Document text
Machine-read from the scan, so expect some errors. Lines that couldn’t be read are left out.
Page 1
Department of Energy Oak Ridge Field Office Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831- 8600 Division of Water Pollution Control Tennessee Denartment of Environment AND LABORATORY STREAMS AT THE OAK RIDGE NATIONAL This letter provides notification to your division of radiotracer research activities that are planned at O N . The planned activities involve the injection of s m d amounts of radiotracers to Walker Branch and Building 1504 laboratory streams. Effluent from the laboratory streams is discharged to holding ponds behind Building 1504, which overflow to Northwest Tributary just upstream of its The purpose of the Walker Branch study is to determine the effects of leaf emergence on phosphorus uptake and cycling. A series of three radiotracer injections to Walker Branch are planned during the period from April to June 1993, with the exact dates depending on weather and stream flow conditions. Each injection w i l l contain approximately 5 mCi of tritium (H-3) as water and 1.5 period. Please refer to the enclosed table for the scheduled dates. The purpose of the Building 1504 laboratory stream study is to determine if hydraulic characteristics related to biomass development and physical obstructions influence phosphorus cycling. Two sets of injections are planned for March 1993. During each set of injections, approximately 0.1 mCi of P-33w i l l be injected over a 60-minute period t o each stream. ORNL will perform only one injection to one stream each day over a four-day period, resulting in a total of 0.4 mCi for each set of injections. Please refer to the enclosed table for the scheduled The enclosed table shows the predicted instream concentrations at the point of radiotracer release and at the border of the Oak Ridge Reservation. The predicted concentrations are well below derived concentration guidelines for DOE facilities and are protective of public health and the environment.
Page 2
All personnel involved in the studies will be trained in the safe use of radionuclides and will be monitored by a health physicist during the experiment. If YOU or members of your staf€ have any questions, please contact Mark Belvin of my staffat (615) 576-7321. When replying, please refer to 93-9295. Deputy Assistant Manager for Energy Research and Development
Page 4
OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY MANAGED BV MARTIN MARIETTA ENERQV SYSTEMS. INC. FOR THE US. DEPARTMENT OF ENERQY Dr. Ronald 0. Hultgren, Deputy Assistant Manager Energy Research and Development DOE Oak Ridge Field Office Post Office Box 2008 Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6229 Notification of Planned Radiotracer Studies - Oak Ridge National Laboratory Walker Branch and. Building 1504 Laboratory Streams This letter notifies the Department of Energy that research personnel at Oak Ridge National Laboratory plan to release small amounts of radiotracers into Walker Branch and Building 1504laboratory streams during a series of experimental releases. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of hydrologic backwater zones on biological uptake and cycling of phosphorus in the stream. The purpose of the Building 1504 laboratory stream study is to examine the effect of different levels of algal biomass on cycling of phosphorus in streams. While these releases are not wastewater discharges, and the amount of radiotracers involved is very small, n o t E d o n of the releases to the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC)is con sided - appropriate In the past, notification was made to TDEC, KnoxdIe Basin Office, which iS understood to np longer be the primary regulatory officefor DOE facilities in Oak Ridge. ' The radiotracers in each Walker Branch study will include approximately 5 mCi of tritium as water (H-3) and 1.5 mCi of phosphorus-33 as phosphate (P-33) and will be released over 1.5 hours. The half life for H-3 is approximately 12.26 years and P-33 has a half-life of 25 days. The Building 1504A laboratory st5ezm study pi^ involve approximately OS ci of P-33 r e i e q in 0.1 mCi increments. w* Release&to turo of the tat& streams will be performe x . over @-minute intervals, but only m tre any / will be used each day. Releases are plap-reams each day for fou?"c4.(y p3 "&* days. The attached table summarizes the pertinent information for these studies. All personnel involved in these studies will be trained in the safe use of radionuclides, will wear appropriate protective clothing, and will be monitored by a health physicist during the experiment. Please forward this information to TDEC at the following address. Mr. Paul Davis, Director Division of Water Pollution Control Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation
Page 5
If there are any questions or additional information is required, please contact C. K Valentine at 574-8775 or C. E. Nix at 574-7363. Jerry H. Swanks, Director and Health Compliance ?.
Page 7
yIAnN MARIETTA ENERQY SYSTEMS, Iwc. H. M. Braunstein, Environmental Compliance and Documentation We are planning a series of 3 radiotracer injections, each of approorimately 5 mCi of'H@ and 1.5 mCi of pPO, to Walker Branch over a 1.5-hour period, during the period from April to June 1993. Two of the injections will be perform& in the West Fork of Watker Branch, approximately 300 rn upstream from the weir and the third injection will be in the East Fork of Walker Branch about 100 m upstream from the weir. The West Fork injections are planned for the first week of April and the first week of May 1% with the exact dates depending on weather and streamflow conditions. The East Fork h j e d m is planned for late April or early May, The purpose ofthese injections is to determinethe effect of lea€ emergence on phosphorus uptake in the strcam and the effect ofrflaat through sediments on P uptake and cycling. These injections will be identical to thoQG conducted in the past in Walker Branch (such as those in April, July, and Novcmbcr TOP (Use of Radiotracers on Walker Branch Watershed and Other Str dne- Restwatiorl, Number 0682X, issued July 12,1991). streamflow on the dates of the injections will be approximately 5 us. of "P in the stream at the point of release will be approximately 56 and the concentration of 'H in the stream at the point of release will r e d u d approximately 10-fold by dilution, dispexsion, and biological uptake ("P ody) before the plume goes under Bethel Valley Road and leaves the rescrvation. The procedures used in these experiments will be identi to tho& used in the past.. we (established regulated area). The release solution (4 L) will bc pumped into the s t r e a m using a battery operated peristaltic pump and will contain a 33Pconcentration of 0375 This solution will be packaged according to DOT regulations for transportation to the fieldIt meets the requirements of "limited quantity" radioactive material as desmied h regulations, paragraph 173.423, Table 7. A radiological area will be established in-the field in the immediate area around the relcase solution and pump. All personnel invohred in the experiment have been trained in the safe use of radionuclide, wiU we811 the and will be checked for contamination at the closc of the cxpcri.menL will conduct all dilution of stock 33Pand 3H solutions% room 144 of building 1505
Page 8
We are also planning two sets of injections, each consisthg of a total of 0.4 mCi of sPo4, to a network of four 4o.m long laboratory streams in building 1504 of ORNL, One set of injections will be performed during the week of March l, 1993 and the second set either during the week of March 15, 1993 or the week of March 29, 1993, depending on d@ growth in the laboratory streams. During eac! set of injections, a&dmatdy 0.1 mCi of will be injected to each stream over aaa=’min period, We_@ perform ow One injection to one stream each day over a fourb;ray period (resulhg m a total injection of 0.4 mCi for each set of injections). These injections arc identical to those wc conducted in October 1992,except that we have doubled the length of each &by comeCting two stream together in series and thus now have four rather than eight streams. The purpose of these radiotracer injections is to determine if uptake and cycling of phosphorus (first set of inj characteristics related to biomass development and experimentally manipulated) influence phosphorus As des cri i in my previous memos to you concedng our discharged to six ponds behind building 1504 which then &&&I Northwest Triiutary just upstream of its confluence with First Creek. The flow h*&hof the laboratory streams is apprmimaw OSUS(total flow in ail four s&- is there& 2 US).~ f t e r making one pass through the streams, the water f r ~ m I.ise-.collected by floor drains and discharged to the six ponds in appmxima&y’* propartions via a flowsplitting *. The concentration in each stream at the point of relcaSe will be OAh uCiL (242 d p / mL) during the release pCn’ix&?%causc v teleases will 6. conducted in oniy 1of 4 streams shultancously, the efIluent l e a 6 buiiding 1504 wilf d e ) ovcr the irwtream c0ncentr;atiOns. Eachofthesirbe diluted fourfold p d s has a volume of about 600 m3. Therefore, the 0.1 mCi of releascd on each day will be diluted into a pond volume of 3600 d,resulting in a fsp concentration of about 0.028 nCi/L (0.06 dpmhml) temporarily in the ponds, the overflow of which is discharged to Northwest T n i . Dilution in Tnitary wilI further lower this 33P concentration by at least a factor of 10. I hope I have pnnrided you with all the information there is anything else you need. contact me if
The text continues in the original scan (10 pages).