Department Of Energy Order Research Articles

Seismic Risk Assessment of Safety-Critical Nuclear Facilities for the Purpose of Risk-Informed Periodic Reevaluation

Following U.S. Department of Energy Order 420.1 C for the mitigation of natural phenomena hazards, such as earthquakes, to nuclear facilities through periodic reassessments, Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has developed the Seismic Hazard Periodic Re-Evaluation Methodology (SHPRM). The SHPRM involves seven criteria that evaluate changes to the seismic hazard at a site due to changes in the input models/data over time. Should these changes to the seismic hazard result in an increase in the design or licensing-basis ground motion of the facility from that which the facility was designed for, the SHPRM includes a criterion for reevaluating the facility risk objectives. While the criteria corresponding to the reevaluation of the seismic hazard and the design basis have been previously demonstrated and published, there is currently no guidance on reevaluating seismic risk for the purpose of SHPRM. This paper complements the published reports and papers on the application of SHPRM by demonstrating the risk objectives criterion for a generic nuclear facility (GNF), thereby closing the loop on the application of the SHPRM. The GNF is assumed to be located at the INL site and designated as a Seismic Design Category-3 facility as per American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)/Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) 43-05. The demonstration includes a risk assessment for a baseline seismic hazard calculated in 2006 and an updated seismic hazard calculated in 2015. After presenting the baseline and the updated seismic hazard curves at this site, the state-of-practice methodology for calculating fragility functions for the facility is presented, along with the fragilities calculated for the GNF. Employing a fault tree analysis using the INL in-house seismic analysis and risk assessment software MASTODON, the seismic risks of collapse of the GNF for the baseline and updated seismic hazards are computed to be 5.27E−05 and 5.2E−06, respectively. The results show that not only the reevaluated seismic risk is smaller, but more importantly, that it meets the risk objectives set by ASCE/SEI 43-05.

Forthcoming Revision to the Department of Energy Tritium Handling and Safe Storage Guide

Once every five years, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) requires, via DOE Order (O) 252.1A, Technical Standards Program, that each of its Standards and Handbooks undergo a maintenance review (also known as “sunset reviews”). There are three possible outcomes of a maintenance review: (1) reaffirmation as current, accurate, and of continuing value to the Department; (2) revision to be current, accurate, and of continuing value; or (3) cancellation. DOE-HDBK-1129-2008, Tritium Handling and Safe Storage, is following option (2) above; the required justification of continuing value was demonstrated by a lack of comparable technical breadth and depth available in other publications. This paper gives an overview of the updates that the Tritium Handling and Safe Storage Guide will undergo. It is expected that the update will be completed in early 2014.

Site-Specific Reference Person Parameters and Derived Concentration Standards for the Savannah River Site

The U.S. Department of Energy Order 458.1 states that the compliance with the 1 mSv annual dose constraint to a member of the public may be demonstrated by calculating dose to the maximally exposed individual (MEI) or to a representative person. Historically, the MEI concept was used for dose compliance at the Savannah River Site (SRS) using adult dose coefficients and adult male usage parameters. For future compliance, SRS plans to use the representative person concept for dose estimates to members of the public. The representative person dose will be based on the reference person dose coefficients from the U.S. DOE Derived Concentration Technical Standard and on usage parameters specific to SRS for the reference and typical person. Usage parameters and dose coefficients were determined for inhalation, ingestion and external exposure pathways. The reference intake for air, water, meat, dairy, freshwater fish, saltwater invertebrates, produce (fruits and vegetables), and grains for the 95th percentile are 17.4 m d, 2.19 L d, 220.6 g d, 674 cm d, 66.4 g d, 23.0 g d, 633.4 g d (448.5 g dand 631.7 g d) and 251.3 g d, respectively. For the 50th percentile: 13.4 m d, 0.809 L d, 86.4 g d, 187 cm d, 8.97 g d, 3.04 g d, 169.5 g d (45.9 g d and 145.6 g d), 101.3 g d, respectively. These parameters for the representative person were used to calculate and tabulate SRS-specific derived concentration standards (DCSs) for the pathways not included in DOE-STD-1196-2011.

Development of training course on transport security of radioactive materials

AbstractArgonne National Laboratory (Argonne), with the support of the US Department of Energy (DOE) Packaging Certification Program, has developed a week long training course on security for nuclear and other radioactive materials during transport. The course focuses on USA domestic and international requirements and recommendations for transport security. A review of applicable US Department of Transportation regulations, recently issued US Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulations, DOE orders and manuals, and relevant international modal regulatory documents relating to transport security was conducted. The review disclosed that existing International Atomic Energy Agency security training materials could be incorporated into a training course on security requirements for US domestic shippers. Development of training materials for such a course was initiated in late 2012, and the first course was convened in early December 2013 at Argonne. The course also incorporated training and hands on transport se...

Comparison of CAP88 PC Ver. 3.0 and MAXDOSE Dose Assessment Models Involving Co-located Stack Releases at the Savannah River Site

The Savannah River National Laboratory's Environmental Dosimetry Group performs dosimetry assessments for Savannah River Site (SRS) radionuclide air emissions utilizing the Clean Air Act Assessment Package-1988 (CAP88) code (CAP88 PC Ver. 3.0) and the MAXDOSE-SR Ver. 2011 code, which is an SRS-specific version of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's MAXIGASP code. CAP88 PC and MAXDOSE-SR are used at SRS for demonstrating compliance with Environmental Protection Agency dose standards for radionuclide emissions to the atmosphere and Department of Energy Order 458.1 dose standards, respectively. During a routine comparison of these two assessment models, it was discovered that CAP88 PC Ver. 3.0 was not producing the expected results when using multiple co-located stacks in a single run. Specifically, if the stack heights are considered separately, the results for several radionuclides (but not all) differ from the combined run [i.e., 1 + 2 does not equal (1+2)]. Additionally, when two or more stack heights are considered in a run, the results depend on the order of the selected stack heights. For example, for a two stack-height run of 0 meter and 61 m input produces different results from a 61 m and 0 m input run. This study presents a comparison of CAP88 PC Ver. 3.0 and MAXDOSE-SR Ver. 2011 based on SRS input data and on two-stack release scenarios. The selected radionuclides for this study included gases/vapors (H, C, Kr, and I) and particulates (Sr, Cs, Pu, and Am) commonly encountered at SRS.

Operational Experience and Validation of the Triathler™ Model 425-034(1) Single Vial Liquid Scintillation Counter for Meeting Department of Energy Release Criteria

Triathler™ Model 425-034 single vial liquid scintillation counter (LSC) counters have been in use at the Safety and Tritium Applied Research Facility (STAR) for approximately three years. During facility setup and determination of instrumentation needs to support STAR facility operations, the Triathler was chose to assess smearable tritium contamination levels for operational conditions. The Triathler was selected due to the rapid turnaround time for obtaining tritium contamination levels versus other automated batch LSC counters currently in use at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and other Department of Energy (DOE) installations. Operational experience with the Triathler thus far has shown a high reliability for verifying removable contamination levels at a level of < 1,000 Disintegrations Per Minute (DPM) per 100 cm2 when compared to the Packard™ Tri-Carb 1905 AB/LA Liquid Scintillation Analyzer used by the Reactor Technologies Complex (RTC) Radiochemistry Measurements Laboratory (RML).However, variances in the reported results for activity in DPM/vial from the Triathler versus the Packard Tri-Carb have been noted when operating in the range of 5,000 to 20,000 DPM. These variances make reliability and use of the Triathler suspect for verifying smearable contamination levels meet the release criteria identified in DOE Order 5400.5, Radiation Protection of the Public and Environment. Ensuring that removable tritium contamination levels on materials and equipment intended for free-release to the public are < 10,000 DPM per 100 cm2 is a requirement in the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) contract.Comprehensive cross-comparisons have been ongoing to ensure the Triathler LSC reported DPM values provide sufficient detection of smearable tritium contamination when cross-compared to other automated liquid scintillation counters available at the INL.

Project Management Education and Training Process for Career Development

The overall goal of this research project was to improve an organization's core competency in construction project management in a focused and systematic manner, with the help of a formalized education and training model. This paper describes the development of such a model for education and training standards for career development at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The need for this model was driven by the tremendous increase in the volume of construction work at SNL (post 9/11) along with several other factors [i.e., self-governance, customer feedback, and a new Department of Energy Order (413.3) for the handling of program and project management capital assets acquisition]. The goal of this research was to create a defined procedure to identify and quantify project management gaps and strengths, and then to develop a process to succinctly characterize each Sandia model participant's background qualification. This was achieved by administering a survey followed by a questionnaire whose results led to a customized training and development path, tracked both by individual and by department. Tools to address gaps were then identified and a role-task-competency hierarchy was created called the Sandia Project Management Career Development Academy model.

High Level Waste Tank Closure Project: ALARA Applications at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory

Bechtel BWXT Idaho, Maintenance and Operating Contractor for the Department of Energy at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, has emptied, cleaned, and sampled six of the eleven 1.135 x 10(6) L high level waste underground storage tanks at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center, well ahead of the State of Idaho Consent Order cleaning schedule. Cleaning of a seventh tank is expected to be complete by the end of calendar year 2004. The tanks, with associated vaults, valve boxes, and distribution systems, are being closed to meet Resource Conservation and Recovery Act regulations and Department of Energy orders. The use of remotely operated equipment placed in the tanks through existing tank riser access points, sampling methods and application of as-low-as-reasonably-achievable (ALARA) principles have proven effective in keeping personnel dose low during equipment removal, tank, vault, and valve box cleaning, and sampling activities, currently at 0.03 Sv.

MARSSIM vs. DOE Order 5400.5: the Final Status Survey plan at the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site.

A challenge unique to the decommissioning of Department of Energy (DOE) facilities involves the compromise between the existing and newly recommended standards for the unrestricted release of property and materials. The Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site (RFETS) is currently decommissioning numerous plutonium contaminated facilities. The default DOE standard for unrestricted release, Order 5400.5, defines surface activity guidelines as averaged over a 1-square-meter area with a maximum value defined for any given 100-square-centimeter area. While the Order was initially developed to release property and materials from an operating site, it is restrictive in its use when performing Final Status Survey and, to date, no new complex wide standard has been developed. However, the RFETS stakeholders selected the MARSSIM, which provides a progressive method to demonstrate compliance with the defined "dose-based" limits for a specific site, as the governing document in developing a final survey method. The end result is a hybrid final status survey plan that incorporates the requirements of both documents. This plan represents several years of development and negotiation between the contractor, the DOE, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, the Rocky Flats stakeholders, and other interested parties.

The SNS Target Station Preliminary Title I Shielding Analyses

The Department of Energy (DOE) has given the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) project approval to begin Title I design of the proposed facility to be built at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). During the conceptual design phase of the SNS project, the target station bulk-biological shield was characterized and the activation of the major target station components was calculated. Shielding requirements were assessed with respect to weight, space, and dose-rate constraints for operating, shutdown, and accident conditions utilizing the SNS shield design criteria, DOE Order 5480.25, and requirements specified in 10 CFR 835. Since completion of the conceptual design phase, there have been major design changes to the target station as a result of the initial shielding and activation analyses, modifications brought about due to engineering concerns, and feedback from numerous external review committees. These design changes have impacted the results of the conceptual design analyses, and consequently, have required a re-investigation of the new design. Furthermore, the conceptual design shielding analysis did not address many of the details associated with the engineering design of the target station. In this paper, some of the proposed SNS target station preliminary Title I shielding design analyses will be presented. The SNS facility (with emphasis on the target station), shielding design requirements, calculational strategy, and source terms used in the analyses will be described. Preliminary results and conclusions, along with recommendations for additional analyses, will also be presented.

Assessment of Personnel Protective Equipment Use At Two Department of Energy Facilities

Research facilities under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Energy are required to formally report significant radioactive contamination incidents to the Department of Energy under Department of Energy Order 5000.3. Through the reporting process, the Department of Energy is given a detailed incident description through a notification report, periodically apprised of subsequent facility response through update reports, and informed of the corrective actions that the facility will implement to prevent incident recurrence through a final report. For tracking and trending purposes, the notification, update, and final reports are entered into the Department of Energy Occurrence Reporting and Processing System database. This paper details an analysis that was performed on the radioactive contamination incident reports that were entered into the Department of Energy Occurrence Reporting and Processing System database by two similar research facilities at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The analysis focused on personnel protective equipment requirements at the two facilities to determine whether personal skin and clothing contamination incidents could be better avoided.

TFTR Tritium Inventory Accountability System

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) requires control and accountability of nuclear materials for all DOE-owned nuclear materials at licensed and licensed-exempt facilities. Through a series of DOE orders (5633.3 and associated referenced series), the DOE has set forth minimum requirements and procedures for control and accountability of nuclear materials. The TFTR has been in deuterium-tritium (D-T) operations since November 1993 utilizing DOE-owned tritium for fueling the plasma reaction. As a result of the current D-T experiments at TFTR, 30 grams of tritium have been shipped to PPPL, tracked through the tritium storage and delivery systems, processed as scrap or waste, and shipped back to other DOE-owned facilities for disposal or reprocessing. Under the guidance of the DOE control and accountability orders, PPPL is required to implement and maintain a program that includes the establishment of nuclear material balance areas, material surveillance, calibration and verification of measurement devices, graded safeguards for protection of tritium inventories, computerized tracking of measurement control points, material balance reports, shipper/receiver evaluations, and extensive DOE reporting requirements. This paper discusses the program (PPPL Material Control and Accountability Plan) that has been implemented to track DOE-owned tritium and all other accountable source material. Specifically, this paper details the methods used to measure tritium in various systems at TFTR, resolve inventory differences, perform inventory by difference inside the Tokamak, process and measure plasma exhaust and other effluent gas streams, process, measure and ship scrap or waste tritium on molecular sieve beds, and detail the organizational structure of the Material Control and Accountability (MC&A) group. In addition, this paper describes a Unix TM based computerized software system developed at PPPL to account for all tritium movements throughout the facility.

Impacts of the use of institutional controls on risk assessments for U.S. Department of Energy facilities

This paper summarizes some of the major issues related to the use of institutional controls at hazardous waste sites under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy Field Office, Oak Ridge/Environmental Restoration Division (DOE-OR/ERD). In particular, the impacts that assumptions regarding institutional controls have on the results and interpretation of the risk assessment, both in the Remedial Investigation (RI) and the Feasibility Study (FS) are addressed. The approaches and assumptions relating to institutional controls focus on the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), since it is the regulatory driver for hazardous waste sites at Department of Energy (DOE) facilities. In order to provide a contrast to approaches adopted under CERCLA, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and radiation regulatory authorities (i.e., Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulations/guidance, DOE orders, and U.S. Environmental Pro- tection Agency (EPA) standards) are briefly outlined. To demonstrate the implications of the use of institutional controls at DOE facilities, the approaches and results of a recent baseline risk assessment for Solid Waste Storage Area 6 at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) are summarized.

Current Progress Toward Natural Phenomena Hazards Mitigation for Aging DOE Structures, Systems, and Components

This paper outlines a program under development to establish requirements, develop criteria and guidance for systematically evaluating the behavior of structures, systems, and components (SSC) in existing Department of Energy (DOE) facilities located across the United States when subjected to natural phenomena hazards (NPH). The requirements have been established in DOE Order 5480.28. Criteria are summarized in the implementing standards which accompany the order. An approach to implement the requirements for existing systems and components is currently being developed.