Potential Emissions of Tritium in Air from Wells on the Nevada National Security Site

Potential Emissions of Tritium in Air from Wells on the Nevada National Security Site
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 29
Release: 2012
Genre:
ISBN:

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This slide-show discusses the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) and tritium in the groundwater. It describes the wells and boreholes and potential airflow from these sources. Monitoring of selected wells is discussed and preliminary results are presented.

Assessment of Tritium Activities in Bailed Versus Pumped Samples from Wells at the Nevada National Security Site

Assessment of Tritium Activities in Bailed Versus Pumped Samples from Wells at the Nevada National Security Site
Author: Ronald L. Hershey
Publisher:
Total Pages: 39
Release: 2018
Genre: Environmental monitoring
ISBN:

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The Underground Test Area Activity uses a variety of methods to collect groundwater samples to identify radionuclide migration from underground nuclear tests. A recent study evaluated three sampling technologies and recommended that historical tritium results be evaluated where both pumped and bailed samples are available to identify preferred sampling protocols for the collection of tritium samples. The tritium activities were obtained from the chemistry database and then evaluated if both bailed and pumped samples had been collected. Twenty two wells and piezometers were identified for further consideration.

Tritium Activities in Selected Wells on the Nevada Test Site

Tritium Activities in Selected Wells on the Nevada Test Site
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 25
Release: 1993
Genre:
ISBN:

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Literature and data were reviewed related to radionuclides in groundwater on and near the Nevada Test Site. No elevated tritium activities have been reported outside of the major testing regions of the Nevada Test Site. Three wells were identified as having water with above-background (>50 pCi/l) tritium activities: UE-15d Water Well; USGS Water Well A; and USGS Test Well B Ex. Although none of these wells have tritium activities greater than the Nevada State Drinking Water standard (20,000 pCi/l), their time-series tritium trends may be indicative to potential on-site radionuclide migration.

Nevada Test Site National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants Calendar Year 2008

Nevada Test Site National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants Calendar Year 2008
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2009
Genre:
ISBN:

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The Nevada Test Site (NTS) is operated by the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office. From 1951 through 1992, the NTS was the continental testing location for U.S. nuclear weapons. The release of radionuclides from NTS activities has been monitored since the initiation of atmospheric testing. Limitation to under-ground detonations after 1962 greatly reduced radiation exposure to the public surrounding the NTS. After nuclear testing ended in 1992, NTS radiation monitoring focused on detecting airborne radionuclides from historically contaminated soils. These radionuclides are derived from re-suspension of soil (primarily by winds) and emission of tritium-contaminated soil moisture through evapotranspiration. Low amounts of tritium were also emitted to air at the North Las Vegas Facility (NLVF), an NTS support complex in the city of North Las Vegas. To protect the public from harmful levels of man-made radiation, the Clean Air Act, National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) (Title 40 Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] Part 61 Subpart H) (CFR, 2008a) limits the release of radioactivity from a U.S. Department of Energy facility (e.g., the NTS) to 10 millirem per year (mrem/yr) effective dose equivalent to any member of the public. This limit does not include radiation not related to NTS activities. Unrelated doses could come from naturally occurring radioactive elements or from other man-made sources such as medical treatments. The NTS demonstrates compliance with the NESHAP limit by using environmental measurements of radionuclide air concentrations at critical receptor locations. This method was approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for use on the NTS in 2001 and has been the sole method used since 2005. Six locations on the NTS have been established to act as critical receptor locations to demonstrate compliance with the NESHAP limit. These locations are actually pseudo-critical receptor stations, because no member of the public actually resides at these onsite locations. Compliance is demonstrated if the measured annual average concentration of each detected radionuclide at each of these locations is less than the NESHAP Concentration Levels (CLs) for Environmental Compliance listed in 40 CFR 61, Appendix E, Table 2 (CFR, 2008a). At any one location, if multiple radionuclides are detected then compliance with NESHAP is demonstrated when the sum of the fractions (determined by dividing each radionuclide's concentration by its CL and then adding the fractions together) is less than 1.0. In 2008, the potential dose from radiological emissions to air, from both current and past NTS activities, at onsite compliance monitoring stations was a maximum of 1.9 mrem/yr; well below the 10 mrem/yr dose limit. Air sampling data collected at all six pseudo-critical receptor stations had average concentrations of radioactivity that were a fraction of the CL values listed in Table 2 in Appendix E of 40 CFR 61 (CFR, 2008a). Concentrations ranged from less than 1 percent to a maximum of 19 percent of the allowed NESHAP limit. Because the nearest member of the public resides approximately 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the NTS boundary, concentrations at this location would be only a small fraction of that measured on the NTS. Potential dose to the public from NLVF was also very low at 0.00006 mrem/yr; more than 160,000 times lower than the 10 mrem/yr limit.

Safe Handling of Tritium

Safe Handling of Tritium
Author: International Atomic Energy Agency
Publisher:
Total Pages: 148
Release: 1991
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

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This publication contains information on the dosimetry and monitoring of tritium, the use of protective clothing for work with tritium, safe practices in tritium handling laboratories and details of tritium compatible materials. The information has been compiled from experience in the various applications of tritium and should represent valuable source material to all users of tritium, including those involved in fusion R&D.

The Power of Change

The Power of Change
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 341
Release: 2016-09-30
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0309371422

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Electricity, supplied reliably and affordably, is foundational to the U.S. economy and is utterly indispensable to modern society. However, emissions resulting from many forms of electricity generation create environmental risks that could have significant negative economic, security, and human health consequences. Large-scale installation of cleaner power generation has been generally hampered because greener technologies are more expensive than the technologies that currently produce most of our power. Rather than trade affordability and reliability for low emissions, is there a way to balance all three? The Power of Change: Innovation for Development and Deployment of Increasingly Clean Energy Technologies considers how to speed up innovations that would dramatically improve the performance and lower the cost of currently available technologies while also developing new advanced cleaner energy technologies. According to this report, there is an opportunity for the United States to continue to lead in the pursuit of increasingly clean, more efficient electricity through innovation in advanced technologies. The Power of Change: Innovation for Development and Deployment of Increasingly Clean Energy Technologies makes the case that America's advantagesâ€"world-class universities and national laboratories, a vibrant private sector, and innovative states, cities, and regions that are free to experiment with a variety of public policy approachesâ€"position the United States to create and lead a new clean energy revolution. This study focuses on five paths to accelerate the market adoption of increasing clean energy and efficiency technologies: (1) expanding the portfolio of cleaner energy technology options; (2) leveraging the advantages of energy efficiency; (3) facilitating the development of increasing clean technologies, including renewables, nuclear, and cleaner fossil; (4) improving the existing technologies, systems, and infrastructure; and (5) leveling the playing field for cleaner energy technologies. The Power of Change: Innovation for Development and Deployment of Increasingly Clean Energy Technologies is a call for leadership to transform the United States energy sector in order to both mitigate the risks of greenhouse gas and other pollutants and to spur future economic growth. This study's focus on science, technology, and economic policy makes it a valuable resource to guide support that produces innovation to meet energy challenges now and for the future.

Brittle Power

Brittle Power
Author: Amory B. Lovins
Publisher:
Total Pages: 520
Release: 1982
Genre: Political Science
ISBN:

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Bringing Fusion to the U.S. Grid

Bringing Fusion to the U.S. Grid
Author: National Academies of Sciences Engineering and Medicine
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2021-11-17
Genre:
ISBN: 9780309685382

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Fusion energy offers the prospect of addressing the nation's energy needs and contributing to the transition to a low-carbon emission electrical generation infrastructure. Technology and research results from U.S. investments in the major fusion burning plasma experiment known as ITER, coupled with a strong foundation of research funded by the Department of Energy (DOE), position the United States to begin planning for its first fusion pilot plant. Strong interest from the private sector is an additional motivating factor, as the process of decarbonizing and modernizing the nation's electric infrastructure accelerates and companies seek to lead the way. At the request of DOE, Bringing Fusion to the U.S. Grid builds upon the work of the 2019 report Final Report of the Committee on a Strategic Plan for U.S. Burning Plasma Research to identify the key goals and innovations - independent of confinement concept - that are needed to support the development of a U.S. fusion pilot plant that can serve as a model for producing electricity at the lowest possible capital cost.

The Manhattan Project

The Manhattan Project
Author: Francis George Gosling
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
Total Pages: 75
Release: 1999
Genre: Atomic bomb
ISBN: 0788178806

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A history of the origins and development of the American atomic bomb program during WWII. Begins with the scientific developments of the pre-war years. Details the role of the U.S. government in conducting a secret, nationwide enterprise that took science from the laboratory and into combat with an entirely new type of weapon. Concludes with a discussion of the immediate postwar period, the debate over the Atomic Energy Act of 1946, and the founding of the Atomic Energy Commission. Chapters: the Einstein letter; physics background, 1919-1939; early government support; the atomic bomb and American strategy; and the Manhattan district in peacetime. Illustrated.