ML20064E564
| ML20064E564 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | West Valley Demonstration Project |
| Issue date: | 09/30/1978 |
| From: | FORD, BACON & DAVIS UTAH, INC. |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20064E563 | List: |
| References | |
| FBDU-247-01, FBDU-247-1, NUDOCS 7811200221 | |
| Download: ML20064E564 (110) | |
Text
,
. . FBDU 247-01 COMPILATION OF THE RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM DATA BASE l
TASK REPORT ANALYSIS OF THE -
i WEST VALLEY SITE 1
SEPTEMBER 1978 PREPARED FOR U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION BY
. ford,3 Bacon &Pavis~dtal Jnc.k.V
\
ci811200.M
e e FB00 247-01 4
J COMPILATICN OF THE RADICACTIVE WASTE
, DISPOSAL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM DATA BASE s
TASK REPORT f
ANALYSIS OF THE WEST VALLEY SITE SEPTEMBER 1978 i
\
Prepared For
. U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Sy FO RD , SACON & DAVIS UTAH INC.
375 Chipeta Way Salt Lake City, Utah 84108 i .
, i .
9 TABLE CF CONTENTS Title Page List of Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv List of Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vi List of Maps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
- 1. INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
- 2. FACILITY DESCRIPTION AND HISTORY OF OPERATIONS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 l 2.1 GeneralDescripd3onoftheArea. . . . . . . . . 3 2.2 History of Operations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
'3 Meteorology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 2.3.1 General Climate . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 2.3.2 Local Climate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 2.3.3 Severe Weather. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 2.4 Site Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 2.4.1 Geology - General . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 2.4.2 Geology - Site Specific . . . . . . . . . ld 2.4.3 Seismicity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 2.4.4 Hydrology - Groundwater . . . . . . . . . 23 2.4.5 Surface Hydrology . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 2.4.6 Floods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 t
2.5 Population Distribution. . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 2.5.1 Population Density. . . . . . . . . . . . 33
$ 2.5.2 Demographic Projections . . . . . . . . . 33 2.5.3 Population Within 10-Mile Radius. . . . . 34 2.5.4 Population Within 50 Mile Radius. . . . . 36 2.5.5 Recreation Population . . . .. . . . . . . 36 2.6 Radioactive Nuclide Inventory. . . . . . . . . . 39
- 3. ENVIRONMENTAL PATHWAYS AND EXPOSURE MECHANISMS. . . . 45 3.1 Inhalation of Dust by Reclaimer. . . . . . . . . 46 3.2 Well Water Consumption Events. . . . . . . . . . 49 3.3 Direct Gamma Exposure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 3.4 Atmospheric Release of Contaminants. . . . . . . 65 3.5 Groundwater Migration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . o9 3.6 Surface Water Transport. . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 3.7 Erosion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
- 4. COMPARISCN OF CALCULATED VALUES WITH MEASURED ,
i VALUES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . e3 ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS (Cont)
Title ,
Pace
- 5. POPULATION DO5E CALCULATIONS. . . . . . . . . . . . . d5 5.1 Population Doses for Groundwater Migration . . . 85
~
5.2 Population Doses for Surface Water Migration . . da 5.3 Population Doses for Airborne Migration. . . . . 9u
- 6. CONCLUSIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
' REFERENCES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 GLOSSARY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 4
e f .
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O iii
I LIST OF TABLES Number Title Page 2.3.1 Percentage Frequencies of Wind Direction and Speed - Buf falo Airport. . . . . . . . . . . 14 2.3.2 Mean Precipitation by Month (Inches)
(1938-1977). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 2.3.3 Mean Precipitation in Western New York . . . . . 16 2.4.1 Summary Data of Flows in Cattaraugus Creek (1940-1970). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 2.4.2 Flow Data 1967-1968 Discharge. . . . . . . . . . 29 2.6.1 Estimated Inventory for Low-Level Waste Burial Trenches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 2.6.2 Volumes Buried by Type of Facility . . . . . . . '41 2.6.3 Approximate High-Level Waste Characteristics . . 42 2.6.4 Approximate Radiochemical Content of Neutralized Waste Calculated as of 1973. . . . . 43 2.6.5 Approximate Radiochemical Contents of Thorium Waste Calculated as of 1973. . . . . . . . . . . 44 3.1.1 Dose Rate to Reclaimer Inhaling Dust at the
( Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
,- 3.2.1 Characteristics of Nuclides Used in l Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 3.2.2 Well Water Concentrations and Doses for Waste Burial Area. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 51 1
( -
3.2.3 Maximum Individual Dose Rates from Well Water Contaminated by Slow Leak of HLW Tanks . . . . . 58 3.2.4 Maximum Individual Dose Rates from Large-Scale Failure of High Level Waste Tanks after
- 150 Years. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 L
I 3.2.5 Maximum Individual Dose Rates from Solidified i
HLW Returned to Tanks with 10-6/yr Effective Leach Constant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 iv
LIST CF TABLES (Cont)
Number Title Pace 3.3.1 Cose Rate Due to Gamma Exposure to Person Standing on the Radioactive Site . . . . . . . . e3 3.4.1 Dose Rate to a Person at Site Soundary . . . . . e7 3.4.2 Dose Rate to Individual as A Function of Distance from Site for 230Pu after 15u Years . . 6e 3.5.1 Groundwater Releases from Low-Level Waste t
Burial Area. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7U 3.S.2 Groundwater Releases from Slow Leak from High-Level Waste Tanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 3.5.3 Groundwater Releases from Large Scale Failure of High-Level Waste Tanks. . . . . . . . . . . . 72 3.6.1 Releases from Sur f ace Water Runof f af ter 150 Years. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 4.1 Comparison of Measured and Calculated Values for the Low-Level Waste Burial Site. . . . . . . 84
- 5.1.1 Population Doses from Low-Level Waste Surial Area Releases through Groundwater to Cattaraugus Creek. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
(~ 5.1.2 Population Doses from High-Level Waste Tank
( Releases through Groundwater to Cattaraugus Creek. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 07 5.2.1 Population Doses from Surface Runoff from Low-Level Waste Burial Area. . . . . . . . . . . 59 5.3.1 Population Dose Rates as a Function of Distance from Site for Aircorne 23oPu . . . . . . 91 i
V s
_._.__-.4-.. _ . . -
LIST OF FIGURES Number Title Pace 2.2.1 Trench Layout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 2.2.2 Neutralized Waste Storage Facility . . . . . . . lu 2.2.3 Thorium Bearing Acidic Waste Storage Facility. . 11 2.4.1 Idealized Stratigraphic Relationship Near Waste Burial Site. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 2.4.2 Cross Section of Glacial Deposits at aurial Ground . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 2.4.3 Water Courses Western N.Y. Nuclear Service Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 2.4.4 Comparative Flows of Buttermilk and Cattaraegus Creeks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3u 2.5.1 Popul . ion Distribution Map 10 Mile (16 Kilometers) 1970 Census Data . . . . . . . . 35 2.5.2 Population Distribution Map 50 Mile (80 Kilometers) 1970 Census Data . . . . . . . . 37 3.5.1 E-W Cross Section Near High-Level daste Area . . 74 3.5.2 N-S Cross Section Near High-Level Maste Area . . 75 3.7.1 Rain Gauge and Surface Water Sampling
( Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 O
G vi
LIST OF MAPS Pace Map 1 N.F.S. West Valley S ite. . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Map 2 '"opography, Location of Borings and Facilities at tne a lte. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 I
I
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- 1. INTRCDUCTION The U.S. NRC is accumulating a data base of pertinent information relating to the development of a Radioactive Waste Gisposal Classification System (RWDCS) and me thodology. (1)
The consistent set of exposure events used in the methodology to determine interface concentrations between wastes requiring geologic isolation in a r ep,oJ s ito ry and those suitable for f containment in a shallow-land burial f acility are adapted and applied to a specific waste management site to provide addi-tional insight into the classification system and the character of past waste management operations.
The waste management operations considered in this report include storage and disposal of radioactive wastes conducted by Nuclear Fuel Services at the Western New York Nuclear Service Center in West Valley, New York. Specifically, the low-level
-adioactive waste burial area and the high-level waste storage
( tanks are analyzed using the RWDCS methodology to determine th e relationship between the wastes now on site and the classifi-cation system. The intermediate level or " hulls" bur ial area licensed by the NRC has not been included in this analysis.
I For the icw-level waste burial area, the exposure events considered are directly analogous to those used in the generic I
disposal facility evalua tion, (1) witn the consideration of site-specific parameters. For the high-level waste tanks, the exposure events analyzed are limited to tnose for whien reason-
~
a=le initiating sequences can be postulated. Hence, no airborne i 1
releases have been postulated from ene hign-level tanks. This analysis does not include an evaluation of releases from liquid waste transfer or treatment operations.
In this report, a description of the West Valley Site and environment is given, summarizing the pertinent information required for the analysis. No additional field hydrologic or geologic investigations were performed specifically for this task. A comparison of estimated and measured radionuclide i
releases and concentrations is provided for data that have been repo r ted. Conclusions concerning the radioactive wastes at th e West Valley site in relation to the RWDCS are discussed.
\
2-
- 2. FACILITY DESCRIPTION AND HISTORY OF OPERATIONS The following six sections describe the site area, history, the meteorology, hydr-logy, population distribution, and tne radionuclide inventory.
2.1 GENERAL DESCRIPTICN OF THE AREA The 13.5 km2 West Valley Nuclear Service Center shown on Map 5 (a section of the United States Geological Survey (USGS ) Ashford Hollow quadrangle map) is 48 km south of Buffalo, New York at an elevation of 420 m above sea level. The site is situated on a gently sloping area of the eastern flank of a ridge which rises to an approximate elevation of 588 m. The surface east and north of the facility and burial area is dissected by ephemeral streams draining in a northerly direction to Buttermilk Creek. Buttermilk Creek flows in a north westerly direction and joins Cattaraugus Creek at the northern coundary of- the site. The entire site is enclosed by a three strand,
( barbed wire fence and is posted with signs to prohibit tres-pass. The Nuclear Fuel Services plant complex, which includes l th e licensed commercial burial ground is completely surrounded i
i
, by a chain link fence topped with three strands of barbed wire.
The location of this fence in relation to plant facilities is l shown on Map 2. (3) i The buried high-level waste storage vaults and tanks are located adjacent and :n the north of the processing plant. The
- low-level burial area is located approximately 480 m southeast l of the process plant. The " hull, o r intermediate level waste f
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burial area, which is enclosed in an additional security fence, is located along the western edge of the northern end of the low-level waste burial area.
Reservoirs in the southeast of the site provide water
, storage for the plant. A spur line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad passes along the northern edge of the reservoirs and provides' rail service to the plant.
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9 2.2 HISTORY OF CPERATIONS Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc. (NFS) was first authorized to bury low-level radioactive wastes at West Valley in November 1963. Packaged radioactive wastes were buried as received at
. the site in trenches with nominal depth of 6.1 m and width of 6.1 m at the bottom with sloped sides to provide a nominal 10.7 m width at the surf ace. (6) The trenches are 100-200 m long. (4)
, The site is divided into two areas, north and south. The northern trenches were opened to the ir full length and back-filled with soil as tney were filled. The southern trenches, started in 1968, were opened and closed in 50 m segments using excavated soil from new trenches for compaction of fill and trench cap completion. Trench layout is shown in Figure 2.2.1.
Between 1963 and. 1975, approximately 64,590 m3 of solid low-level radioactive waste were buried at the West Valley
- j. commercial burial site.(6) .
\
In the fall of 1971, the water level in three of the northern trenches started to rise. The water continued to rise until March of 1975 when approximately 2800 to 6000 liters of trench water seeped out through the cover along the west side of trench 5 and north side of trench 4.(11) A pecgram of pump-ing the trench water, batchwise, to a lagoon at the waste burial site was started. A system of flocculation, decantation, dilution and further treatment through the NFS low-level waste treatment plant reduced the concentration of radionuclides to a icw level.(6) Surial operations were terminated by NFS in 7
March of 1975.(4) Trench cap modification continued after termination of burial operations, particularly in the nortnern trench area. Additional capping material was acded to obtain approximately 2.5 m of cover on the ternches.
. In addition to the buried low-level wastes, 600,000 gallons of neutralized high-level Purex waste (estima ted 570,000 gallons of supernate, 30,000 gallons of slytige) and 12,000 gallons of acid thorium waste are stored at the West Valley site.(2)
Neutralized waste is stored in an 8.2 m hign x 21.3 m diameter 750,000 gallon carbon steel tank. Acid waste is stored in a 4.9 m high 3.7 m diamete.r 15,000 gallon 304 L stainless steel tank. Figures 2.2.2 and 2.2.3 show the vault, liner and tank i co nf igu r ation for the high-level waste sto rage. (2) These figures indicate the presence of duplicate tanks for waste transfer if required. Minimum ground cover over the neutralized waste vault is shown as 2.4 m and that over the acid waste vault t
g4 is 1.8 m.
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2.3 METEORCLOGY This section describes the general climate, local climate and severe weather.
2.3.1 General Climate The general climate in the West Valley area may be classi-fled as a cool, moist, mid-continent variety somewhat modified by the adjacent Lake Erie and the upslope terrain from the lake towards the south and southeast.
The latitude of the area is acout 43cN and the climate is typical of the northern mid-continent sites such as Buffalo, Detroit and Chicago. The eastern location of West Valley permi ts the influx of moisture from 'the south and the annual rainfall is typical for the eastern U.S.--about 102 cm per year. The precipitation occurs rather evenly throughout the year .and with an' average temperature of 7CC (450F), much of the precipitation falls in the firm of snow.
The area lies under the average tracks of most of the major low pressure systems that move east from the central and western portions of the U.S. with the result that the cloud cover is broken or overcast for a great proportion of the year.
The terrain rises rather steeply from the lake towards the south and southeast. The plain along the lake shore is generally at abou t 225 m (740 f t) ahove mean sea level. The area near West Valley lies at ahout 427 m (1400 ft) while the 12
J e
higher terrain twenty miles south of the site reaches 610-701 m (2000-2300 f t) . The r is ing ground to the lee of the lake 1
produces orographic lifting of air which has picked up moisture from the lake and winter winds from the west and northwest deposit fairly large amounts of snow along a well defined band along the lake shore. West Valley lies within this band and the annual snow fall is about 381 cm.
L Tables 2.3.1 and 2.3.2 present average annual weather ,
at the Buf falo International Airport . based on a ten year accumu-lation of hourly observation f rom 1964 to 1973. The data were ootained from the National Climatic Center, Asheville, North Carolina. A "plus" in the table indicates a percentage fre-quency of 0.5 'or less.
2.3.2 Local Climate Table 2.3.3 presents data on pr ecipitation for locations closer to the West Valley site. This is older information 1
(1931-1952); however, the data should present a general pteture of climatic conditions in the immediate area of West Valley.
i 2.3.3 Severe Weather
[
l The frequency, of severe weather in the West Valley area
! is low whether compared .to the U.S. average or compared to the midwest and southern states. This is undoubtedly due to the low
, average temperature in the area wnich effectively reduces the .
driving force for the generation of thunderstorms, the basis for 13 t
.. ., r TABLE 2.3.1 PERCINTAGE FREQUENCIES OF WI'ID DIRECTICN AND SPEED BUFFALO AIRPORT Wind Over AV.
Direction 1-3 4-7 8-12 13-18 19-24 24 TOTAL SPEED N + 1 2 1 + + 5 9.2 NNE + 1 1 + + + 3 8.7 NE + 1 1 + + + 4 8.7 ENE + 1 1 1 + + 4 9.8 E + 1 2 1 + + 5 10.2 ESE + 1 1 + + + 3 8.3 S2 + 1 1 + + 3 8.3 SSE + 1 2 1 + 4 '8. 6 S 1 4 4 1 + + 10 8.6 SSW + 2 3 2 1 + 8 10.7
(- SW WSW
+
+ 1 2 3 4
1 6
1 3 1
> 10 15 12.8 15.2 N + 2 4 5 2 1 . 13. 1.4 . 0 WNW + 1 2 2 + + 5 12.7 NW + 1 1 1 + e 4 11.9 NNW + 1 1 1 + + 4 10.8 CALM 2 TOTAL 4 23 33 27 8 3 100 11.3 I
14 i
_ - . _ _ = _ . . _ - - .
TABLE 2. 3. 2 Mean Precipitation By Month Inches : 1938 - 1977 )
F.
Precipitation Snowfall Jan 3.0.7 23.0 Feb 2.72 - 18.1 j Mar 2.76 12.2 Apr 2.70 3.2 May ,
2.88 0.1 June 2.76 0.0
' July
~
2.93 0.0 Aug 3.17 0.0
(
Sep 3.01 Trace Oct 3.02 0.3 Ncv 3.24 13.2 Dec 3.23 22.8 4
I 15 i
.=
TABLE 2.3.3 MEAN PRECIPI'"ATION IN WESTERN NEW YORK Month Arcadea Franklinvilleb Little ValleyC Gowandad Cerby*
January 3.05 2.71 3.74 2.89 3.06 February 2.37 2.68 3.86 2.34 2.77 March 3.25 2.89 4.87 2.63 2.99 April 3.21 3.17 4.53 3.10 3.21 May 3.96 3.55 4.77 3.62 3.86 June 4.05 3.93 4.32 3.50 3.20 July 3.19 3.70 4.95 4.C0 3.05 August 3.09 3.12 3.48 2.47 2.65 September 3.89 3.26 4.13 3.37 4.10 cctober 3.26 3.04 3.45 2.49 3.03 November 3.61 3.00 4.70 3.77 4.47 December 2.86 2.83 4.25 2.36 2.90 Annual 39.79 37.88 51.05 36.54 39.35
- 8 to 10 years record. 13.2 miles N.E., elevation 1480 feet.
b 13 to 17 years rec =rd. 12.3 miles S.E. , elevation 1590 feet.
(
( 3 11 to 12 years record. 15.7 niles S.W., elevatica 1600 feet.
d 7 to a years record. 15.0 siles W., elevation 965 feet.
- 7 to S years record. 23.8 Iiles N.W., elevation 640 feet.
i 16 1
, mos t severe weather. Another factor is the topographical effect of the Appalachians which cause hurricanes moving from tne coast to lose much of their energy by the time they reach the area.
Lake Erie may also have a modifying effect by cooling the lower levels of the atmosphere which might otherwise be heated suf fic-iently to set off the instability that'gives rise to thunder-storms. Orographic lif ting of northward moving gulf air would tend to produce thunderstorms on the sou the rn exposure of the Appalachians rather than on the New *?ork side. It is also quite probable that, due to the northern latitude, the area is under the influence of the Canadian air -mass for a greater pecportion of the time than the lower states, and the warm moist air required for thunderstorm generation is not in the area for an appreciable portion of the year.
l
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l 17
2.4 SITE CHARACTERISTICS The following sections describe the geology, hydrology, and seismicity of tne site.
2.4.1 Geology - General Western New York State, from slightly south of Buffalo, lies primarily in the glaciated Allegheny section of the Ap-palachian Plateau Physiographic Province.(d) The present land surface varies in elevation f rom about 76 m (250 ft) above mean sea level (MSL) near Lake Erie to above 671 m (2200 f t) above MSL at the Pennsylvania State line. The surface material co nsis ts essentially of unconsolidated glacial drift up to several hundred feet in thickness. Underlying th'is material is a series of relatively horizontal shales, sandstones and lime-s to ne s , from o10-4,267 m thick, that dip gently southward. The crystalline basement underlying the sediments consists of a
( complex.of igneous and metamorphic granite, gneiss, scnis t and 4
\'
marble. -
2.4.2 Geolocy - Site Scecific The surface at the West Valley plant consists of glacial drift and till, recent alluvium and scattered exposures of the underlying Upper Devonian shales and siltstones. The surficial glacial material covers most of the area as a thin veneer but thickens considerably in the central part, where it partially fills a valley in the underlying shales and siltstones. The glacial material is heterogeneous in composition and form and 13
can be divided roughly into four different types:
- 1. A fine-grained, dense mixture of clay and silt with minor amounts of sand, generally referred to as till.
- 2. Coarse, granular sand and gravels, with some silt and clay, generally unstratified and poorly sorted.
- 3. Outwash material consisting of well sorted and stra-
/
tified sand and gravels.
- 4. Fine-grained, thinly-bedded sands, silts and clays, that represent lake or quiet water deposits.
The surface underlying the glacial drift is a dissected upland with deeply incised valleys. Many of the valleys are deeply buried by glacial material known to be about 180 m thick. The plant is in such a valley, and Buttermilk Creek f- flows in the plant area. The valley was formed originally by
( .
stream erosion and may have been scoured deeper by glacial ice during the Pleistocene.
The rock material underlying the glacial drift consists of lower and middle Paleozoic shales, siltstones, sandstones, limestones, and dolomites. The material immediately underlying the glacial drift is upper Devonian and consis ts of predcmi-nantly shale, s ilty shale and s il ts tone, dipping very gently southward. The area is relatively undeformed, and no major i
folds or faults are known to exist.
19
The gentle southward dip is believed to result from the location on one. limb of a regional syncline.
Figure 2.4.1 shows an idealized stratigraphic section near the burial site.(4) This section shows the Lavery till as th e burial ground host material. It also shows the complex nature of the underlying tills associated with the repeated glacial advance and retreat.
9 Near the top of the older tills,(as shown in Figure 2. 4.2 (C ross Section of Glacial Deposits at Surial Ground), approx-imately 3 m of Varved clays are exposed in Su tte rmilk Creek.
Along with an approximate one meter of till above, these clays act. as the lower limit of probable migration of radionuclides from the burial site, because they form a relatively impermeable floor to an overlying section of loose and permeable sands and gravels. (4) .
2.4.3 Seismicity The major structural feature nearest the West Valley area is the S t. Lawrence Rift Valley System, some 485 km to the northeast. It has been estimated that this distance is.suffi-
~
cient to attenuate an event as large as the 1663 S t. Law rence earthquake (intens ity IX or X) to less than half of the epi-center intensity.
1 The nearest significant structural feature in the West Valley plant area is the Clarendon-Linden structure. This structure is a fault to the north, near Attica, which passes southward and runs about 37 km east of the ~4est Valley area.
20
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n flGURE 2.4.1 IDEAll2ED STRATIGRAPillC RELATIONSillPS NEAR WASTE BURIAL. SITE s-D cr
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! Thirteen earthquakes with =aximum intensities of V or 1
j higher have been reported with epicenters within 151 km of the West Valley plant between 1840 and 1967. The largest occurred in 1929 and is estimated to have had an intensity of about IV (modified Mercalli Scale) at West Valley. The shocks closest to the site, with epicentral intensity VII-VIII, were at.Attica, 56 km northeast of the West Valley Plant.
E s t ima t es made from these historical data suggest that the
/ average shock expected will have an intensity of acout VI and
- that an event with an intensi.ty larger than this would have a recurrence interval of about 750 years.
Soil liquefaction is a phenomenon observed in loose, unco ns o lida ted , granular and water-saturated material when subjected to sufficient vibration or shaking, as from earthquake activity. The shaking increases the pore water pressure and
- decreases the supporting capacity of the material. Certain f
types of soils may " liquefy" under these conditions. The soils k at the plant, however, are not considered subject to liquefac-tion at design earthquase intensities because of the dense natur'e of the till and the cohesive strength of the finegrained lake or quiet-water deposits. The coarse granular material is 4
! probably f ree draining enough to prevent pore pressure buildup.
2.4.4 Hydrolccy - Groundwater There are three known aquifers ce potential aquifers at the West Valley plant location.(10) i 23
4 . . .
The uppermost aquifer is in the coarse granular material at the surface overlying relatively impermeable silty till.
This unit is recharged by infiltration through the land surface, is unconfined and is used for domestic and stock supply. The aquifer la generally thin and discoatinuous. It is isolated by higher topography to the west and by the valley of Suttermilk Creek and.its tributaries on the east.
A thin sandy unit below the uppermost till" sheet is the second aquifer in the area. This unit is confined both above and below by till sheets, and the aquifer is artesian. This unit is about 12-15 m below land surface, and the water level
' stands 1.5-4.6 m above the unit.
The third and deepest aquifer is the weathered, fractured tone at the top of shale underlying the glacial material. Data from bore holes indicated that this tone is sufficiently frac-tured to support wells of probable low yield.
1 k- Little information is presently available on water in the deeper formations. However, it is known from gas wells west l and northeast of the West Valley plant that two formations t
existing at depths of about 823 m and 1372 m do contain salt-water.
2.4.5 Surface Eydrolocy i
The area around the West Valley plant is drained by two
- creeks
- Cattaraugus Creek, flowing westerly througn the north-
! een part of the area to Lake Erie some 62.7 km downstream, and 24 I
I
Buttermilk Creek, flowing northwesterly through tne area and joining Cattaraugus Creek at une north end of tne area. Both creeks flow in deep valleys cut for the most part into the glacial material.
As shown in Figure 2.4.3, Cattaraugus Creek flows in a generally westerly direction from the site to Lake Erie some 62.8 km downstream. The total drainage area above Gowanda
, gaging station is 1,119 km 2. The drainage area of Cattaraugus above the confluence of Buttermilk Creek is 565 km2 , thus the
- flow in Cattaraugus Creek past the site may be estimated to be fif ty per cent of the flow rate at the Gowanda gaging station.
Buttermilk Creek flows through the site in a generally northwesterly direction and joins Cattaraugus Creek at the north end of the ,s ite. Buttermilk Creek has eroded a narrow, deep, defile into ' the glacial deposits in the valley on which the site is situated. The reprocessing plant is located on a i
( bench-like plateau at an elevation of approximately 431 m (1415 ft) above sea level. The elevation of Suttermilk Creek at th e entrance to the site is 401 m (1315 f t) and the creek falls to an elevation of slign:ly over 335 m (1100 f t) at its confluence with Cattaraugus Creek.
Table 2.4.1 summari::es the Gowanda gaging station data for the thirty year period from 1940 to 1970 and includes estimated data for Cattaraugus Creek at the confluence with B u t te rmil'<
Creek.
- 25
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APPROX. SCALE: 1 INCH = 2 MILES N' s s$ \b CQ h d'M d 'd SOURCE: NFS-SAR REPORT
~ ~ ~ ~
A.~CATTA5 [IGUS CREEX DRAINAGE AREA BELCW GOWANDA.
S. CATTARAUGUS CREEK DRAINAGE SETNEEN GCWANDA AND BUTTERMILK CREEX.
C. BUTTERMILK CREEK DRAINAGE AREA.
C. CATTARAUGUS CREEK DRAINAGE AREA A80VE SUTTERMILK CREEK.
RGURE 2.4.3 WATER COURSES WESTERN N.Y. NUC1. EAR SERVICE CENTER 1
26 -
.' ,o , ' ' -
r TABLE 2.4.1
SUMMARY
CATA CF FLOWS IN CATTARAUGUS CREEK >
(1940 - 19 7u) I Flow Rate (C?S) l Gowanda Estimated Flow Parameter Creek at Buttermilk 706 353 Average Daily Discharge 35,900 17,900 Maximum Discharge Rate If 26
- Minimum Daily Discharge 52
~
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Buttermilk Creek ' flows in a northwesterly direction from its origin slightly south of the town of West Valley, New York, through th e site to its confluence with Cattaraugus Creek at the north end of the site. The drainage area is estima ted to be 77.7 km2 Table 2.4.2 summarizes the 1968 flow data for Buttermilk Creek and Cattaraugus Creek (Gowonda) as collected by the USGS..
Figure 2.4.4 is a plo: of the estimated Cattaraugus Creek flows at Buttermilk Creek and at the Gowanda gauge stations for the 1969 water year (Octo ber , 1968 - Septemoer, 1969). The data show wide variation in average daily flows. There are well developed recurring peak flows in the late fall, the usual (
January thaw and during th e snow melt and run off in late spr ing . Minimum flows usually occur in late sumher and during the winter when the ground is frozen. The flow rate in Butter-milk Creek closely follows the shape of the flows in Cattaraugus f Creek and normally flows at ah'out ten per cent of the flow in
(
\ Cattaraugus Creek.
2.4.6 Floods Due to the deep valley in which both Suttermilk and Cat-taraugus Creeks lie, there is little available area for f arming or housing and thus the effects of any flooding of the ' flood plain has been minimal and no history of floods in ene area is available. The data on wa:er flows in Cattaraugus Creek and Buttermilk Creek include data on the maximum recorded flows and gage heigh:s. These records indicate maximum gage heights of 28
Table 2.4.2 FLCW DATA
- 1967-1968 DISCHARGE In Cubic Feet Pe'r Second CATTARAUGUS MCNTH (Gowanda) B UT'"ERMILK CCT dd2 G6 NOV 1441 14d DEC 1272 78 JAN obl 56 FE3 752 46 MAR 1481 :s 7 APRIL 924 49 MAY 548 27 JUNE 364 22 JULY 183 9 AUGUST 153 11 SEPT 123 ,
8
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103 - -
CATTARAUGUS (ATTOiVINOA) 9 8
=
U b
102 -
u _
'i f
's BUTTERMILX CCT NbV DC JIN Fh3 MAR APR MAY JtYNE Jt t.Y AbG SEPT 1967 1968 l
FIGURE 2.4.4 COMPARATIVE FLOWS OF BUTTERMILX AND CATTARAUGlJS CREEKS
_~-
30
4.3 m on Cattaraugus Creek and 2.6 m on Buttermilk Creek. These levels would cause only local flooding on the flood plains well below plant elevation.
The Corps of Engineers, Buff alo District, has stated that the 100-year flood stage of Buttermilk Creek would not reach the higher plants of the West Valley site, some 36.6 m above the creek. 'The topography is such that before the creek stage could rise 33.5 m, a divide on the west bank would be breached and :he o
flow diverted down the valley of a tributary.
In view of the impossiblility of flooding from the creeks, no special cons ide r a tio ns need be made to design against a flood. The usua1 practices in grading the site to handle local runoff during heavy rains have and will adequately protect the waste disposal facilities from water incursions from this source.
f The probable maximum precipitation has been determined s .
- t. using procedures outlined in Sydrometeorological Report No.
33.(14) The rainf all under the worst meteorological conditions with the reorm centered over the 12.5 km2 basin for several days could ::e expected to reach the following accumulations for the times shown:
Maximum Preci=itation on 12.5 km2 Time Rainfall 6 hours 65.3 cm 12 hours 71.4 cm 24 hours 77.2 cm 48 hours 32.8 cm 31
Precipitation losses were es tima ted to be 2.5 c= lost to tne soil during tne first hour and 0.25 cm per hour for each hour thereafter.
The West Valley plant's water supply system consists of two interconnected lakes formed by earthen dams at the south-eastern end of the site. The overflow weirs for these dams are both more than 15. 2 m below the higher areas of the plant and even during probable maximum precipitation conditions 3
failure of both dams would not cause flooding. The impounded water would flow to Buttermilk Creek at elevations well below the plant site.
l I
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32
2.5 POPULATION DISTRIBUTION Population dens ity , demographic projections, population within a 10 miles (16 km) radius, population with a 50 mile (80 km) radius, and recreation population are described in the following sections.
2.5.1 Poculation Density 9 T The West Valley Site is located in an are"a of relatively low population density. The population data show: (10)
The area within the ten mile (16 km) radius of the burial site has a population density of less than 55 per square mile.
The population density within a fif ty mile (80 km) radius is about 225 per square mile.
The nearest village, Springville, with its nearest boundary
/
\, four and a half miles to the north of the Site, has a population of 4,350.- - -
There is no city or village with in fifteen miles of the Site with a population greater than 10,000.
2.5.2 Democrachic Projections The population in the area of the Si e has increased a: a very slow rate during the past fifty years. The projecced population change through the year 2020 for each county in New 33
York State has been prepared by the New York State Of fice of 1
Planning Co-o rdina tion. (10) The projected population growth rate of each of the counties adjacent to the burial site is less than the projected rate for New Yor.t State. Cattaragus C o un ty , within which the Site is located, has the lowest pro-jected growth rate in the area, 22%, in fifty years. The net migration of the population is expected to be negative over the total fifty year period for each county in the vicinity of the Site. This negative migration for the area is counter to the plus thirteen per cent anticipated for New York State as a whole.
The population of the immediate area is expected to con-tinue its slow increase and to retain a relatively low popula-tion density during the next fif ty years. The urban areas of Erie County, particularly @e metropolitan area of Suffalo are expected to grow. Ecwever, the extent of urbani:ation for the Buffalo areas has been defined by the Erie and Niagara Counties l \
'~
Regional Planning Board to extend only to the southern edge of Hamburg by 1990 which is still twenty miles from :ne Site.
l 2.5.3 Poculation Within 10-Miles (16 km) Radius The population distribution within each of the is compass sectors and within a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 10 mile radius of the West Valley Waste Site are shewn in Figure 2. 5.1.
l 34
yere, sacen a rams Itab Jnc.
~ "
ou~ co
/
._y s9s $ \- Mc !
/ \ )
'ac co~cea o' wao- p .ac,o g
{ s _
co 'ifb.
8'co ,se'* sa s j/ l 's ic.c' , j,uy,,
S [',.c m[8, sf12fhs, e s
-q1 ;
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- 4e[2sf2412a<
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t *
. is e 1 4 1 4
\so\ss
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- y
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4'o 4 . .,r v,u.sv ses o sio -
j ,,, s,so k f \
as l
\
\
,LuCOTTVIL:.1 W
scat.iiiikca - 4 un.ss
~~ -
lisliRE 2.5.1 P_QPt1LAT10N DISTRIBUTION MAP 10 MILE. (16 KILOMETERS) 1970 CENSUS DATA L 2
= = . .
} 35
2.5.4 Population Within 50-Mile (30 km) Radius The population distribution for each of 16 compass sectors and the sucsectors defined by the 10, 20, 30, 40, 5u, du, 70, and 80 kilometer radii from the waste storage site are shown in Figure 2.5.2. A 2 mile (1.6 km) corridor on either side of Cattaraugus Crees from its confluence with Buttermilk Creek to Lake Erie has a maximum population of 9,259 people (1970 census).
1 2.5.5 Recreation Population The influx of population for recreation is relatively low.
The large winter sport areas for skiing in the vicinity of the Site are outside of the ten mile radius. The low quality of the area streams does not attract persons for fishing.
Hunting is performed in the area for birds and deer. This influx occurs during daylight hours within the hunting seasons.
i
- t. The maximum numcer of persons nunting is es tima ted to be four to six per square mile or 1200 to 1800 within the ten mile radius for a few weeks each year.
There has been a gradual increase in the number of seasonal homes in Cattaraugus County. These homes may be occupied for weekends and for two to four week vacation periods. The 1970 census data indicated hat 3.1% of the housing units in the Town of Ashford of Cattaraugus County were seasonal and migra, to ry units. This compares to 6.1% for the total county. The ten mile radius area is acout one-third in Irie Coun:7 wnion has l
36
fere. Eac:n a ' Darts Itab ,3nc.
l
'. f
-
- t ac:,y~ w.
. urlington A\. oc= ^ 3 ""
D Y +# '"
Hamilton
" veena Q
s3 < r,msey 3@ [w 'gekport J
- Rocheste~
8 " 9"
- o St. Catharines ' . ' ' '*"'5' *
- cama 3
^8 "
econia Niagara F 3 Fal,1,s, ,
eil
' I ',
w ,u ,' P ,a "g,,'" R - Mk i s # 6 . ,O ,D
., .~
8 gg {$
l Junnville
- F Eri i,i s. : g, 4
^f
, 19, 2;Agn_
rt Wa tfano 4 M' -
see .g in. ,.s w','n,y g,$1* * *",,, ( p Cananl i
- g- coi n, Jnn,,a,.r; Ku , tjsr grsr.
A,,, ,,
.... 83
_ ga,f
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LAK =
. je e .' M u to
' d u'
- f. "5'3 %
uo, siu 4 EV'd*
2i.
l2 88 13
't,c-c ~6 8.3 35 ERI . ... 6 S ver C
.2.'
~
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f* i3
,'a.ge-sq ;9 Da . vill
.gg unks ' 2.s
, 2.
^
j,',%' i , , , , ,
J 2)2 I** I ' #CCW g* sPaff **<euwse [9,/
teed $sC:,oas 3.3 4.3g*si.s .'..redCr ia l.'
3.8
.s 1.4 I 10 a.s Cans I s adea
.' 2.0 i .2 u 22.3 20
" **- e <
sE -
t,7 r,an '" . .o Homell:
w II 70 2.3 8 2.s o.s ' '
- 0 4 o.s 1 C ea4.o
6
= u u ...... u J. 3.
n ,2
- i. . . ).. /S as a .2 u 4, _A awr
.l Pan a s.s 3A.a ,
- lean u
esw' s.* 17 i.
,, ja . Stow 37 1,
/ ;
I^
2
.-1.3"jfy&.5\as.s -
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m ~s
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1 ..1 27 4.4 bea- CJie!Of' 4.4\ #5 "
3 --
- __ _ . Suen junn c- as, . _. . ] . .::. <,
~
N N
FIGURE 2.5.2 POPULATION DISTRIBUTION MAP (IO00'S)
(80 KILOMETERS),50 MILE
~~
1970 CEWSUS 0 TX 37
i . .
a lower percentage of seasonal homes. Thus, it is estimated thac 6% of the housing units within the ten mile radius are seasonal homes, which may result in a population variation of about one thousand persons on a seasonal basis.
I i
1 L
s, .
l l
l l
l l
l 33
d 2.6 RADICACTIVE NUCLIDE INVFlITORY Based on data frcm Kelleher and Michael (4) and Knigh (15) there are an estimated 409,000 Ci of Sy-Product Material (SPM) and 23oPu buried in 64,590 m3 of low-level radioactive waste at the West Valley burial site, not including Special Nuclear Materials (SNM) nor Source Materials (SM). The estimated specific, nuclide concentrations for wastes buried in the low-level waste disposal area that have been identifie( are listed f in Table 2.6.1.
The sources of the low-level wastes buried at West Valley are given by volume percent in Table 2.6.2 for tr'enches 1-11.
It is expected that the source ratios are similar for trenches 12-14.
Tne West Valley fuel reprocessing plant used both the standard Purex and Thorex processes to recover useful fuel-residues from irradiated reactor cores.(2) The majority of (s the high-level liquid wastes on-site were generated by the Purex process, neutralized, and stored in one of the two 750,000 gallon mild steel tanks. The high-level liquid waste from the Thorex process is stored in acidic condition in one of the two 15,000 gallon stainless steel storage tanks l Estimated characteristics of the hign-level wastes are given in Table 2.6.3. The approximate radionuclide conten: of the Purex or neutralized waste is listed in Tacle 2.6.4, and that of the acid waste in Table 2.6.5. These tacles were obtained from reference 2.
l 39
,. R
~.
k r , -
L ch -
(AutE 26 l LSilM AI LD INVENIOilY Foil I OW LhVEL. WASI L OlHil Al. lilit4Calki e
1 Ta :seela tot 41 W.s a l s,
~ ~ ^^
NucilDE CONCENTil AllON IN WASTE lucal.an3 )
tess . As.ttv6ty Vul uanes ~
ICil Ill Ib " Uc .. I 2#6 ss 2443,, 2nd 239 g JAS 232 L n. 3 ) Ca u
.. ..-------..r.t . . - . -
~I Il S.sSatu4 S.luunOS 7.0 6.6 alo-2 5.1 alo-2 5.8 alo-4 4.9 alo-4 1.1 al0 /.6 ml0-2 1.2mlu-S 2.lal0~6 s.9mlu-6 In S.4salue S.47mlu# 6.1 6.4al0'I a.5 alu-l S.h ulu-4 S.e mio-7 7.7 alo-4 6.7 mIO~I 7. Sa lo' 4 9.Intud J.%8u 6 9 1.42mlui 4.92m40 8 1.6 1.G mlu- 2.8 10' l.8 al0
~I 2.8 ali 6 g,, ,gg-A y,g ,g ,-2 g,y,gg-1 g , ,, g ,- m S. sa lu'"
is 1.u7mlu* 7.thalu 3
2.2 4.9 al0
~8 4.M l.4ali* 2. 3 ali* 2.5 ali* 3.1 alo' 3. 9m ig ! g ,,, g g 6 3, j, g g S S 9.49mlu i 7.Mumlo" 8.4 1.M mli0 S.9 1.1 mli S.6 alo'$ -
1.7 slo # 2. lalo
-I u .Sa li s. amli' y 4 h.lintu i
1.7/mlu# 1.5 mli I l.0 alo
-I J.2 alu'2 3.9 alu
-i
- 2. 5 u ti* - -
1.uml0'I J. 2m li b ,
O 6 4.71mlu* S . 6 2m i ts" 8.2 ali I W.9 ali* 7.8 alo'I -
8.9 ali -
- 7. 2 alo 8.lulo" 6.umli 1. 6m l G'"
J.2mlu I 1.24mlu' 2. 5 a lu'I J -
4.9 m3(2 -
- 6. 2 slo- - -
1.7mlu
- 4. sali -
I ~
4 4.llatu 1.56m40* l. I li 6.4 h!O'* 2. 2 ml0" - - - - -
1.9mlu " J. 0m li i 8.S7mlu 8 7.0um30 - -
).6 - - - - - -
9.uml0~ -
6 1.04mlo 2.80ml0 - -
4.9 alo - - - - - - -
I JI *I 1.IJalu 4 S.49m40' J. 2 9. 8 ali I 4. 6 S.O mli 1. 4 ali is.4 ali
- 6. 2 al0~ 7.3 mio' ! .7m li' J samli i I I*I 9.40mlu' S.u2mlu' J.2 9.8 mai I 4.6 S. 0 ali* 8. 8 a li' ' a.4 alu'* 6.2 mio'# !. s alo
-I 4.7mli b 2.sh li 14I *I l.Jlato*
4.72mlu* 2. 2 9. m alo-I
- 1. 6 S.0 mai* 1. I a l 0'
- 8.4mai* 6.J miu 7.J ml0~ I . 7m l u J.suli 7.se a l 4. u ;m lu 6.46m10 g
2.umlo I
-I W.4ali*
Avu -
2.J 9.umiu 1.6 S.O al0 8.I mlu
- 6.2 mit[ 1. 7m li'* 2.su li p 3
lui thia.le Cannentsas6o..a los Ts aule.m 12.13.u I I4 sateo so I= .weemum of Teena.lims 1 II (unusung 6 meul 73 b f
Es er L.
3
- p l
l
Table 2.6.2 volumes Suried by Type of Facility Dates i Waste Excavated Percentace of volume ==
Trench Start S:Op Vol m3 7ol m3 1 2 3 4 5 6 11 5/72 12/72 5,175 N/A 6.8 1.5 10.2 31.3 15.1 35.0 10 6/71 5/72 5,166 10,249 5.8 2.9 8.5 15.5 34.4 33.0 9 10/70 6/71 4,919 10,249 1.6 1.5 9.0 14.0 13.7 55.2 3 1/69 11/70 7,147 10,249 0.6 2.0 16.0 24.6 25.2 31.6 1
5 5/67 2/691 7,882 11,042 2.0 1.3 16.2 22.1 21.2137.2 I
i 4
l10/65 6/67 7,769 12,231 4.0 1.0 37.6 21.923.7l11.5 3 7/64 11/65 5,625 13,024 5.2 0.4 19.9 40.0 0 34.5 s 2* 5/64 10/64 3,235 13,024 3.0 0.2 24.0 53.6 0 19.2
., 1* 11/63 5/64 1,565 0.7 1.1 41.3 4.8 0 51.6 7 3/65 69.8 N/A l11/65 0 0 5.7 0 0 94.3 6 7/70 10/70 2.1 N/A 0 0 0 0 0 100
/I s
12 N/A N/A 5,494 N/A N/A N/A N/A, N/A; N/A N/A L
13 N/A 5,815 N/A N/AIN/A N/A l N/AfN/A N/.% N/A 14 l N/A l N/Al4,726 N/A N/AlN/A N/A) N/A N/Al N/A
- 1 and 2 are the same trench l
- 1 - Nuclear Pcwer Plants I
2 - Institutional, education and hospitals 3 - Federal Government 4 - Industrial, pharmaceutical manufacturers industrial research 5 - Nuclear Fuel Services at Wesc Valley, N.Y. & at Irw n, Tennesee 6 'daste disposal and decencamination ecmpanies 5curce: Kellehe: and Michael Knight (:renches 12, 13, 14 Perscnal C:mmunication) 41 1
TABLE 2.6.3 APPROXIMATE HIGH-LIVEL NASTE CEARACTERISTICS NEUTPALIIED ACID (a)
Supernate Sludce Comp. (M)
Al 0.01 0.09 (1.3) 0.35 Cl 0.01 N.A. O Cr + Ni N.A. 0.04 (0.8) N.A.
C0 24 0.08 N.A. N.A.
? 0.01 N.A. 0.1 i
Fe N.A. 0.29 (5.9) N.A.
L ENO 3 N.A. N.A. 1.03 Mo 0.01 N.A. N.A.
Na
- K 6.78 N.A. N.A.
CH (Excess) 0.17 N.A. N.A.
P 0.08 N.A. 0.04 50 4 0.28 N.A. N.A.
Th N.A. N.A. 1.46 7 3 6 Curies, Total (Calc., 1973) 4.0 x 10 2.7 x 10 2.5 x 10 Temp, CF 195 200 117 (uncealed) (assumed) (ccoled)
Vol, gal 570,000 30,000 12,000 (estima ted)
Depth, ft 1-1 (estimated)
Heating Value 0.7 (140) 3 (Stu/hr/;al)
- a. Numbers in parenthesis are based en we: sludge volume.
N.A. -- not applicable From NUF2G-0043 42 l
l
TABLZ 2.6.4 APPROXIMATE PADICCHEMICAL CCN"'ENT OF NEUTRALIZED WASTI CA~CULATED AS OF 1973 Total Concentration Inventory ) in Sludge in Sludge, in Supernate, Nuclide (Ci) (Assumed) (Ci) uCi/ml 4
90 3r 1.3 x 10 99 1.29 x 107 5.6 x 101 99Tc 1.6 x 103
- 0 0 6.9 x 10-1 137 Cs
~
1.8 x 10 3 0 0 7.8 x 10 0
129; 4.6 x 10 0 0 2.0 x 10 238 73 4.0 x 10 3 99.9 4.0 x 10 3 1.7 x 10-3 239 Pu 1.8 x 10 3 99.9 1.8 x 10 3 7.3 x 10
-4 240 Pu 9.0 x 10 99.9 9.0 x 10 2 3.9 x 10-4 5 5 241 2.0 x 10 99.9 2.0 x 10 8.7 x 10-2 Pu -
242 Pu 3.0 x 10 99.9 5.0 x 10-2 -6 2.0 x 10 241 g 1.2 x 104 99 1.19 x 10 4 5.2 x 10 -2 243 3 1.3 x 103 99 1.29 x 10 5.7 x 10-3 5 5 242 3 1.5 x 10 99 1.49 x 10 6.5 x 10-1 1.5 x 10" 244 3 99 1.49 x 10 3 6.5 x 10 7
( 9 0.g 1.3 x 10 99 1.29 x 10 7
5.6 x 10-i 7 2 106 4.5 x 10 99 4.45 x 10 7 2.0 x 10 Ru 106 g 4.5 x 107 99 4.45 x 107 2.0 x 10 2 137m3 , 1.8 x 107 0 0 7.8 x 103 144c , 6.9 x 107 99 6.3 x 107 3.0 x 102 144p ; 6.9 x 10 Y 99 6.8 x 107 3.0 x 10 2 147 3 2.4 x 107 99 2.38 x 107 1.0 x 102
- Es & ate provided by NRC.
? cm NUREG-0043.
43
TABI.E 2.6.5 APPPC:CFEE PACICCEEMICAL C:2CTIS CF M%N NAS"I CAICCIA"ED AS CF 1973 Present Ini*dal Centent, "btal Ictivit/, C d es Ccncentraticn, i
Isctcce c:.: ries / tenne 2-U As Secred Pr=m : Ci/ml 4 :
90 Sr 3.6 x 10 5.6 x 10 5 5.0 x 10~ 1.1 x 10 4 3.6 x 10 4 5.6 x 10 5 4
907 5.0 x 10~ 1.1 x 10 106
.R1 1.3 x 10 4 2.0 x 10 5 1.3 x 10 4 2.9 x 10 2 106.h c 1.3 x 10 4 2.0 x 10 5 1.3 x 10 4 2.3 x 10 2 129, 1.8 x 10-2 2.3 x 10 ~1 2.3 x 10 ~1 6.1 x 10 ~3 5.0 x 10 4 137 3 7.3 x 10". 7.0 x 10" 1.5 x 10 4 13 g 5.0 x 10 4 7.3 x 10" 7.0 x 10 5 1.5 x 10 4 144 3 1.2 x 10 4 1.9 x 10 5 5.7 x 10 3 1.2 x 10 2 14% 1.2 x 10 4 1.9 x 10 5 5.7 x 10 3 1.2 x 10 2 147 3 1.4 x 10 4 2.2 x 10 5 7.5 x 10 4 1.6 x 10 3 5.0 x 10-1 7.3 x 10 0 7.3 x 10 0 1
233 v 1.7 x 10 -
235 v
1.4 x 10 ~4 2.2 x 10 -3 2.2 x 10 -3 4.8 x 10 -5 f Bases: 1,050 kg U
'( '
15.5 tennes t. W _tm Burn:o 15,600 .Wtenne "?. + U 1400 days eccli.g at ti.m cf ::ccessing 4 years cooli.g si.ce pr cessing Voltsne 12,047 gal = 4.5 x 10' ::tl hun 2KM0043 44
.j . .
- 3. ENVIRCNMENTAL PATHWAYS AND EXPO 5URE MECHANISMS To assess the waste management operations at ene West Valley site, the models in the RWCC5 methodology were adapted by adjusting the values of input parameters to represent charac-teristics of the site. Potential radionuclide releases were then calculated using the NDCS me thodology. (1) The exposure events Were modified to match expected conditions at both the icw-level waste burial area and the high-level waste storage tanks. The following sections contain descriptions of the.
exposure events that are applicable to the West Valley site, using the pathways models described in reference 1.
\
h l
l r
l 45 l
3.1 :NHALA" ION OF DUST 37 A RECLAIMER If institutional controls are relinquished at the West Valley site after 150 years, it is possible that a reclaimer t
may inadvertently dig into the buried low-level wastes in an effort to utilize the area. However, because the high-level wastes are in tanks inside concrete bunkers, and are covered with ab'out 3 meters of soil, an inadvertent or unintentional 9 7 encounter with the wastes is not expected. This exposure. event is enerefore applied only to the low-level waste burial area.
The equation relating dose rate for a given nuclide concen-tration to a reclaimer for the nuclides is given as follows: (1)
D; (= rem /yr) =C 3 KUaTX f (UF}m exp (-1501 3) (1) o where
, D = dose rate (mrem /yr)
\ C3 = average concentration of isotope m in the waste at the time of burial (uci/cm )3 K = dust loading in the air ( 5 x 10 -9 g/m3)
- Ua = breathing rate of exposed individual (0. 91 m 3 /hr)
Tx = time of exposure (500 hrs)
=
(DF ) 3 dose rate conversion factor for isotope m (mrem /yr/uCi inhaled) f = factor to account for average to maxi =um concentration of isotope m in soil (unity for this case)
- = density of waste material (1.5 g/cm 3) 1 = decay constan: for =th nuclide 3
45
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _. .)
e Applying eq. (1) with the concentrations shown in Table -
l 2.6.1 results in the dose rate to a reclaime inhaling the dust at the site, given in Table 3.1.1. Although 23ePu contributes the most significant portion of the dose rate at 150 years, its 37.8 yr half-life will make this nuclide unimportant if reclamation does not occur until a few hundred years later.
f s
f 1
l l
47
~
TAsLE 3.1.1 COSE RATE TO RECLAIMER I:W.ALING 3 CST AT THE SITE cose Commitment Concentration Factor (16) Case Rate Isotope (uci/cm3) (arem/pci) Organ (mram/yr) 238Pu 6.2 x 10-2 2.69 bone 140.
241Am . 8.4 x 10-4 0.993 bone 1.9 226Ra 1.1 x 10-4 0.125 bone 0.035 239?u 2.0 x 10-4 3.05 bone 17 232Th 2.0 x 10-6 1.99 , hone 0.11 Total 160 l
i l
l 1 .
l I
m
3.2 WELL WATER CONSUMPTICN EVENTS Some of tne radionuclides in the wastes at the West Valley site potentially coukd migrate by leaching and transport througn groundwater that contacts tne wastes. It is possible J
enat this contaminated groundwater could be tapped via a well at some time in the future and consumed by humans.
The po tential magnitude of the consequences of consump-
, tion of con taminated well wa ter from leaching of the buried low-level wastes and from postulated leakage events at the high-1& vel waste tanks have been calculated. The RWDCS method-ology from reference 1 was applied to the West Valley site.
The nuclide specific parameters used in the evaluations are summarized in Table 3.2.1. The sorption coefficients used in t
the calculations have been compared to those reported in refer-ence 10 that were determined by =easurements using West Valley soils. The coef ficients listed in Table 3.2.1 agree quite well 5
with those measured at West Valley.
The magnitude of potential doses to an individual who consumes all of his annual water requirements from the well contaminated by leaching from the low-level waste burial site are tabul a ted in Table 3.2.2 for tne =ajor nuclides of in te r e s t in the inventory. Until institutional control of the West Valley area is relinquished, tnis well would have to be off-site, a distance of 1500 m downgradient. After institutional controls are relaxed, the well could be on-site, allowing only a 49
Table 3.2.1 CHARACTERISTICS OF NUC! IDES CSED IN CALCULATICNS Sorption Half- Cecay Leach (a)
Coefficient Life Constapt, A m Constant, A, Nuclide (K) (yr) ( y r~ -) (yr-1) 3., 1 1.23x1013 5. 6 2x10- 2 ~L 1 - 10 14 l.0x10 5.73x10 1.21x10f 10
-4 3 ~
-1 55- 3.3x10 2.70 2.57x10 ~ 10 60-Co 3.3x10 3
1.32x10 -1 ~1 5.3 10 1
1.0:i10 2 -2
~
90 2.9x10 _ 2.43x10)- 10 ~
10f
~
9 9 ",' 1 2.13x10"7 3.25x10 ~0 '
~
- 129; 1 3
1.59x10 4.36x10
~7 10 -
'3 135's l.0x10 2.3x10 3.01x10 10 137 C 3
' . 3 -2 -3 Cs 1. 0 x10., 3.0lx10^3 2.3x10 10 226 5.0x10' ~4 ~3 l.62x10 4.29x10 10 235 1. 4:dO 4 7.04x10 8
9.85x10 10 107 !
9 ~
238k, 1. 4:d0 2 4.47x10 6
1.55x10 -7 10 3
~
237' l.0x10 2.14x10 3.24x10 -3 10 3 23S N9 1.0x10 44
~
8.78x10f 7.39x10 ~11 10 3
~
232 5.0x10 1.39x10 0 4.99x10 10 1.0x10 44 2. 44:dO 43 -5 ~
2393 ,, 2.84x10
~4 10 !
~
240'* 1. 0:dO 4 6.54x10 1.06x10 ., 10 3 24132 "
~ ~
1.0x10 1.50x10b 4.62x10 ; 10 3 242'" 1.0x10 44
~ -
3.87x10"2 1.79x10-3* 10 3
~
241 1.0x10 4.33x10 1.60x10 10 "
3 -5 ~
f 243 3 1.0:dO 3 7.37x10 9.40x10 10,!
( 242 3.3x10 3 4.50x10 t' l.55 _.,
244 3 3.3x10 1.79x10 3.87x10 - 10_*3 10 3 . . .
l (a) value used for low- level wastes and high-level sludges.
i .
Leak rates were used for supernate sigration calculations.
l 50
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aer ut y di/
_ iS m
_ v e
- i i nr 4 5 2 I
_ d os a - - - -
i s
s
(
0 9, o 0 0 0 l u
I t 0 0 1 1 1 t el 5 x x x x u
.ul 3 4 0 7 xsk e , . s aI W 1 2 5 4 e M t r a r
e d r n rs e i i
o eL t i t f s) 5 4 l t aniAr3 6 1 1 I 5 a A Wo om 0
- - - - - r isec 0 0 0 0 g E l t eY/ 1 1 1 1 1 i R l al i i 0 x 0 0 x 0 0 x x x m A erc0c 8 0 0 0 6
, Wt n5 i l e ie1(
s 2 5 4 7 3 s L k er a A acT e I e i r
l l P o c u C n i
' l I
s d E e l T >
u s S k oi A - - m i
e yr )r 2 1 c
W -
ul t mai a/
y - - t 0 0 a R i i S d s
n me 0 1 1 i n
O xd .u 0 0 0 O 0 0 0 x 4 t
t F ai t M vA o r u 4 0 .
n i b (s 5 5 o S di i
2 E s t S
I a 2 O z i
. D i r l 3 o l D f 0 t i
E N l p t ) ' 1 u L A y, l l u rm i
J l i s 6 l - o I eut - - 0 s A S Wsi ac d 0 0 1 T l l
k oi S un/
s i 0 1
x 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
x x 6 r
O 1 A bpc o aCt 0 0 n I e .
T l' r ( 2 7 4 g A
t e n .
t iu a
i T x e
% N W ei r, E C
l c pn me J
oi OI cc e i C s 6 5 5 6 6 6 6 I l f a y 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 '0 af t
l f ee r 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 i e E ol t ai a 0 0 x x x x x x x x t nn T
A eI S.uy m
t dn )r 2 4
0 5
3 2
0 2
2 2
U 1
eo t l W ikt 5 L 4 2 4 4 4 5 2 ou TaA e o(
p pr e
_ L P yv L nn E ao
. W - c d y 1 1 n er 5 2 5 1 1 3 2 - - oes yo 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
_. at ) 1 1 1 1 8 1 1 1 1 1 d o cni x x x x x x x x x ed eec d v(
4 1 0 2 6 4 0 7 2 i l.
s aeg nsI a 1 6 1 3 5 4 4 1 5 l e
i t n
_ toloe _
) N c
- d e
(
d o
c- c a
3 p
P u
H g
7 i c c 7 6 1 H 9 5 2 )
l 1
1 4 0 3 2 4 3 1 3 3 a 3 1 6 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 (
ci i
N . _
1 Y.
s minimum amcun of sorption and dilution Oc occur. Both situ-ations are listed in Table 3.2.2.
Concentrations in the well water, C,w are given by:
Cw = ArIo fo (2) n.
where -
1 AL= the effective nuclide leach constant (yr-1)
Io = the intial nuclide invento ry (Ci at time leaching begins) fo = peak ratio of quantity of nuclide arriving in groundwater at well to that leaving wastes in first year, calculated by the methodology given in reference 1 mt = aquifer volumetric flow rate at well (m3fy )
Coses are calculated from the concentration in the well water ey:
(L Dr = C., (DF)3 Ua (3) where Dr = Dose rate (mrem /yr)
Cw = Concentration of nuclude in well water (aci/cm3)
(DF)m = Dose conversion f actor (mrem /uci)
Ca = Water usage factor (cm3/yr)
For both the well water and groundwater migration calcula-tions, the movement of radionuclif es througn subsurface media is calculated. The ratio of the amount of a given nuclide in
- na groundwater in :ne first year of leaching 'or leaking of
supernate) a: the po int of interest (the well in :his case) to tne initial inventory is calculated by taxing into accoun: ne 1
rate at which nuclides initially enter the groundwater (leacning c: leaking of supernate), ion exchange or so:ption, dispersion, and radioactive decay. The term fa in eg. 2 is to account for these effects.(1) In determining fo, the distances through which the nuclides migrate, and the velocities at which the groundwater {movesmust be specified, along with the nuclide e
specific constants from Table 3.2.1 describing the ir movemen:
through the po rous media.
For the low-level vaste burial area, the groundwa e has been assumed to move vertically downward 10 m at 0.06 m/yr and then laterally migrate 1500 m at 6 m/yr to Buttermilk Creek or th e location of an off-site well. For the on-site well after institutional control is relinquished, the concentrations are calculated directly below the waste disposal tren,ches afte:
/ ' moving downward the 10 m distance. Figures 2.4.1 and 2.4.2 show
\
i
\ stratigraphic . cross-sections of the area near ene burial site.
i A value of 1.4 x 10 7 1/y of groundwater is used fo: the i dilution volume. This value is derived f rom pecductivity data of wells in the area. (9)
The results of the calculations at the low-level waste t
- burial site show that the most critical nuclide calcula
- ed is 14C. However, the environmental behavior of carbon is very complex. C:ganic agents in the ground could change the ra:es at whicn 14C migrates. The doses resultant from :nis e:cpo sur e 1
E1
, . . . . , _ - - , _ . _ . - - . _ _ . - m_ , . . , . . . - , , . _ __ _ ._ _ , . . _ . , . _ _ _ . _ __ -..-__.-._._m_,
event are not of a magnitude to be of consequence in any case.
Other calculations (1) have shown 129: to be of some concern.
However, for' the low-level wastes of ' des: Valley, this nuclide was not explicitly identified and has not been analyzed.
The distances and velocities used for calculating the releases to a well beneath the high-level waste tanks are a vertical downward movement of 10 m at 0.5 m/yr. The values have been selected based on the hydrologic inf o rma tio n given in Chapter 2 as being representative of the si:e. The high ver-tical ve lo c ity associated with the high-level waste tanks reflects tne potential presence of more sand and gravel lenses in that area.
- For the high-level waste tanks, it is not expected enat However, to estimate the magni-uncontained leaks will occur.
tude of the effects if leaks or large scale failure of the tanks were to occur, calculations based on parameters representative
[ of the ' des Valley site are presented. These calculations also
\ provide insight into classifica:ica of the wastes in the tanks.
Since th e construction of the tanks and concrece vaults a positive hyd r aulic head has been maintained in the ground outside the vaults by injection of a perched water zone around the concrete. This provides a hyd raulic gradient so that any leaks will be into the tank vaults. Only about 2 m3/yr of make up wa:e: is presently :equired to maintain :ne ne ad . (7 )
However, after in s t i tu t io nal con :al is relinquisned, this pe rched :o ne will dissipa te. Ground movement or drying and 54
cracxing possibly could then increase the permeacility of tne area, resulting in higher vertical velocities than presently observed. The low volume of makeup water is, however, indica-tive of the slow water velocity presently -observed in the vicinity of the tanks, and shows that the gravel lenses in the area are no t connected directly to the groundwater around the tanks at, this time.
I The following potential exposure events for the high-level waste tanks are analyzed as an illustration of the effects tha may occur if the tanks containing wastesa "re left in place: (1) a slow leak through the tank and vault ( ~41/hr ) develops after 150 years and is not cc::ected; (2) a large scale, rapid failure of the tank and vault occurs after 150 years; and (3) the high level wastes are solidified and returned to the tanks. The first event is typical of what could happen if cc :osion of the tank r esul ted in a small hole through which the supernate could
- leak. The sludge is assumed to be subsequently leached cy groundwater. The second event could occur if corrosion wi th advancing time caused massive failure of the tank, witn cracking or disintegration of the concrete vault from One passage of time or' ear ch movement. This event further assu=es tnat no miti-gating action, such as pumping into the spare tank, takes place and
- na t the wastes are lef; in place without solidifica icn.
The first of these even:s, tne uncorrected slev leak, is representative of wna may cccur after institutional con::cis are relinquished if no mitigating actions are taken. In the a:
se
d cracki.'s possibly could then increase the pe rme ac ili:7 of the area, resulting in higher vertical velocities enan presently observed. The low volume of makeup water is, however, indica-tive of the slow water velocity presently o: served in the vicinity of the tanks, and shows that the gravel lenses in the area are no t connected directly to the groundwater around the tanks at. this time.
The following potential exposure events for the high-level I
waste tanks are analyzed as an illustration of the effects tha:
may occur if the tanks containing wastes are lef in place: (1) a slow leak through the tank and vault ( 41/hr) develops after 150 years and is not corrected (2) a large scale, rapid failure of the tank and vault occurs af ter 150 years; and (3) the high level wastes are solidified and returned to the tanks. The first event is typical of what could happen if corrosion of the tank r esul ted in a small hole through which the supernate could leak. The sludge is assumed to be subsequently leached cy groundwater. The second event could occur if corrosion wi th advancing time caused massive failure of the tank, witn cracking i
- or disintegration of the concrete vault from ne passage of time or' earth movement. This event further assumes enat no miti-
! gating action, such as pumping into the spare tank, takes place and ena t ene wastes are left in place without solidification.
The first of these events, the uncorrected slow leak, is
{ representative of what may occur after ins:itutional controls are relinquished if no mitigating actions are taken. In the 4
m e r
f
, u -r- -- .- , -
nature of the solidification or v i:: i f ic a tio n process will ensure the leach constants given acove. These leacn constan:s are generally lower unan : nose specified in reference 1 and in
- he slow leak event because special solidification procedures should result in lower leach rates. Furthermore, they should be small owing to the extremely low aquifer movemen; in the vicinity of ene tanks. If the leach constants for 99Tc and 129I are increased, the resulti.7i calculated doses are increased -
t .
p ropo rtio nally.
Tables 3.2.3, 3.2.4 and 3.2.5 contain summaries of the calculations performed for the slow leak, =assive failure and solidification of t h'e high-level wastes, respectively. The results indicate that 99 Tc, 129: and 239?u are of most concern if these events were to occur.
e The dose rates from 129 I have been calculated f o r bo th the most restrictive organ, the tnyroid (T), and the whole body
(
( (WB), which is more representative of an actual dose rate
\.
limitation. Because of its long halflife, it takes 6 kg of 129 I to make one curie. Therefore, if the rati'o of 129: :o 127I in the body is 21 or less,(1) it is not possible to exceed the annual permissible thyroid dose. Because a person's intake of iodine is from many sources, it is unlikely that even 2% of i his iodine would come from waste disposal activities. Any excess iodine taken into the body from contaminated well water would :herefore cntribute more to the whole cody dose ra:e : nan the thyroid, making the whole body dose ra:e a be::e: indica:c:
.s 1
J n ,
,x . . .
TABLtd 3.2.3
')
MAXIMilM lilDIVIDilAL DOSE RATES PltOM WEL1, WATER CONTAMINAT1?D 11Y SLOW LEAK OP llLW TANKS .
Tine Af ter 150 yrs of Ibsk Peak Concuitration Ibse lutu Ibse Ibte imu Inventony After Percentage Helease beneath in Well Water fran Sugernate Sitalge fluct i<le 150 ya u (Ci) in Sltalge Tanks (yr) ( ci/an3) (mruiVyr) (mius/yr) 90Sr 3.6 x 10 5 99 2000 2.0 x 10-22 1.6 x 10-14 1.1 x 10-12
, 9'he 8.1 x 104 0 20 1.7 x 10-3 7.6 x 103 0 137cu 5.7 x 105 0 2.0 x 104 0 0 0
. 1291 4.6 0 20 4.8 x 10-6 2.5 x 104 T/ 0 o.
3.2 x 10I WH
- 2IUPu 1. 2 x 103 99.9 2.0 x 105 0 0 0 2 19 Pu 1.8 x 103 99.9 2.0 x 105 6.4 x 10-9 3.6 2.4 240po 9,o x 302 99.9 2.0 x 105 5.8 x 10-16 3.2 x 10-7 2.2 x 10
-7 242Pu 5.0 x 10-2 99.9 2.0 x 105 3.6 x 10-11 1.9 x 10-2 L.3 x 10-2
- 24Ihn 9.4 x 103 99 2.0 x 105 o o o 24ihn 1.3 x 103 99 2.0 x 105 9.3 x 10-I4 5.5 x 10-S 2.0 x 10-6 244an 4,5 x jo2 99 6.6 x 104 0 0 0
i
?
t' m
~
2
~'
l .
TAllLE 3.2.4
- MAXIMUM INDIVIDUAL DOSE RATES PHOM LAHGE-SCALE PAILURE OP llIGli LEVEL WASTE TANKS APTER 150 YEAHS Time to Peak Peak Concentration Dose Rate Prom Helease lleneath in Well Water Supernate Nuclide Tanks (yr) (pci/cm3) (mrem /yr) 99 Tc 20 1.1 x 10-1 5.1 x 105 i
d 1291 20 3.3 x 10-4 1.7 x 106 T/
2.2 x 103 Wts 239pu -7 2.5 x 102 2x 105 4,4 x 10 240pu 2x 105 4,0 x 10-14 2.2 x 10-5 u.
j 242Pu 2x 10 5 2.5 x 10-9 1.3 l 243 Am 2x 10 5 6.4 x 10-13 3.8 x 10-4 "As noted in text, actual thyroid dose rates cannot be this high.
It 100% of the iodine in an adult thyroid were 1291, the re-sultant dose rate would be only 7.3 x 104 mrem /yr. (See article
' by J. K. Soldat, Ilealth Physics, Pergamon Press, 1976, Vol. 30 (Jan) pp 61-70.) Therefore, the whole body dose rate is more
- representative of the actual exposures under the calculated con-d i t- ions. This arti ficially high value calculat.ed using the HWDCS 1
methodology directly is reported only for consistency and per-i spect.ive in comparisons of t.he various cases.
i I
i
.s
. 's TABLE 3.2.5 MAXIMilH INDIVIDilAL DOSE IIATES FitOM SOLIDIFIED lliW RETUltNED TO TA11KS WITil 10-6/Yit EFFECTIVE I.EACil CONSTANT Time After l$0 Yrs of Peak Release Peak Concentrdtion Maximtim Individual Inventory After 11enentti Tanku in Well Water Dose Ita te IJucl ide 150 yrs (Ci) (Yr) (1Ci/m3) (mrem /yr) 90 Sr 3.6 x 105 2000 2.0 x 10 -26 1.1 x 10-16 SSTc' 8.1 x 104 20 1.1 x 10 -5 S.1 x 10 1 137 Cs S.7 x 10 5 2.0 x 104 0 0 129 g
- 4.6 20 3.3 x 10-8 1.7 x 10 2 77 pj 2.7 x 10 -I Wii 23HPu 1.2 x 103 2.0 x 105 0 0 239Pu 1.11 x 103 2.0 x 105 4.3 x 10-10 2.4 x 10-I 240Pu 9.0 x 102 2.0 x 105 4.0 x 107 37 2.2 x 10-8 242Pu S.0 x 10-2 2.0 x 10 5 2.5 x 10-12 1.3 x 10-3 241Am 9.4 x 10 3 2.0 x 105 0 0 253 Am 1. 3 x 103 2.0 x 105 3.4 x 10-16 2.0 x 10-7 244Cm 4.5 x 102 6.6 x 104 0 0
- 10-4/yr lucicli constant tised Ior Lliese more volatile nuclides
e of the actual environmental consecuences of 129I than the thyroid dose race.
The productivity of the f r ac tur ed shale hedro x :ene beneath the tanks again has been estima:ed to be 1.4 x 107 Vyr based on data from existing wells adjacent to the site.(9)
The releases have been calculated for the supernate and sludge in the neutralized waste tanks. The thorium acidic waste is of much smaller volume and would be rapidly neutralized if it were to leak. The behavior of the neutralized waste is therefore representative of the acidic waste also.
The analysis of the exposure events involving the high-level waste tanks indicate that some concern fo r mitigating actions is justified. For the slow leak case, the 99Tc exposure is larger than desiracle. This is obviously also the case for e
the massive failure of the tank, and 23s?u and 129I exposures from this evene are also of some concern. The magnitude of the
( calculated po tencial dose races indicate that some preventative
\.' For instance, solidification and measures may. be appropriate.
pernaps vitr ification of the wastes or at least the supernate would greatly lower the calculate'd dose ra:es.
One final consideration relating to the well water event is the fact th a t ,. of the postulated exposure events, the con-
! struction of a well directly on the site that extends only 10 m in depth is one of the less likely to occur. There are many other more productive wa:er sources in the area.
51
4 3.3 DIRECT GAMMA EXPCSURE Another possible exposure event is the direct gamma exposure of a person standing directly on the radioactive low level waste disposal area. If the 2.5 meter soil cover is maintained on to p of the waste, the dose rate from a given nuclide concentration is given as:
Dr (mrem /yr) = (3.68 x 109) f C,,, E7 (ut)
(4) 22 where f = fraction of photon transition per disintegration Cm = concentration of nuclide m in the waste at the time of burist (uCi/cm3)
E2 (u t) = attenuation term for top soil a = attenuation coefficient (0.11 cm-1) t= thickness (250 cm) 4 3 = flux at photon energy E to give dose rate in mrem /hr.
f 5
s Table 3.3.1 contains the calculated dose rate fr om gamma
- exposure to a person standing on the vaste burial site. These exposures ar e for the primary gam =a emitting nuclides,and show that the nuclide concentrations are well below acceptable levels. Also shcwn in the table are the direct gamma dose rates i to a reclaimer digging into the waste af ter 150 years'.
i A possible reclamation scenario involves a person who digs
, do en to the concrete vault enclosing :he nigh level storage l
tanks and :here receives a gam =a dose.
^
g w f TAlli.E 3.3.I DOSE ItATE DUE TO GAMMA EX180SullE TO [
l'EllSON STANDING ON T!!E IIADIOACTIVE SITE Ibse lutc* in Dose hte Alxwe itecluiner G w aitration Gcaisikt Ihrgy thtrial Wastes (after 150 yru)
Isota g e ICi/uu3 NV l' kn E2 (inro V'yr) (nu uiv'yr) 64b 1.58 1.173 100% 1300 4 x 10-I4 1.8 x 10- 1.2 x 10-2 1.332 100% 1200 4 x 10-14 1.9 x 10-7 1.2 x 10-2 137cs S.02 x 10-4 0.b62 854 2200 4 x 10-14 3.3 x 10-11 2.5 x 10 1 23Sil 1.83 x 10-6 0.143 111 11300 4 x 10-14 2.6 x 10-15 6.S x 10-2 0.185 54% 0700 4 x 10-14 1.7 x 10-14 4.2 x 10-1 0.204 St 7800 4 x 10-14 1.7 x 10-15 4.2 x 10-2 24thn U.30 x 10-4 0.060 361 25200 4 x 10-14 1.8 x 10-12 3.5 x lol
'lOl'AI, 3.7 x 10- 6.0 x 10 1
- 1:2 " I f r tiils case.
4 9 The concrete vault is two fee: thick and ne top of the vault is modeled to be an infinite planar source of radi-acion. The limiting nuclide is '9 3 9'C s .
The dose rate is given cy:
Or = ( 3. ti 5 x109) f C.n E 2 ( . :) exn (-15 u A m) _
(2)
<cm where -
Dr = dose rate (arem/yr) f = fraction of pho:on ::ansition per disinteg ration
(. d5 fo r cesium 13 7)
Cm = concentration of 137Cs (1.5xlu 4 uCi/cm3 )
E (ut) = attenuation ter= for concrete (3xlu-6) where u = .15 cm-1
= 61cm (24 inches)
= 15u yrs Am = decay constant of cesium-13 7 = .023 yr-1
- m = flux (2200 photons /cm,sec for cesium-137)
/
\
t If th e recaliser spends 170 days in the radiation field, his to tal direct gamma dose during the 170 days would e 40 mrem.
I l
l t
j $4 i
I 7 , . , , . - , . . - - - .
4 >
I, 3.4 ATMOSPHERIC RELEASE OF CCNTA:IINANTS An estimate of the magnitude of air'orne : releases tnat could have occurred during operation of tne site, or enat could occur dur ing construction activities at ene site after in s t i-tutional control is relinquished, is presented for perspective on the importance of airborne contamination at the ;ie s t Valley site.
i 9 The equation relating dose rate to a person at une coundary 4
J of the site fo r a given nuclide concentration, assuming the site is a point source, is as follows: (1)
X Dr =C 3 f;c g V U a (DF)m (6)
YP wnere j Dr = dose rate (mrem /yr) 4 Cm = concentration (uCi/cm3 ) for isotope m = 1
- i. t.
- 's f ec = fractional waste release = (10- 7 ] ( 3 )
' gr y
-= 10-3 fi exc h2 v2
. Q : cyc= g -
s 2czz 2cy2 Q X = concentration of contaminate at coint (x,y)
(Ci/1)
Q = source flux (Ci/sec) h = elevation of sou:ce release =0 y = distance from plame centerline = 0 55
i fi = frequency for direction i at each stacility category = 1 Q = source depletion fraction = 1 C'
V = waste volume (6.23 x 10 13 cm3 )
Da = breathing rate (8 x 10 6 177 )
(DF)m = dose conversion f actor (mrem /uCi)
Y = years of site operation = 15 P = peak to average nuclide concentration in the vaste = 1
- 1 -
u = average wind velocity = 5.54 m/sec Cy,3z
= horizontal and vertical dispersion coefficient = 10 m Dose rates to an adult residing near the site are tabulated in Tacle 3.4.1 for several nuclides. Table 3.4.2 shows the dose cate to a maximum individual as a function of distance f rom the l
site. Plutonium-238 is the acsc important contributor for these
! doses. However,,if reclamation were delayed for a few hundred years, 23d Pu would be less important.
1 Potential maximum individual doses as a function of dis-tance from the site are listed in Table 3.4.2 for 23a Pu allowing 150 years of decay during the period of institutional control.
t i
Doses beyond the distance tabluated fall off rapidly. Use of unity for the frequency factor as.sures that these are upper bound calculations.
! 66
-l
- w m -- e +- -
l ai %
d s 7 i er W
_ vt y) 2 I 3 i
l u 0 yr l
0 0
0 0 _
n 5 8 1 1 2 o1g 1 1 I . .
s 2 x x x x 3
_ murr al eu t 9 1 7 4 n t ( .
i t 3 8 3 2 x a m
t s j uv i s di i rs 2 4 3 vin) x - - - -
i i
I iy or 1 0
1 0 0 1
0 1
Y
' t l
I netV t a 0 x x x x 4 A
D n a
urm l er p 9 0 1 7 4 9 N a .
U n i s e O (m 5 8 3 2 0 x 1
1 io l M
E T
I S
n l 1 T a e e. c e e a A g n r i n n t 4
r u o n o n b
. N O L b i b I 1
. 3 O S
E l l
n L E o l
l l' i 1 1 A s ) - -
T A r i 0 0 erC 9 1 1 i 9
O vop 6 '0 9 T utV x x bci
( aes 2
3 5 3 1 E Fr 9 2
, T e t u
s
, A t
I b I
( 9 1 E
S O n _
D o i
t a
_ r t
n ) 2 4 4 3 5 eg - - - - -
ct 0 0 0 0 0 ns 1 1 1 1 1 btWi a /m x x x x x C
enO 2 4 1 0 0 gi ( .
a 6 8 1 2 2 r
e v
_ A
_ e d
i 5
1 A
m u 4 1
h
_ l 0 1 61 9 2'1 c l 4 2 3 3 u 2 2 2 2 2
_ N i l ! !,
's !
.y i f' [
.N '
TABLE 3.4.2 '
DOSE RATE TO INDIVIDUAL AS A FUNCTION OF, DISTANCE 4,
FROM SITE FOR 238Pu AFTER 150 YEARS q ,
', u
, s 4,
2 Maximum Individual
, , ., ose Rate Distance (m) Cy (m) Cz (m) (sec/1) p(mrem /yr) 3 102 14 8 5.1 x 10-7 2.8 ,,
\'
103- 'l 110 68 7.7 x 10-9 4.1 x 10-2
'l.6 x 10-10 104 850 420 I g,7 x 10-4 1, 105 6,000 2,00 4. 8 g. x. 10-12 2.6 x 10 5
~ s ., .; e' t
- For stability class C g
j ,
(
i i
1
,g
\ i,
?
a f
i a
.j W s
..P___, y *m ..-._.g --.
3.5 GROUNCWATIA MIGRATION This class of exposure events is an extension of One contaminated well scenarios. Groundwater can be tapped via a well or can eventually outlet to a surface stream from which water could be utilized. Obviously, the surface stream will provide additional dilution to the groundwater, which means that maximum individual doces will be lower than for consumption of all of one's water requirements from the contaminated wells.
i The nearest perenial downgradient surface stream is Buttermilk Creek with an average annual flow rate of 4 x 1010 2f yr, which is approximately 1500 meters from the waste burial site. For the buried icw-level wastes, the groundwater migra-tion calculations are analogous to those in reference 1. The values for sorption and leaching given in Table 3.2.4 have been used along with the distances and velocities from Section 3.2. The' site specific inventory and hydraulic parameters
/ have been matched to those representative of the West Valley k site.
Maximum releases, concentrations and doses are presented in Table 3.5.1 for migration of the buried low-level wastes.
Because of the relatively long path lengths and times involved, the snorter lived nuclides are not released via this pathway.
Tritium is one of the nuclides usually considered important that is in this short halflife category.
Groundwater releases from rhe high-level waste tanks are sacwn in Table 3.5.2 and 3.5.3 for a slov lear and a large scale 5h
TABLE 3.5.1 GRCUNDWATER RELEASES TRCM LCW LEVEL WASTE BURIAL AREA Time To Peak Peak Concentration Maximum Indi'tidual Release In Buttermilk Creek Cose Date Nuclide (vr) (uci/cm 3) (mrem /vr) 14C 5500 7.0x10-10 1,4xio-3 235 g -
5.8x106 2.4x10 14 1.8x10-5 232 Th 2.1x107 1.4x10-13 1.9x10 -4 i
en 1 .
\_
70
./
. . /
.chSLE 352 S LC 'd L,~35
~
isC6 pt%S al
.ndiV idu S .ghSTS gtEA-yt,s
,ess
~
gasi% sa GSCW0,3eg 310U o cose ,,/vd
~
atic ^
ye ah Conc#* dat** 26 -
tac 33 ' T/9 S**luCi/#
in e to 10'3 S .910'~ AS stW , teas * % 1 1 s*
! vea% ,*T 59 9 s~ O' (vt ~
3*
52 1 '
- 3 0' ,a e
', 3g to 1-
! 99tc 52 3- .o 3 l s t_0, 15 i
129T- % yo A .g 3
$*2 ,15 139M '~ g,2 242?u L
e 6
,.', o . ..
TA3LI 3.5.3 GROUNCWATER RELEASES FRCM LARGE SC.U.E FAILURI CF HIGH-LE'IEL WASTE TANKS Time to Peak Ccncentration Maximum Individual
. Peak Release InSurfaceWgter Dcsa Rate Naclide (yr) (uci/cm ) (mrem /yr) 99Tc 52 4.2 x 10-5 180 129: 52 1.2')x10-7 610 ;/
/
7.8 x 10-1 WB 239Pu 5.2 x 105 1.5 x 10-16 8.3 x 10-8 242Pu 5.2 x 10 5 4.7 x 10-15 2.5 x 10 -5 f
72
l failure after 150 years respectively. Again, Buttermilk Creek j is the surface water stream to which the g: undwater is assumed l
to disenarge. The lateral migration distance f:cm the tanks is taken to be 1500 m with a water velocity of .45 m/yr, after the 1
i ve:tical movement of 10 m down at u.5 m/yr. ;
i 1
)
The relatively high velocities associated with the high- ,
j level waste tanks reflect tne presence of sand and gravel lenses 4
, in the area. Figures 3. 5.1 and 3. 5. 2 are stratigraphic cross-sections near the tanks. (See Map 2 for locations of the i cross-sections.) As indicated in Secti'on 3.2, however, the low.
- volume of wa ter required to maintain a perched water zone witn
, positive hydraulic gradient around the tanks indicates that th e 4
area is not directly connected to a gravel or sand :ene tha t j allows large rapid flows.
i None of the releases from the low-level burial site via the groundwater migration pathway are large enough to be of conse-i i
t_ quence. The long pathlength to the nearest perennial surface water contributes to this result. Some concern may be expressed l about migration to the closer drainages in the area. However, even if this apparent shorter pathway were to occur, because of its circuitous nature, the distance down the drainage channel is a f acto r of 2 longer than the direct groundwater distance used
. in the calculation. The drainage streams are epnemeral, and ;
i ion-excnange and sorption would occur as the nuclides mig: ate down the drainage. T.te results presented are therefore felt to i
ce r epr esenta tive of the magnitudes of potential releases.
l 73
fere.15acen 1 Dav6s Itab .!nc.
,r ,
~. _. ..
- h.;
te. ;
f,.;. ,.V:
. .[ . ..'t G':- s As .
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}r3,88 : g ,.,* 6 .. ,. . . .. ,4 *.: .s ss a
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FIGullE 3.6.2 N S CllOSS SECTION NEAll tilGil LEVEL WASTE AllEA D n
P h
n O
Stats".tH4& ACS b1CIl4N4 K BL k
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o E'
- -- r;:gqi.mngggjg:,::5:,, y 3: n=.2.r. e::1.'::'.:::n .;:. or
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For release frem the high-level waste tanks, acne of :he nuclices will give rise :o exposures exceeding :he guidelines.
As discussed in Section 3. 2, however, preven:ative measures, such as waste solidification, can ce taken to reduce tne mag-nitude of potential exposures from these evenes.
/
e
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1
. - _. - - - __ - -. =_ _. _ _
3.5 SURFACE WATER RU$CFF f
, In 1975, trench wa te r was observed seeping from the I western edge of the tranen covers from trench 5 and tne norta sida of trench 4. Approximately'2.o to o.1 23 of water was involved, vnicn ran off into the drainage cnannel ultimately leading to Buttermilk Creek. A trench pumping program was i
initiated, and additional cover applied over the curied wastes.
J It is not expected that this pnenomenon will recur.
Ecwever, after institutional controls are relinquisned, trench wa te r possicly could overflow again. The estimated 1
trenen wa te r and runoff concentrations and resultant doses are tabulated in Table 3.6.1 for releases after 150 years. The d
attenuation in concentration occurs because of ion exenange and sorption through the trenen cover and along the surface soil as I
the water runs off. The lud attenuation is consistent with i
une value used in previous estimates. (1)
( do mechanism for naturally elevating One hign-level wastes g
, in :ne tanks to the surface have been identified.
1 4
1 I
77
TAllt.E 3. 6.1 -
i ItEI. EASES PitOM SullPACE WATEIt ItUNOPF AFTElt 150 YEAltS ,'
Inventory Maximum Eutimated i Decayed Trench Watey Surface Stream Maximum Individual for 150 ConcentrationLal Concentration (b) Dose Ita te Noelide __
yr (Ci) (pci/cm3) (nCi/cm3) (mrem /yr) 3:3 3,1 x 10 1 4,g x 10-4 4.8 x 10-9 4.9 x 10-4 i
i 14 C 6.2 x 10 2 9.7 x 10-3 9.7 x 10-0 2.0 x 10-1 1
60Co 2.5 x 10-4 3.9 x 10-9 .3.9 x 10 -14 1.1 x 10 -6 L37 Cs 1.6 x 10-5 1.0 1.6 x 10-10 1.3 x 10-2
,, 2261ta 6.4 1.0 x 10-4 1.0 x 10-9 2.2 x lol
- m 241Am 4.2 x 10 1 6.6 x 10-4 6.6 x 10-9 3.9 2 3 tigiu 1.2 x 103 1.9 x 10-2 1.9 x 10-7 9.3 x 10 1 2 391'u 4.7 x 102 7.3 x 10-3 7.3 x 10-0 4.0 x 10 1 233U 1.2 x 10-1 1.9 x 10-6 1,9 x to-ll 1.1 x 10-2 232 Th S.O x 10-1 9.1 x 10-6 9.1 x 10-11 9.2 x 10-1 (d)100% of remaining inventory dissolved in volume of water equal to initial waste volume. -
(b)naued on 105 reduction due to sorption and mixing bet. ween trenches and creek.
2.7 . r.v o . n ea.,
l Erosion is presently occurring a: :ne Wes: 7 alley si:e.
Sampling of sediment loacing at tne sampling sta: ions 2, 3 anc 4 (locations shown 'in Figure 3.7.1) indicates a total of o9,cu0 kg
! of silt leaving the site from these drainages for 1976.(4) '
i These stations sampled about 53% of the low-level burial site in f
. addition to part of the adjacent Hull Surial area. Sampling 7
- . station number 1 covered the remaining burial site drainage
/
area. No sediment samples were obtained for this sampling station; however, the sediment eroded from the south end burial trenches is thought to be minimal because of the well vegeta:ed trench caps.(4)
A conservative sheet erosion rate of six tons of soil per acre per year is a typical sheet e rosio n race.(1) Using this l
rate and soil density of 1.6 gs/cm 3 , it will take 2suu years I
for the 2.5 m surface cover to be eroded away before One buried
( wastes begin 'to erode if erosion is uniform. However, at the 1.
West Valley burial site, erosion into the defiles at the ends of 4 . .
the trenenes could occur faster than normal surface erosion.
j The ocserved erosion rate f cm the 12.3 acres sampled is 6 tons per acre per year, if considered to be sheet eresion.
k This erosion rate is probably conservative because in the no r the r n trench area additional fill was added during the yea
, and vegetation to retard erosion was no: fully re-escablisned.
j Dose rates from :nis event will be i:. ge ne r al about :ve orders of magnitude less : nan : nose from :na g: undwa:er migra::cn 79
event fo r the long half-lived materials. Snort nalf life wastes will not survive ene nearly 3000 years required for the cover :o erode away.
l l
Gully erosion, on the other nand, may proceed more rapidly
. in certain areas of the site, although it does not appear to ba j a serious threat to trench integrity in the snort ters. In the drainage sampled by sampling station 2 (see Figure 3.7.1), which lies parallel to the long dimension of the trenenes along the west side, no gully formation nor gully advance up ene slope toward the trenches has oeen observed. The me asur ed e rosio n rate for the station 2 <'.r a inag e area of 5.9 acres is 6.0 tons per acre per year.
On the northern end of the low-level burial area, sample station 3 sampled an area of 1.23 acres. This is an area where gully formation is taking place adjacent tc the ends of trenches 3, 4 and 5. During 1976, a total of 15,000 kg of seciment passed through sampling *ta' ion 3. (4) The overall erosion rate L
for this area is 12.9 tons per acre per year, using a soil density of 1.6 g/cm3
?
Assuming that the material eroded and measured by sampling i
~
station 3 essentially all comes from the northern end of the trenches wnere the gully exists, and none from the trench cover, an erosion rate of 46.5 tons per acre per year is derived for the 0.34-acre drainage area involved. This value provifes a e.7 x 10-3 m/yr rate of advance of the gully. If tne presen 136 average grade between station 3 and the top of trench 3 remains 30 s i
, , , , , , , - - - , ~ , , - - , , . . . -- . . - - , , , , , . . . , , - , , , , - - - . - . , - - , , , - , - - - - - - . - - , . , - -
constant, it will take 370 years for One 2.5 m trench cover to ce eroced a: this rate of advance. In an acdi:ional viv years the =aximum cross-sectional area of trench 3 will ce exposec in the gully. At that trme, e2 f:3 per year of naterial from :ne trench will be eroded, assuming the rate of advance remains
~
c on s tan t. A: the same time, ne drainage area will have in-creased to 0.46 acres, giving a total of 450 ft3 per year to tal of sediment eroded, which will mix with and dilute the wastes.
At the present rates, gully erosion does not appear to pose a significant health problem in the drainages involved. Mixing, ion exchange, sedimentation and dilution all serve to attenuate the concentrations of radioactive nuclides in the water that may possibly be consumed. Additionally, appropriate fill and grading can be performed at the site to enange the drainage .
and greatly reduce the rate of gully formation and advance.
t 1
6 31
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FIGURE 3.7.11 IlAIN GAUGE AND SullFACE WATER SAMPLING STATIONS ~ t$
. n
s
- 4. ., .. .
, t .n. . a, , - , , e,
_ .r . . s c,.,s.-...,..,-,
-n._. .f A.,.J. =,5
_ .-...,.a.
.i . . ,.,:
. a, s- .u. ., ._
,, D ,s, n, , t_o to determine ne applicanility of :he RNCCS me:nodology ::
- he Nest Valley site, calculated nuclide concentraticas are compared with values measured on-site and reported :n the literature. For the low-level waste burial site, trench water concentrations, well wa:e concentrations, and concentrations in adjacent streams are compared. Releases from :ne high level waste :anks have no t occurred; hence comparisons are not .cre-sented.
Measured tritium concentra: ions in wells are generally less than 1 x 10-0 uCi/ml in the unaltered till 4.5 :o e a below present land surface within 5 meters of the trenches. Peak concentra:icas of 1 x 10-3 to 1 x ig-5 uCi/mi were found near land surface, generally within the reworked till used to cover ne trenenes. (14) Maximum calculated : itium concentrations in a well beneath th e curial trenches are 1.3 x 10-2 uCi/cm2 .
\
s~
Radioisotopes other than tritian nave not been identified in bore hole sampling of holes within 5 meters of the ::enches 2.0 me:ers belcw :ne original gecund sur f ace.
The measured and calculated values appea: to agree well, within the uncertainty in the data and analysis.
2,
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. i l
TABLE 4.1 Comparison of Measured and Calculated values for the Low-Level Waste Burial Site.
Nuclide Trench Water (pC1/cm 3) Surface Runo Measured (d) Calculated (b) Creek (pCi/cm{f) lu Buttermilk Measured Calcula ted (d) 3 t 11 1.0 2.2 3.2x10-9 4.8x10-9 14 C 2.5x10-4 9.9x10-3 917x10-8 137 Cs 10-3 5.Ox10 d 1.6x10-10 i
240,239Pu 3x10-5 7.3x10-3 0.3x10 1I(Gross u) 7.3x10-8 (a) From reference 11,USGS.
(b) From t:able 3.6.1 without 150 yr decay (c) From Davis & Pakundiny (reference 4.)
(d) From table 3.6.1 I
- 5. POPULATION COSE CALOULATICNS To quantify further the potential ef f ects of releases f:ca the West Valley site, population dose rates have been calculated for those exposure events possibly contricucing doses to many individuals.
5.1 POPULATION COSES FOR GROUNCWATER MIGRATION 1 7:
i Approximately 10,000 people live in a 2 mile wide corridor along Cattaraugus Creek between des Valley and Lake Erie.
Cilu: ion in Cattarangus Creek is approximately a f acte r of lu greater enan in Buttermilk Creek.
Table 5.1.1 contains a summary of population doses from groundwater migration from the low level waste burial area, assuming no further dilu tion occurs downstream, and una: :ne average individual consumes all his drinking water needs f:cm -
- ne creek. None of the calculated population doses are is-A g portant f:cm this source.
Potential population dose rates for releases from the high-level waster tank are shown in Table 5 .1. 2. Releases frem a slow leak, from a large scale failure of the tank, and from solidification of the wastes are' listed. The 129I thyroid dose rates appear to be of most consequence, especially if the entire nigh-level waste inventory remains on site in liquid form. Solidification of :he was es reduces the calcula:ed dose
- s es f:cm the high-level wastes by several orders of magnitude.
35
\
Table 5.1.1 Population Coses from Low-Level Waste Burial Area Releases through Groundwater Cattaraugus Cree::
Time of Peak Population CoseI "I Nuclide Release (yr) Rate (Manrem/yr) 14C 5500 7.1x10-4 235U 5.8x106 9.1x10-6 232Th 2.1x107 9.6x10-3 (a) Based on 10,000 people each consuming 370 1/yr of contaminated water from Cattaragus Creek.
/
L f
36
p .
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~
l TABLE -5,1. 2 -
- l POPUI.ATION DOSES FitOM llIGil-1.EVEL WASTE TANK .
RELEASES TilROUGli GROUNDWATER TO CATARAUGUS CREEK Population Dose Population Dose Rate from Population Dose Rate from Large Solidified ilIW Iteturned Time of Peak Ita te from Slow Scale Pailure to-Tank with 10-d/yr Effective Nuctide Itelease (yr) Leak (sita n rem /y r ) (mdurem/yr) Leacin Constant (manrem/yr) 99 Tc 52 1.2 9.0 x 101 4.6 x 10-l*
129 I 52 4.5 T/ 3.1 x 102 T/ 3.1 x 10 -2 T/ ^
5.7 x 10-3 WD 3.9 x 10-1 WB 3.9 x 10-5 Wis 239Pu 5.2 x 105 4.2 x 10-8 4.2 x 10-8 4.2 x 10 -9 m
se 242Pu 5.2 x 105 1.3 x 10-6 1.3 x 10-6 1. 3 x 10-6 ,
i
- 10-4/yr leach constant uued for these more volatile nuclides L
m l
i i .
i .. . .
,l . .
4 5.2 POPULATION OCSES FOR SURFACE NATER .CGRATICN If the low-level waste curial trenenes again fill wi:n i
water and leak to the surf ace and run of f into the area drainage after institutional controls are relinguished, some population l
. . exposure may occur. The largest calculated doses are tabulated in Tacle 5.2.1. The 238Pu dose rate is the highest listed, cut, because of its relatively short half life, may not be the -
most significant. The postulated dose ra es fc 2262a and 239Pu are of most consequence.
I 1
'l l
1 i
t 33
Table 5.2.1 Population cases frem Surface Runoff f cm Lcw-Level '4aste Surial Area Nuclide Population cose Rate (manrem/yr) 226Ra 11
~<
233Pu 239Pu 20 241Am 2.0 h
( .
e 39
5.3 POPULMIGN COSES FOR AIR 30RSE MIGRATION Previous calculations have shown that at the site councary, the .r.a x im um individual dose rate is 2.d mrem /yr which is in s 2.g -
nificant. At Springville, New York, the closest population
. center to tne site the population dose would ce 2.6 x 10-3 manrem/yr for a population of 3000 people.
Table 5.3.1 contains a tabulation of potential population
/
dose cates as a function of distance from the site. None of the dose rates are large enough to be of consequence.
t 90
TABLE 5.3.1 POPU~ATION DOSE RATES AS A FUNCTION O!STA:;CE FRC;4 SITE FOR AIREOR ;E 233Pu Population
?istance (m) Population Cose Rate In Sector (gan rem /yr) 102 1 2.8x10-3 10 3 2 1.6x10-4 104 3000 2.6x10-3 105 1,09x106 2.8210-2 TOTAL 3.3x10-2
/
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T. .
- 5. CONC LU3 : ~.NS The waste manage. ment facilities at West Valley, New Y0rk nave ceen analy ed using the RWDCS. Operations there appear to nave ce r conducted in a manner not inconsistent witn the
.RW CC 3 . All potential release events result in calculated dose rates that are less tnan the guideline values from reference 1, except for the postulated massive failure of tne high level
/
wtanks containing no n-sc l id i f ied liquid wastes. Solioification of tne hign-level wastes would reduce potential consequences to celow the guidelines. Based on the RWDCS methodology, the low-level wastes at West Valley qualify as " low-level" Class a wastes, using the dose guidelines specified in reference 1, site specific parameters, and the exposure events outlined in Chapter 3 of this report. The liquid high-level wastes now in tanks at West Valley would require some further preventative action, such as solidification or vitrification, to qualify for that classi-f fication.
\
\.
In general, tne ind ividual exposures are largest for the well water exposure evencs. The nuclides of most concern are 99Tc, 129I, and 239Pu. Calculatec exposures are largest for the massive f ailure of the high level waste tanks with resultant movement of tne supernate into the groundwater. Althougn simultaneous occurrence of tne massive f ailure and production of drinking water frcm the lu m depth is very u nli:< ely to occur, some mitigation cf tne consequences or ef forts for prevention of tnis type of event from happening, such as solidification of the 92
high level waste, appears to be justifiable. The well water l calculations with solidif ted waste in the tanks used leach
, constant.2 of lu-4/yr for 390c and 129I, anc 10-ofyr for all cener nuclides. It is assumed taar the solicification process would yielo a solid form that would meet enese leach rates.
i Using these leach rates, the dose rates from all postulated exposure events at ene high-level waste tganks fall below the guideline values.
i Releases of 14C from the buried low-level wastes are of concern because of the variability of the expected ranges of release rates and migration parameters that can be caused by possible organic agents in the area. Although the calculated dose rates are well below the guidelines specified in reference 1, the actual exposures to this nuclide may vary bec'ause of 1
- biological influences.
f Adding further depths of cover over the buried wastes anc
(
5
- #i'l to correct drainage problems will prevent erosion, anc make i \_
inadvertent exposures to possible future reclaimers much less l likely. If this type of action were to occur, seepage fecm the trenches would also be eliminated, and doses to individuals l would be expected to be extremely low for the foreseeaole future.
6
F./FERENCES 4
- l. Adams, J.A., Rogers, V.C. 1978. A System for Classifying Rad io ac tive Waste, Volume II. A report to U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. USNRC Report No. 0456. 240 pp.
- 2. Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratory. 197o. Alternative Processes for Managing Existing Commerical High-Level
. Rad ioactive Wastes. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Report No. 0043. 168 pp.
- 3. Dames and Moore. 1971. Soils and Foundation Investigation Proposed High Level Waste Facility, West Valley, New York.
A report for Nuclear Fuel Services, Incorporated 21 pp.
- 4. Private communication from James F. Davis, New York State
, Geological Society, 1978.
- 5. Hall, H.L. Bradley, R.F., 1973. Solid Forms for Savannah River Plant H igh-Level Was te. USAEC Report DP -
1335.
- 6. Jump, Michael J. Current Practices for Disposal of Solid Low Level Radioactive Waste. Radioactive Waste From a Nuclear Fuel Cycle. AICHE Symposium Series No. 154 Vol.
- 72. 4pp.
- 7. Letter, J.R. Clark, Nuclear Fuel Services, to R.W. Staro-stocki, NRC, dated June 16, 1978, on Classification of Soil Conditions at West Valley site.
- 8. Lu, A.H., 1978 Modeling of Radionuclide Migration from a low-level Radioactive Waste Burial Site., Health Physics
[ Vol 34 pp 39 - 44.
\ Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc. 1963. Safety and Analyses 9.
Report, Chapter II Site Description. 170 pp.
- 10. Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc. 1974. Safety and Analyses Report, Chapter II Site Description. 170 pp.
- 11. Prudic, David, Randall, Allan D. 1978. Ground-water Hydrology and Su' o surface Mig r atio n of Radioisotopes at a low-level, Solid Rad ioac tive -
Waste Disposa Site, West Valley, New York. U.S. Geological Survey open File Report No.77-56e 23pp.
- 12. Reeves, M., Duguid, J.O. , 1975. Water Movement tnrough Saturated - Unsaturated Porous Media - a finite element Galeckin model., Oak Ridge, Tenn., Oak Ridge National Lac.
ORNL - 4927, 232pp.
94
- 13. S mi th , T.H., Ross, W.A., 1975. Impact Testing of Vitreous Simulated High-Lavel Waste in Canisters. USAEC Repo rt 35WL i
19u3, Battelle Pacific Northwest Lacorattories. Richland, Wa.
- 14. U.S. Corps of Engineers and U.S. Weather Sureau, 1956.
Seasonal Variation of the Probable Maximum Precipitation ast of the 105th Meridian fer Areas of 10 to 1000 Square Miles and Duration of 6, 12, 24, and 48 Hours. Hydro-
=eteorological Report Number 33.
- 15. Knight, Bruce, NFS, private communication, July 1378.
- 16. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Reculatory Guide 1.109,
" Calculation of Annual Doses to Man fecm Routine Releses of Reactor Effluents for the Purpose of Evaluating Compliance with 10CFR50, Appendix I", March 1976, and Revision 1, dated October 1977. .
+ . .
k.
l
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I 93
~ .-. _ - - . -- -
, , a,
. . S GLOSSARY Aboreviatiens/ Terms Cefinitions absorbed dose Radiation energy absorced per unit mass.
, adsorptive capacity Adsorptive capacity is the abili ty of a solid such as soil or rock to attract ions or molecules to its surface. The term specifically refers to the quantity of ions including radioactive ions which a' solid can hold eletrochemically to its surface.
alluvium Clay, sile, sand, gravel, or other '
rock materials transported by flowing water and deposited in fairly recent geologic time.
alpha particle ( a) A positively charged particle emitted from certain radioac-tive material. It consists of two protons and two neutrons, h e r. c e is identical with the nucleus of the helium atos.
It is the 'least penetrating of the common radiation (2,3 ,y ) ,
hence is, not' dange rous unless alpha-emitting' substances have entered the body.,
( aquifer A water-bearing. formation below the
'g -
surface of the earth; the source of wells.- A confined aquifer is overlain by relatively impermeable rock. An unconfined aquifer is one associated with the water table.
background radiation Naturally occurring low-level
, radiation to which all life is exposed. Background radiation
, levels vary f rom place to place on i the earth.
l beta particle (3) A particle emmited from some l atoms undergoing radioactive l decay. A nega:ively charged beta particle is identical to I
an electron. A positively charged beta particle is called a posi-( tren. Seta radiacion can cause skin burns and ceta-emit:ers are harmful if they enter the body.
96 l
/ =
e a e
, a CL Curie (the unit of radioactivity of any nuclide, defined as precisely
, equal to 3.7 x lul0 disintegra-tions/second).
daughter product The nuclide remaining after a radioactive decay. A daughter
. atom may itself be . radioactive, producing further daughter pro-ducts.
dose equivalent A term used to express the amount of effective radiation when modi-
- fying factors have been considered (the numerical product of absorbed
,- , dose and quality factor, evapo tr anspiratio n The term, evapo tr anspi ra tion, refers to the quantity of water
-produced . by precipitation which is returned to the atmosphere through direct evaporation or.by trans-
. piration of vegetation.
i exposure Related to electrical charge produced in ' air by . ionizing radiation per unit mass of air.
F3&DU Ford, Sacon & Davis Utah Inc.
gamma background Natural gamma ray activity every-where present, originating from two f sources: (1) cosmic radiation a bombarding the earth's atmosphere
( continually, and (2) terres-trial radiation. Whole bcdy aosorbed dose equivalent in the U.S. due to natural gamma
, background ranges from about
! 60 to about 125 mrem /yr.
gamma ray (7) High energy electromagnetic radiation emitted from the nucleus of a radioactive atom, with spe-cific energies for the atoms of different elements and having hign penetrating power.
glacial drift Boulders, till, gravel, sand, or clay transported by a glacier or its celtwater.
97
. , - t, ..gm- -+ q ay.m -ew,i*,---iyey .,-------rr- ,--< , ,,
3---+-
glacial till Material deposited by glaciers usually composec of a wide range of particle sitas, which has not been subjected to the sorting action of water.
ground water Subsurface water in the zone of full saturation which supplies wells and springs.
health effect Adverse physiological response from tailings (in this report, one health effect is defined
'2 as one case of cancer fr y exposure to radioactivity) .
f;' ELW Eigh Level Waste. -
infiltration Infiltration refers to the flow of water through the soil surface into the ground.
isotope One of two or more atoms with the same atomic numbers (the same chemical element) but with different physical properties.
LLW Low Level Waste.
MAC Maximus Allowable Concentration.
MACH Maximum Allowable Concentration for Eulls.
MACM
( Maximum Allowable Concentration for specific material, uR/hr Microrcentgen per hour, mrem /hr Millirem (milliroentgen equivalent man).
MeV Million electron volts.
MPC Maximum Permissible Concentration (the highest concentration in air or water of a particular radio-nuclide permissible for occupa-tional or general exposure w i thou t taking steps to reduce exposure).
NRC Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
93
~
nuclide A general term applicable to all a omic forms of the elements; nuclides comprise all the isotopic forms of all the elements. Nu-
! clides are distinguished by their l atomic number, atomic mass, and energy state.
orography Branch of physical geography having to do with mountains.
permeability The permeability of rock or sub-strate is its capacity to transmit fluid. The degree of permeability is dependent upon the shape and size of the pores and interconnec-(e ,
tions within a rock material.
porosity The porosity is the fraction of the
. to tal volume of a solid which represents the pores and inter-stices (spaces or hollow places in solid material) of the material.
pCi/1 Picocurie per liter.
QF Quality factor (an assigned factor which denotes the modifi-cation of the effectiveness of a given absorbed dose by the linear energy transfer).
/
9 R Roentgen (a unit of exposure
( to ionizing radiation. It is that amount of gamma or X-rays required to produce ions carrying i electrostatic unit of electrical charge, either positive or nega-tive, in 1 cubic centimeter of dry air under stancard conditions, numerically equal to 2.58 x 10-4 coulombs /kg).
rad The basic unit of absorbed dose of ionizing radiation. A dose of 1 rad means the absception of 100 ergs of radiation energy p2r gram of absorbing material.
radioactivity The spontaneous decay of disin-tegration of an unstable atomic nucleus, usually accompanied by :he emis s ion of ioni:ing radiation.
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L 1
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ . _ - - i
A 5 radioactive decay chain A succession of nuclides each of which transforms by radio-active disintegration into the next until a stable nuclide results. The first member is called the parent, the intermediate members are called daughters,and the final stable member is called the end product.
radium A radioactive element, chemi-cally similar to barium, formed as a daughter product of uranium (238U). T h_e, mo s t common isotope of radium, " ora, has a half-life of 1,620 yr. Radium is present
( ,
in all uranium-cearing ores.
Trace cuantities of both uranium and radium are found in all areas, contributing to the gamma back-ground.
radon A radioactive, chemically inert gas '2 having (22 Rn); a half-life of 3.8 days formed as a daughter
' product of radium (226Ra).
radon background Low levels of radon gas found in an area, due to the presence of radium in the soil.
radon concentration The amount of radon per unit i
volume. In this assessment, the 5 average value for a 24-hr period of
\ atmospheric radon concentrations, determined by collecting data for each 30 min period of a 24-hr day and averaging these values.
radon daughter One of several short-lived radio-active daughter products of radon (several of the daughters emit alpha particles),
RCF Reference Containment Facility.
RCC Radon daughter concentra :.on (the concentration in air of short-lived radon daughter, expressed usually in pCi/1; also measured in terms of working level (~4L ) .
100 i-
s ,
a racon flux The quant;;y of radon emi::ed from a surface in a uni: time
.o e r uni ar ( t v .e i c a l units ar e in pC i/c=',e-sec).
a recnarge The processes by which water is absorbed and added to the zone of saturation of an aquifer, either directly into :ne formation or indirectly by way of another formation.
. rem (Acronym of roentgen equiva-lent man) The unit of dose of any ionizing radiation which produces the same biological effect as a unit of absorced dose of ordinary X-rays, numer-ically equal to the acserted dose in rads multiplied by tne appro-priate quality factor for tne type of r ad ia t ion . The rem is the basic recorded unit of accumulated dose to personnel.
satur a ted/ un sa tu r ate d The adjec:ive, saturated, implies (s a tur atio n/un satur ation) that all pores of a porous medium
. that are interconnected and can interact with regions of medium are c-filled with fluid. By contrast, an
. unsaturated state i= plies that the pores and interconnections or. tne .
, medium are filled partially with 4
air or vaCor.
A subsurface flow This term, subsurface ficw, can be used interchangeacly with ground-water flow and refers to that volume , of infiltrated water wnich i becomes part of the grocndwater and l
is transported to adjacent streams by the natural movement of the groundwater.
surface runoff Surface runoff refers to the volume i of water whicn flows upon . the i grounc surrace on ne surrace l
principally as shee: flow or in channels as laminar or turculen:
flow.
l syncline A fold in rocks in which ne strata dip inward from oc:n sides :: ward the axis.
.n.
w
IRC Transuranic.
varved clays Alternating layers of silt or fine sand and clay formed by variations l in sed ime n ta tio n during varying seasons of the year.
1 water table The water table is the upper surface of the saturated zone.
This surface is often described in terms of the elevation to which wa te r is observed to stanc natur-ally in the subsurface.
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I r k i
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