[en] Assistance was requested to help determine sampling and instrumentation requirements for the long-range decontamination and decommissioning activities at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. Through a combination of literature review, visits to other DOE contractors, and a determination of the needs for the INEL program, a draft report has been prepared that is now under review. The final report should be completed in FY 84

[en] In 1956, Area G was designated for the disposal of solid radioactive waste ranging from potentially contaminated rubber gloves and glassware to parts of obsolete buildings and equipment that cannot be decontaminated. Pit 26 was constructed in Area G during 1983. Data indicate that the pit is in compliance with the guidelines issued by the US Geological Survey in 1965 and the revised guidelines reissued in 1980 by the Waste Management Group and Environmental Surveillance Group of the Los Alamos National Laboratory. 4 references, 1 figure

[en] Special analyses for plutonium were performed on 1-kg soil samples from six regional stations. This is 100 times the usual mass used for analyses. These larger samples increase the sensitivity of the plutonium analyses which is necessary to evaluate background plutonium concentrations in fallout from atmospheric nuclear weapons tests. The samples at each station were collected by taking 5 plugs, 75-mm diam and 50 mm deep, at the center and corners of a square area 10 m on a side. The five plugs were combined into one sample for radiochemical analyses. (One set of samples from Santa Cruz Lake consisted of 1-kg plugs at the four corners and center and were taken to determine variability in radionuclide concentrations within a sampling grid.) The 1-kg samples were analyzed for ²³⁸Pu and /sup 239,240/Pu. Analyses for ¹³⁷Cs, ⁹⁰Sr, total uranium, and gross gamma were done on standard-size samples. The analytical results in 1983 from the six stations are compared with similar data from 1981. There is no significant difference in the concentrations of ¹³⁷Cs, ²³⁸Pu, or ⁹⁰Sr. The average /sup 239,240/Pu/²³⁸Pu ratios for both sets of samples are similar at 23 (1981) and 15 (1983). 1 figure, 1 table

[en] A review of original injection experimental records at LASL suggest that the power function fit is a good choice to describe early plutonium excretion; however, the later period (300-, 500-, and 1600-day) results along with 10,000 day results show a significant departure from the Langham power function model used to describe long-term Pu excretion. The authors suggest that since the 523- and 1600-day data in question influenced the mathematical development of the Langham power function equation, its use in predicting Pu body burdens from long-term excretion data should be discouraged. 9 references, 2 figures, 2 tables

[en] A need for a more effective way to rapidly search for gamma-ray contamination over large areas led to the design and construction of a very sensitive gamma detection system. The delta count-rate monitoring system was installed in a four-wheel-drive van instrumented for environmental surveillance and accident response. The system consists of four main sections: (1) two scintillation detectors, (2) high-voltage power supply amplifier and single-channel analyzer, (3) delta count-rate monitor, and (4) count-rate meter and recorder. The van's 6.5-kW generator powers the standard nuclear instrument modular design system. The two detectors are mounted in the rear corners of the van and can be run singly or jointly. A solid-state bar-graph count-rate meter mounted on the dashboard can be read easily by both the driver and passenger. A solid-state strip chart recorder shows trends and provides a permanent record of the data. An audible alarm is sounded at the delta monitor and at the dashboard count-rate meter if a detected radiation level exceeds the set background level by a predetermined amount

[en] The BIOTRAN model was developed at Los Alamos to help predict short- and long-term consequences to man from releases of radionuclides into the environment. It is a dynamic model that simulates on a daily and yearly basis the flux of biomass, water, and radionuclides through terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Biomass, water, and radionuclides are driven within the ecosystems by climate variables stochastically generated by BIOTRAN each simulation day. The climate variables influence soil hydraulics, plant growth, evapotranspiration, and particle suspension and deposition. BIOTRAN has 22 different plant growth strategies for simulating various grasses, shrubs, trees, and crops. Ruminants and humans are also dynamically simulated by using the simulated crops and forage as intake for user-specified diets. BIOTRAN has been used at Los Alamos for long-term prediction of health effects to populations following potential accidental releases of uranium and plutonium. Newly developed subroutines are described: a human dynamic physiological and metabolic model; a soil hydrology and irrigation model; limnetic nutrient and radionuclide cycling in fresh-water lakes. 7 references

[en] Short-term gamma-absorbed doses were measured by one high-pressure ionization chamber (HPIC) at an azimuth of 12⁰ from the Los Alamos Meson Physics Facility (LAMPF) stack during the January 1 through February 8 operating cycle. Two HPICs were in the field during the September 8 through December 31 operating cycle, one north and the other north-northeast of the LAMPF stack, but they did not provide reliable data. Meteorological data were also measured at both East Gate and LAMPF. Airborne emission data were taken at the stack. Daily model predictions, based on the integration of modeled 15-min periods, were made for the first LAMPF operating cycle and were compared with the measured data. A comparison of the predicted and measured daily gamma doses due to LAMPF emissions is presented. There is very good correlation between measured and predicted values. During 39-day operating cycles, the model predicted an absorbed dose of 10.3 mrad compared with the 8.8 mrad that was measured, an overprediction of 17%

[en] The Industrial Hygiene Group assisted OSHA and the NRC in measurements of respirator performance under field conditions. They reviewed problems associated with sampling aerosols within the respirator in order to determine fit factors (FFs) or field performance factor (FPF). In addition, they designed an environmental chamber study to determine the effects of temperature and humidity on a respirator wearer

[en] The US Transuranium Registry instituted a program for whole-body donation in 1976 to improve the data on the distribution of transuranics within the entire skeleton and those tissues not available from a routine autopsy. Two whole bodies have been submitted for radiochemical analysis. The first, a ²⁴¹Am exposure, has been described in an earlier report. The primary exposure of the second donor (a chemist in the Manhattan Project) was to ²³⁹Pu in 1945. Of the total whole-body deposition of 6.52 nCi in the second case, 56% remained in the lung and tracheobronchial lymph nodes; 44% (2.86 nCi) was distributed through the systemic system with 46% of this burden in the liver and 46% in the skeleton. 5 references, 2 tables

[en] A respiratory tract deposition model was developed that would accommodate age 1 month to adulthood as an initial step in calculating radiation dose following inhalation during environmental exposures. The approach to changing respiratory tract and physiological parameters to be applicable to children was to derive an analytical function describing the ratio of the child value to the value for a reference adult with the desired characteristics. A computer program was written to carry out the tracing of airflow through the respiratory tract and deposition in each of the sections for monodispersed particles of known density and diameter. 7 references