalandascomparedtothoseoftheStateDisposalArea (SDA)andthepotentialrelationshipstotheaerialradiation surveyresultsshouldbediscussed.Theoverallorderof magnitudeoftheamountofmaterialandtheirlevelsof radioactivityindischargesamongthereprocessingplant,the SDA,andtheDOEWVDPActactivitiesshouldbecompared againstthoseresultingfromreprocessingoperations.
  • ErosionPhysics:Thenatureoferosionphysicswithregardto falloutconcentrationsofCs137instreambedsversusflood plainsshouldbeconsideredandinsightsshouldbediscussedwith respecttotheaerialradiationsurveyresultsinFloodPlain3.The

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FloodPlain3anomalyisidentifiedasbeing24standard deviationsabovebackground;thereisonlya0.01%to5%chance thattheanomalyisexplainedbyvariationinfallout concentrations.

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