Nuclear Weapons Complex Research Articles

Uranium Exposure to a Community Population: Validation Using Urine Uranium With Isotopic Ratio

ISEE-675 Objective: To validate estimates of exposure to uranium (U) and radiation in a population of residing around the Feed Materials Production Center (FMPC), a uranium refinery in Fernald, Ohio. Materials and Methods: The FMPC was part of the US Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear weapons complex, and produced uranium metal products during operation from 1952 to 1989. Releases from the site resulted in exposure to soluble and insoluble forms of uranium, and ionizing radiation, especially radon. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) developed dose estimation models for the Fernald area, resulting in an algorithm to estimate exposures to individuals who lived within the exposure assessment domain (area within a 5-mile radius from the perimeter of the plant). We used this algorithm to estimate exposures for 8770 persons enrolled in the Fernald Medical Monitoring Program (FMMP) and then conducted a validation study of 200 members of the cohort, selected on exposure criteria (highest exposure scores, with and without a well or cistern as a drinking water source, and lowest exposure scores, with and without a well as a drinking water source). Urine samples of these 200 persons, collected in the early 1990s, were submitted for urine uranium measurements, with isotopic ratio. Results: Of the first 176 samples measured, level of U ranged from 0.4 to 144.8 ng/L U (ppt). The geometric mean of urine U in the NHANES population, aged 20 years and above, was 0.009 μg/L (ppb) with 95% CI of 0.007–0.010 (CDC, 2005). Of the 176 in the preliminary report, 48% are above the NHANES 95% CI, 8% are above 30 ppt. We will present data on all 200 measurements with isotopic ratio and correspondence with estimates from the statistical models. Conclusions: Measurement of urine U with isotopic ratio is useful in validating an exposure estimation model.

8.3.3 Enterprise Domain Modelling Process Using SysML for the Tooling Enterprise at the U.S. NNSA's Pantex Plant

AbstractThis paper describes the process and methods applied in modelling an enabling enterprise within the NNSA Pantex Plant within the U.S. Nuclear Weapons Complex. The process used is based on the Enterprise Domain Modelling and systems analysis methods enabled by Systems Modelling Language (SysML). SysML consists of four types of views to describe a system: structure, requirements, parametrics, and behavior (INCOSE, 2006). The model illustrated behavioural viewpoints of the tooling enterprise.

The Importance of the Nuclear Weapons Complex should be Legally Formalized

The Importance of the Nuclear Weapons Complex should be Legally Formalized

The Beryllium Occupational Exposure Limit: Historical Origin and Current Inadequacy

The Beryllium Occupational Exposure Limit: Historical Origin and Current Inadequacy

Is It Possible To Solve The Nuclear Waste Problem?Innovations Case Discussion: Siting of Eurajoki Nuclear Waste Facility

in February 2007 the world faces the stark reality that it must reduce greenhouse gas emissions immediately or face dire consequences. Nuclear energy provides a reliable source of carbon dioxide-free electricity, and a global expansion of nuclear power could replace fossil-fuel fired plants significantly within twenty to fifty years. One of the main impediments to the expansion of nuclear energy is the unresolved problem of what to do with the nuclear waste. Though nuclear power has been with us almost fifty years, to date, not one of the 30 countries with nuclear power plants has opened a nuclear waste repository. There is a general consensus among experts that geologic repositories are the solution to the problem of nuclear waste, and this consensus has been in place for 50 years. Given that, why has no repository yet opened? In 1998, the United States opened a facility to dispose of transuranic waste from the nuclear weapons complex (plutonium-contaminated materials) in southern New Mexico, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. The unresolved issue for the nuclear power industry is the disposition of used (“spent”) nuclear fuel and high-level nuclear waste from the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. Technically, it is feasible to dispose of nuclear waste. The main issues to resolve are where to site a repository and how long such a facility can prevent the radioacAllison Macfarlane

8.3.2 Use of Technical Business Practices by Geographically Separated Teams to Facilitate Concurrent Engineering of Ultraquality Systems (LA‐UR‐05‐8500)

AbstractIn 1997, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) undertook the development of an architecture of standards and requirements to standardize the engineering design and manufacturing of ultraquality weapon systems. This architecture, known as the Technical Business Practice (TBP) system, was implemented in 1999. The TBP system is centered around a concurrent engineering philosophy and based on a Product Realization Process methodology which is broken into four process steps: Definition, Development, Delivery, and Support.The four‐step concurrent engineering approach is accomplished through multi‐disciplinary teams known as Product Realization Teams (PRT) which are comprised of managers and subject matter experts from across the Nuclear Weapons Complex. Depending on the breadth and complexity of the engineering tasks being executed, PRTs can be subdivided into sub‐PRTs or Task Teams. Both sub‐PRTs and Task Teams tend to have a “component‐focus” versus the “system focus” of the PRTs. Using the architecture of TBPs, focused around a concurrent engineering philosophy employed by PRTs, execution of nuclear weapon programs has become more efficient, consistent, and comparable across the Nuclear Weapons Complex.

Evaluation of external radiation dosimetry records at the Savannah River Site, 1951–1989

The Savannah River Site (SRS) is one of the largest facilities in the nation's nuclear weapons complex. To date, little information has been published regarding radiation risk estimates derived from epidemiological studies of SRS workers. As part of an ongoing epidemiological cohort study of SRS workers, we have assessed the suitability of the Site's personnel radiation dosimetry information for use in epidemiological analyses. This paper provides information on historical dosimetry methods, recording practices, and the completeness of computerized dosimetry information for workers employed at SRS during the period 1951-1989, when the site was operated by the du Pont Company. The study includes 18,883 workers hired at SRS between 1951 and 1987 who were employed for at least 90 days. Documents relating to external radiation dosimetry methods were reviewed, recorded doses were examined to evaluate recording practices, and the completeness of monitoring was assessed by comparing employment history and computerized dosimetry records, and by implementing a "nearby" procedure for estimating values for missing annual dosimetry records. Dosimeter technology evolved over this period from two-element film dosimeters to multielement thermoluminescent dosimeters. Dosimetry measurements were recorded consistently in 0.05 millisievert (mSv) increments. Prior to 1973, recording thresholds of 0.10-0.15 mSv were used while from 1973 to 1989 a recording threshold of 0.05 mSv was used. We abstracted nearly 3 person-Sv of dosimetry information that was available in hardcopy but not in computerized format. The collective dose from the computerized and abstracted records totaled 512.1 person-Sv. A "nearby" method was used to estimate dose values for 13,812 employment-years for which dosimetry information was not available. The average estimated value was 0.6 mSv and the assigned collective dose derived via the "nearby" procedure was 8.7 person-Sv. The consistency of dosimetry practices at SRS and the completeness of historical dosimetry records are supportive of their use in epidemiologic research.

Vladimir Konstantinovich Chernyshev

Vladimir Konstantinovich Chernyshev

Is the U.S. Getting Enough Bang From Los Alamos Tests?

A key facility for hydrodynamic tests faces questions that could impact a U.S. nuclear weapons complex in transition.

The Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act

In 2000, Congress passed the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA). EEOICPA provides compensation to employees of government-owned, contractor-operated facilities in the nuclear weapons complex. Employees of private-sector firms that had contracts with the federal government during the Cold War era may also be covered. EEOICPA establishes presumptive criteria for chronic beryllium disease and silicosis. Most radiation-related cancer claims are evaluated using historical dose reconstruction techniques, in conjunction with the concept of the “probability of causation.” Recent amendments to EEOICPA broaden coverage for illnesses in which exposure to toxic substances was a “significant factor in aggravating, contributing to or causing the illness.” Claims are paid from a federal trust fund, which obviates the need for annual congressional appropriations. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Warfare: NRDC Knocks Nukes

Warfare: NRDC Knocks Nukes

Ionizing radiation and chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

The U.S. government recently implemented rules for awarding compensation to individuals with cancer who were exposed to ionizing radiation while working in the nuclear weapons complex. Under these rules, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is considered to be a nonradiogenic form of cancer. In other words, workers who develop CLL automatically have their compensation claim rejected because the compensation rules hold that the risk of radiation-induced CLL is zero. In this article we review molecular, clinical, and epidemiologic evidence regarding the radiogenicity of CLL. We note that current understanding of radiation-induced tumorigenesis and the etiology of lymphatic neoplasia provides a strong mechanistic basis for expecting that ionizing radiation exposure increases CLL risk. The clinical characteristics of CLL, including prolonged latency and morbidity periods and a low case fatality rate, make it relatively difficult to evaluate associations between ionizing radiation and CLL risk via epidemiologic methods. The epidemiologic evidence of association between external exposure to ionizing radiation and CLL is weak. However, epidemiologic findings are consistent with a hypothesis of elevated CLL mortality risk after a latency and morbidity period that spans several decades. Our findings in this review suggest that there is not a persuasive basis for the conclusion that CLL is a nonradiogenic form of cancer.

A United States perspective on long-term management of areas contaminated with radioactive materials.

The US has far-reaching and extensive experience in the long-term management of areas contaminated with radioactive materials. This experience base includes the Department of Energy's continued follow-up with Hiroshima and Nagasaki from the 1940s at the Radiological Effects Research Foundation in Hiroshima, Japan, the long-term management of the Marshall Islands Programme, the clean-up of the US nuclear weapons complex and the ongoing management of accident sites such as in Palomares, Spain. This paper discusses the lessons learnt and best practices gained from this far-reaching and extensive experience in the long-term management of areas contaminated with radioactive materials.

Environment. Avoiding destructive remediation at DOE sites.

Public perceptions and regulatory agreements have forced the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to spend tens of billions of dollars for environmental cleanup of relatively low levels of contamination of soil and water within the nuclear weapons complex. Much of this costly remediation has caused significant ecological damage, but has not resulted in corresponding reductions in public health risks. This Policy Forum offers a potential remedy involving continued federal control of the larger DOE lands and cleanup criteria based on long-term protection of ecosystems and public health, rather than criteria based on the protection of hypothetical future site residents. Recent DOE policy to avoid unnecessary environmental damage using a risk-based strategy is briefly described.

Toxic waste and environmental policy in the 21st century United States

A major problem confronting the United States in the 21st century is the 20th century's legacy of toxic waste. The weapons that fought the Cold War, the facilities that manufactured those weapons, and the factories that fueled a prosperous economy left behind a trail of pollution. Seven previously unpublished essays examine the problem of toxic waste in the United States, what is being done about it, and what should be done about it. W. Henry Lambright and Agnes Gereben Schaefer, Dianne Rahm, Sevim Ahmedov, Charles Davis, Robert A. Simons and Kimberly Winson, Santa Falcone, and Toddi A. Steelman and JoAnn Carmin write about such issues as community based environmental management, regional EPA offices and the regulation of hazardous wastes, brownfields, nuclear and chemical weapons destruction, environmental contamination and the nuclear weapons complex, the privatization of nuclear waste clean-up, and WIPP, Yucca, and hazardous waste transport. The future of humanity demands careful thought about these matters.

Small Sample Properties of an Adaptive Filter Applied to Low Volume SPC

In many manufacturing environments, such as the nuclear weapons complex, emphasis has shifted from the regular production and delivery of large orders to infrequent small orders. However, the challenge to maintain the same high quality and reliability standards while building much smaller lot sizes remains. To meet this challenge, specific areas need more attention, including fast and on-target process start-up, low volume statistical process control, process characterization with small experiments, and estimating reliability given few actual performance tests of the product. In this paper we address the issue of low volume statistical process control. We investigate an adaptive filtering approach to process monitoring with a relatively short time series of autocorrelated data. The emphasis is on estimation and minimization of mean squared error rather than the traditional hypothesis testing and run length analyses associated with process control charting. We develop an adaptive filtering technique that assumes initial process parameters are unknown, and updates the parameters as more data become available. Using simulation techniques, we study the data requirements (the length of a time series of autocorrelated data) necessary to adequately estimate process parameters. We show that far fewer data values are needed than is typically recommended for process control applications. We also demonstrate the techniques with a case study from the nuclear weapons manufacturing complex.

A geographically distributed enterprise simulation system

Sandia National Laboratories has the role of system integrator in the US Department of Energy’s Nuclear Weapons Complex (NWC) and the responsibility for maintaining the nuclear stockpile. Maintenance is a complex task that involves a great number of geographically distributed functions, and a variety of analysis tools and models are used to plan operations, assess capabilities and guide political decisions. We are developing a framework for modeling the NWC unde interactive human control. The framework consists of a simulation system whose users and components are distributed across the entire United States. The purpose of the system is to support decisions about questions ranging from low-level operational matters involving only a sub-component of the complex to high-level policy issues requiring simulation of the entire complex. The system integrates multiple domain-specific legacy models and policy models and allows simulation at varying levels of detail. To provide such a framework, we have had to address a number of technical problems, whose solution is the focus of this paper. The three most fundamental problems are • to provide geographically distributed, synchronized human participation in the simulation; • to provide distributed ownership and security in such a way that the facility hosting a domain-specific model retains all rights to provide or deny a user access to its information; and • to integrate legacy models written in a variety of tools or languages and executed on different platforms. Key features of our approach are the use of the Java language and the coordination of the simulation through a new parallel discrete-event simulation system.

Modeling Radiological Risks to Human Health from Contaminated Soils: Comparing MEPAS, MMSOILS, and RESRAD

Computer-based multimedia models are key analytical tools for assessing potential exposure to environmental contaminants as the U.S. Department of Energy remediates its sites at the nuclear weapons complex. This study applies MEPAS, MMSOILS, and RESRAD to actual release site data from the 903 Pad Source Area within Operating Unit 2 at the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site using a common set of assumptions. The analysis compares the similarity of multimedia model output in terms of (1) prediction of transport, (2) determination of an individual's lifetime exposure, and (3) estimation of radiological risks to human health from contaminated soils. This case study presents fairly routine exposure pathways and offers a good illustration of the way in which multimedia models can be used to assess potential radiological risk to human health from contaminated soils.

Managing the Cleanup of the Nuclear Weapons Complex

Drawing on data gathered from personal interviews conducted at multiple sites within the U.S. nuclear weapons complex, this article explores four key factors that affect site progress toward coming into environmental compliance. These factors are (a) the degree of environmental difficulty, (b) stakeholder relationships, (c) organizational transformation, and (d) politics. The Fernald, Ohio, site is then presented as a case that reveals the importance of these factors in explaining a site’s successful progress toward environmental compliance. There are two outstanding features of the Fernald cleanup effort: (a) the extent to which the site has been able to work effectively with stakeholders and (b) the comprehensiveness of the site’s successful organizational transformation.

How Not to Construct a Radioactive Waste Incinerator

Sociologists of risk tend to presume that populations have static perceptions of risk that can be correlated with their degree of technical expertise or their structural relation to society. Such commentators show little interest in human agency unless it is the agency of professional risk communicators educating the public. This analysis of the conflict over a radioactive incinerator in Livermore, California, emphasizes the fluidity of public perceptions of the incinerator and the agency of activists in shaping those perceptions in a battle for rhetorical position with the U.S. Department of Energy. At a historical moment (the end of the cold war) when the media was publicizing decades of environmental problems in the U.S. nuclear weapons complex, activists were able to defeat the incinerator by creating a transitory alliance with local developers and by using rhetorical strategies that slyly undermined the official discourse on risk.