ML20127H186
| ML20127H186 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | West Valley Demonstration Project |
| Issue date: | 06/06/1984 |
| From: | Richard Perkins Battelle Memorial Institute, PACIFIC NORTHWEST NATION |
| To: | Theresa Clark NRC OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY & SAFEGUARDS (NMSS) |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20127B821 | List: |
| References | |
| FOIA-84-905 NUDOCS 8505210244 | |
| Download: ML20127H186 (3) | |
Text
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OBattelle Pacific Nonhwest Laboratories P.O. Bon 9W Aichland. Washington U.$.A. 99352 Telephone 1509)
Telen 15-2874 June 6, 1984 Mr. Tom Clark U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission NMSS Willste Building, Fifth Floor 7915 Eastern Avenue Silver Spring, MD 20910
Dear Tom:
Re: Recommended Range-Finding Measurements of Organic Solvents Migrati1g at West Valley Since our conversation Monday, I have done the following:
Determined the extent of measuren:ents of solvent-base TBP movement from 1.
Hanford disposal sites; Determined the approximate vapor pressure of the straight-chained hydro-2.
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carbons used for TBP solvents at West Valley; and Determined the efficiency of our existing gas chromatographs for these 3.
organic solvents.
While there is a considerable amount of information available on the sol-vent /TBP system in soils at Hanford, it is tied in with old classified re-ports on operations; and also it seems to us that this would not be directly extrapolatable to the humid soil environment of West Valley.
In evaluating the vapor pressure exerted by the straight-chained hydrocar-bons that make up the solvents, it is clear that soil gases would be expec- ;I tr.
ted to have tens to thousands of parts-per-million concentrations if th were in the vicinity of a liquid solvent.
ing gas chromatographs, which can be used in the field, have sensitivities on the order of the high parts-per-billion to the low parts-per-million without any preconcentration of the irganic materials from soil gases.
For these reasons, we are recomending that a range-finding survey be car-ried out which would establish the actual concentrations of organic con-stituents of the TBP solvents in soil gases. This initial range-finding study is outlined in the attachment and basically calls for a one-week sam-850103 5
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OBanese pie collection period followed by laboratory analyses to demonstrate both the feasibility of making these measurements and to determine the concen-trations involved. This could be done with very little expense and could form the important basis for carrying out a more detailed and extensive study of the migration of solvents, the tributy1 phosphate, plus degrada-tion products and associated radionuclides.
I will plan to call you as soon as you have had a chance to look this over and determine if we should make these measurements in the very near future.
Sincerely, DY Richard W. Perkins Associate Manager Radiological Sciences Department RWP/rmg Attachment s
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SUGGESTED RANGE-FIN IM SEVEY W SOLVENT MIR ATIM AT EST VALLEY R. W. Perkins/D. E. Robertson Pacific Northwest Laboratory We recommend the collection of approximately 100 samples of soil gas during a one-week period at the West Valley site. These soil-gas samples would be collected at radial distances extending out to tens of meters from known locations of solvent release. Our gas analysis procedure, which has been used in other field studies, simply involves using evacuated 200-ce Teflon-lined stainless steel vacuum bottles for the in situ field collection program. We would plan to use about 100 of these vacuum bottles. These evacuated bottles would be opened to collect soil gas from soil-gas collec-tors which had been allowed to equilibrate over a 24 to 48-hour period. The soil-gas collectors simply consist of 2-inch diameter by 18-inch long pipes
'which have been forced into the ground to a distance of about 1-foot. The protruding end is covered with a thin rubber diaphragm..The soil gas is taken thro' ugh the rubber diaphragm using a large hypodermic needle which is connected to the vacuum bottle. After sample collection, these vacuum bot-ties will be returned to the laboratory by air freight to be analyzed for the organic solvent components. The entire. laboratory analyses could be conducted over a period of one to two weeks.
From this range-finding exercise, we would be able to establish proto-cols for a more extensive survey of the extent of migration of liquid and associated vapor solvents from the various sources at West Valley; and it would clearly indicate if a sniffer technique would be adequate. This information would also serve as the critical basis for a research pian aimed at identifying the migration of solvents, their associated complexing agents, and radionuclides.
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