ML20027C054
| ML20027C054 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 09/21/1982 |
| From: | Hawkins E, Starmer R NRC OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY & SAFEGUARDS (NMSS) |
| To: | Scarano R NRC OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY & SAFEGUARDS (NMSS) |
| References | |
| REF-WM-9 NUDOCS 8210120356 | |
| Download: ML20027C054 (4) | |
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MEMORANDUM FOR: Ross A. Scarano, Chief Low-Level Waste Licensing Branch pgg Division of Waste Management (Return to WM, 623-SS FR0ft:
Edward F. Hawkins, Section Leader Low-Level Waste Licensing Branch R. John Stanner Low-Level Waste Licensing Branch
SUBJECT:
TRIP REPORT Attached, please find our trip report to Denver, Colorado and to Los Alamos, New Mexico on August 30 - September 3,1982.
Original Signed W Edward F. Hawkins, Section Leader Low-Level Waste Licensing Branch OrigIrm1 Signoa W l
R. John Stanner Low-Level Waste Licensing Branch l
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Enclosure:
As stated
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s TRIP REPORT DENVER-LOS ALAMOS August 30 - September 3, 1982 E. F. Hawkins - R. J. Starmer On August 30, 1982 we met with W. (Jake) Jacobi of the Colorado Department of Public Health. Jake gave us a preliminary site characterization report prepared by F. M. Fox and Associates with the request that we review it and telephone comments to him by September 22, 1982.
This report is preliminary, based on literature reviews, limited geological work, and boring analysis. The report has been distributed to appropriate staff and is actively being reviewed. Our comments will be in the form of recommendation.s that particular areas receive further attention.
In addition Jake outlined, in a rough way, the licensing schedule that Colorado envisions at this time. They feel that the actual license application will be made in March of 1983. They plan on one year for review of the application and issuanct of the license. Then, construction would start during the summer of 1984 Late that afternoon we confered with Dr. Richard Cooley of the USGS Denver Office. Dick has developed a ground-water flow model that incorporates state of the art parameter estimation techniques.
Parameter estimation, in the broadest sense was identified as an area of mutual concern at the NRC/00E/USGS/ EPA modeling meeting at Germantown June 15, 1982. Unfortunately, the model that Dick has is complex and not in a form for general public use. Dick invited Starmer to participate in USGS course on parameter estimation to be held next March in Denver.
The next two-ar.d-one half days were spent attending the Fourth Annual DOE Low-Level Waste Management Program Participants Information Meeting.
This year, NRC contractors participated in the meeting by summarizing their work and participateing in discussion sessions. The meeting organization is outlined in the attached program. The general ~ topics of discussion are outlined below:
Cession A: Waste Treatment, Packaging, and Handling Overview Session A-1: Waste Treatment Session A-2: Packaging and Waste Form Session B: Waste Disposal Overview Session B-1:
Environmental Aspects Session B-2:
Inproved Shallow Land Burial Session B-3:
Corrective Measures
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Session B-4: Greater Confinement Disposal We were able to attend the general sessions on Waste Disposal and specific sessions on Environmental Aspects (Stamer) and Improved Shallow Land Burial (Hawkins).
Corrective Measures and Greater Confinement Disposal were not covered directly but_ the papers for those sessions are available (as are the papers for the sessions we attended). Tim Johnson covered Waste Treatment, Packaging and Handling and~is reporting separately.
It is important to note that only part of the information that was obtained by attendance at the sessions is transmitted by the written papers. The discussions in the sessions was much more far-ranging and often more informative than either the written or oral presentations.
The session on Environmental Aspects reached what may be termed consensus on the need for further work-in the following areas:
Use of vegetation to enhance evapotranspiration at humid sites Identities and properties of chemical species that could enhance migration Disposal of decontamination wastes Modeling heterogeneities (soils, fractures)
Integration of laboratory, field and theoretical results' Variance analysis (also known as stochastic modeling).
The group felt that certain subjects were ripe for a concrete effort toward technology transfer:
Monitoring techniques and experience Models Professional experience and judgement The environmental group also concluded that the handbooks being produced
. by DOE LLWMP are not sufficient to meet technology transfer needs; timel NPC) y publication of technical reports of the LLWMP (and by implication project results was necessary and some sort of clearing house for LLW documents and other information is needed.
The session on Improved Shallow Land Burial felt that three areas are not being' adequately addressed:
Monitoring --more use must be made of feedback in designing and implementing monitoring systems.
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Subsidence - the relation between subsidence and source term migrating radionuclides needs work Kd's - it was felt that a site that needs Kd's to demonstrate
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compliance with standards was in trouble because their use, at this
. time, is quite subjective The group felt that procedures need to be developed so that sites can be evaluated as a system. _Also, humid sites need to pay special attention to water management and biotic transport must be considered. Test data for systems analysis is needed for model verification / validation.
They recommended that the quarterly LLW newsletter should be revived, that DOE must (continue to) control distribution of LLW reports and the peer review is important (eg. publication in referred journals).
On -Friday, September 3,1982 we visited the Los Alamos test facility and
- worked with them to improve their test plan. More details of this meeting are available in the trip report by D.L. Siefken dated September _20,1982.
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