ML20133N538
| ML20133N538 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 02700039 |
| Issue date: | 10/01/1985 |
| From: | Shaffner J NRC OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY & SAFEGUARDS (NMSS) |
| To: | Higginbotham L NRC OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY & SAFEGUARDS (NMSS) |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8510290559 | |
| Download: ML20133N538 (3) | |
Text
,
DIST-Cmca
, WMLU rf NMSS rf 0CT 1 1965 JStarmer 27-39/JAS/85/09/30 JShaffner DMartin JBunting JGreeves MKnapp DGoode RLee RBrowning MEMORANDUM FOR: Leo B. Higginbotham, Chief MBell Low-Level Waste and Uranium Recovery Projects Branch Division of Waste Management FROM: James A. Shaffner, Project Manager Low-Level Waste and Uranium Recovery Projects Branch Division of Waste Management
SUBJECT:
TRIP REPORT: TRAVEL TO SHEFFIELD ILLIN0IS Enclosed is a trip report documenting my visit to Sheffield Illinois, on September 18 - 19, 1985.
3 James A. Shaffner, Project Manager Low-Level Waste and Uranium Recovery Projects Branch Division of Waste Management
Enclosure:
As stated WM Record File WM Project-Docket t;o.Q PDR v Distdaytion: LPDR _ r __
(Return to 5023'f5~q ~ --
_ _JWe 8510290559 851001 PDR ADOCK 02700039 '-
C PDR 0FC :WMLU [I : U : : : : :
NAME :JSha fner:kj:JSta r : : : : : :
DATE :85//o /d) :8 / / : : : : : l J
l 1
TRIP REPORT TRAVEL OF JAMES A. SHAFFNER SHEFFIELD, ILLIN0IS SEPTEMBER 18-19, 1985
Purpose:
Visit Low-Level Waste Disposal Facility - Sheffield, IL NRC
Participants:
James A. Shaffner, WMLU Richard Lee, WMGT Dan Goede, WMGT Persons Contacted: Mark Bowen, US Ecology Doug Long, US Ecology Patrick Seger, US Ecology Dayne Brown, State of N.C.
Melanie Hamel, IDNS Keith Owenby, ORNL Bob Williamson, IDNS Kenny Edwards, ORNL Richard Ketelle, ORNL i Sucrnary:
Richard Lee and I arrived at the Sheffield site at 11:30 a.m. on September 18th.
We contacted the site manager, Mark Bowen who informed us that Dan Goode and the ORNL team was in the process of purging wells and collecting samples for hazardous constituent analysis. He informed us, also, that a Mr. Dayne Brown from North Carolina was expected at the site at 3:30 p.m. Lee and I decided to postpone our site tour until Brown arrived.
We visited the ISGS infiltration study south of the site. We were met there by a representative of ISGS who showed us the monitoring devices which had been installed since 1983. Each trench has a nest of tensiometers which provide moisture data at various elevations in various soil media. The tensiometers are hard wired to a data processing device. Hourly moisture data is recorded 1 on magnetic tape for processing in Champaign. The trenches are also equipped with access ports for neutron probes. Because of dry conditions tensiometers in the upper soil strata were yielding little data at this tine.
Lee and I walked part of the perimeter of the strip mine spoil lake adjacent to the site. Our purpose was to observe any gravel beds which daylighted in the bank of the pond and served as ground water conduits. No such beds were apparent at this time. This was probably due to the presence of heavy vegetation and the dry soil conditions.
When Mr. Brown arrived at the site we accompanied him and Mark Bowen on a walking tour of the site. The site appeared to be in very good shape. For the most part the surface had been stabilized with vegetation which appeored to have established a good root mat. There were only a few instances of rill erosion, primarily on the north face of Trench 14 A. Surface drainage systems dppeared to be in good repair although some improvements are still nccessary, particuldrly with regard to the outlet culvert at the northeast corner of the site. There was no evidence of present subsidence and little evidence of recent past subsidence, although according to the site manager, subsidence continues to be a problem during wet Springtime. The site fence is in need of some minor repairs. The site manager noted this fact himself without any mention of the fact by NRC personnel. The biggest " problem" on site currently appears to be burrowing animals. There was considerable evidence of burrowing by small naamals. To date none have been harvested and assayed but tnis would probably be warranted.
Before we returned to our motel for the evening, Lee and I stopped at the Elms, a bar and restaurant in the town of Sheffield. We engaged in casual conversation with some of the local citizens. Without asking leading questions we attempted to solicit their opinicn about the presence of the site near their town. The people we talked to had nothing negative to say about the site.
They were more concerned with sora nonpublicized hazardous material located elsewhere nearby.
On Thursday, September 19tn, Lee and I spent the morning watching ORNL collect samples for hazardous chemical analysis. It struck me that current procedures for doing this are very cumbersome and labor intensive. Wells had to be purged using hand bailing techniques. This involved repetitious bailing of wells as mdny as 175 times. Moreover, after the wells were purged it took several hours (or sometimes days) for the wells to recover enough to yield a semple volume of water. It seems that, unless this process is streamlined, environmental sampling for hazardous constituents will be prohibitively costly.
l l
- _ . .