H Division Progress Report (July 21 - August 20, 1963) (Redacted)

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Nur rau s air vamqles were takcn dow!. 7 .:**:am from the absolute vacuum system which pr ovid cs ncq at iv c pressure far Pu boxes. This was done t o (1) help in our understand in q of the or it j in of I the Wing 9system, and (2) to evaluate two new iodine collecting filter papers. Samoling war done witha qast pump through afi ? ter paper and activated charcoal cart rid qe : samples were taken froz the c cnt ets of ductirig with an appropriate prohe, 2xcept in the east of thc Pu-Vac system where connection was made by disconnecting a 1131 i n the Wing 9exhaust system was comino ftbm the Pu-Vac syston, that is, from the LAMPRE operations.Rcp l sci ng the charcoal cimi iS t CrS i n the Pv boxes reduced thc 1131 concept ration ly a factor of 5 , but still left that system asthe primary contrib ut gr. CMF-14 is conside ring n standby charcoal Lrnp for this system. (2.4hours) was 3een i.n the exhaust fron Cell R , used to process plasma t h e r o - Tho XI3' untloubted:.v comes from 7 7 hour 1k132which has beerr Contrary to our previous Iw lief s, the majority of the collected on t.hc absolute filter.Cell fl had no loral charcoal filter at sampling tine, but. one !?as since bcon installed.This should trap the locally as w lI as more o f the Cell 9 had sucba filter. a t samplinq time, which presvmahly I,xplil'incd the absence o f IL3' i n ttiil system. and sp oct romo try, hut miqht he the explanation of higher cowit:; (lone locally in Wing 9 by 11-1. I n any case, t.he 3rti viti.cs do not contribute appreciably loe tack activities 31) il pcr c cnt of APC hasis.

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The two activated charcoal impreqnatetl filter papcbrs (Rrit lSh and Tracer lab) both gave eri a tic collccti..n c*f fic ic nci es varyirW from 3to 30%, and wecc considered unsuit..blc for routine uw in The Phernex machine atthe new site is now producrnq radiation. A kam about2to4 inm in diameter has been produrad'with a target current of rou qh ly1 ampere arid an unerqy nf 1 3 to 1 5 MeV. levels around the exit end of the iqloo have net yet ucen thor ou qh ly aurvcycd. However, thimble chamlnr read in qs uehind the brm,near the telephone, showed no radiation with ci th cr no target 3r witha thick Be block. Personnel are permitted, an a temporary basis, t o Stay behind the berm durinq Dulsinq to facilitate heam mappinq with qlass plates,or ovid cd there is sure communication with the control room and they can be observed on television. The twin drybox chain in Room 1;?B a t Ton Site was disconnect ad and rem~ved tothe contaminated dump on huq ust20, 1963. Dcfore any work was done or this opt ration,alc n q thy step - b y - step SOP was written to cover thc entire operation.All openings were oen led, all windows and glove ports vere c wer ccl with metal to prevent breakage during removal and burial, and the entire assembly was braced for lift in q with channel iron.All parts of the room were covered with plastic to prevent contamination in case of rupture could not be removed through the door,but had t o be removed through the window. The lilrqc air in tak c €or the build in9 is located directly under this window, which mide it necessary to turnoff the building air and cover the vent. I\ plaLform was a1.o built over the air vent to further protect the build in q air system. The window frame was removed and the drybox chain was loaded ona tcllc): and placed in the dump a t Area G. All persotinel can ncc ted wit.. : ti is operation wore fuI.1 pro tert iver lath in q.

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in clu d in q full - facere s pirats rm. The only ron ti.ni nation found was This was cleaned and the duct covered withB steel. plate. three of the Hurst dosimeters and four of the "paor boy" dori met crs hive been sent to Ten Site to be placed in the new Pu-Na pro ces rir : g wing. XI. GROUP €1-3, SAWITY (ROY Rei der, Leader) Number of Days Us: 183 28 1 R. Industrial .\rcidcnt Ex w rien ce Number of D is abl in q Injuries612 disabling in ju cy when tri ethyl phr p hate was squirted iu to his eyes durin qa dip pin qo w ration.He lost four days from work. There wue no Laboratory fires durin q this report period. Accident Cost per 1C0,OOO Miles $90.00 $156.00 There were two motor vehicle accidents in July involving -D. Motor Vehicle Accidents 1/1/63 to 8/1/63 Laboratory drivers.00th accidents were backing accidents. 1. Health and Safety Nc ws let tet Number 63-4 "Microwave supervisors was concluded.

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3. ?our indoctrination tour: €or fire Dcpartlncnt and Security personnel uere held durin q thi8report p.rioduas here fora week surveying Laboratory facilities. A. Eva lu at ton and Control Work Air Bu elin q Studies Thirty - five air samples - ace collected at the8.ry lli un Shop ind analyzed for beryllium.A11 saaplea analyzed showed concentrations well below permissible Ie vel s. Per chl oro ethylene has been used for cleaning equipment by CMB-6 during this period.A series of air sarplom 8houod concentrations loss than one-half of the naxiwum perniaaible c once ntr rti on of 100 ppm. Hydrogen chloride is kin9released from operations i n Building155at DP East. Thir 9.8 i r vented through a very rhort stack to the outside of the build tng where it can be smelled very r tron q ly around the build in q and sometimes re circulates to the concentration were faund around the building.A scrubber i8to be installed but pr ndi w the arrival of this equipment a racmmendation was made to extend the vcnt stack 15 feet above the bui Id ing. Air concentrations equal to the nuximum w x mir sib \ e A factory r8prewi : tat iv c recently checked the exhaust equipment on the two gasoline powwed forklift truck8wedat SM-30. Qaspite adju8tments them W8S no appreciable der re a a el n the concentration of carbon monoxide emitted from the exhaust system. The charges in the c8t aly tic muffler are to !m changed and the system will be rechccked.

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Varioum Toric mter i a lr for propor promdure. inthe uae of bor yl liu a c0pp.r foil. in w rti gr ted. t o raduco air concentration. c f methyl chloroform i n the breathing LOW o f the operators.A qumntzty of Cab-0-si1 whir-h i8 very ti no ly divided .norphous silica was spilled in a trailer truck. mr? mapplied to the men cleaning up this spill. was made of the uea of a conductive epoxy r e s i n by P - 4 and of a n ~ rpotting compound "Sylgard' by P-15. The necessary safety a quip rn tads up et vision was provided during entry of heating 878te.i kr or and at i one have hen made for proper ventilation Ros pira tors The - on cent ration of grors beta activity in the atmosphere remains low and showed as light reduction from the ].est report poriod. As part of the annual hood 8vrvey, 345 fume hood. were checked during this period. Complaint. of in.dequ8tc 8uppAi.d air tothe tlectr3 o latin q LaboLatory a t TD-Bite were in ve evi gated. waa ruca.wm ded that the filters be cleaned. Res Dir a torr During this period, 57 person8 #re fitted with half u8ka or full face masks and 8 person8 -re given training in the use of 1. '&rk cont in wd un the cvalu8tion of perronal air a8mglera u : t h 17 samples being collected in cooperation with Cram England, were evaluated for efficiency of iodine r * ol lect ian.

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Thc hot cell ex hau rt from Wing 9. -8 Building was used as a source of iodine for testing the ee papers. for this material. Both ehowed low efficiency Td 3. Wcrk continued on tha assembly and cali h ration of f * $ oquipwnt for i n - place testing of filters. The aerosol generator8 .w; .q** =re calibrated a pain st a Royco particle counter at Sandia Corporation to de term rne sire and distribution oE particles emitted by the qe ner at or. The first test ot the system Y.8 applied at TA-35 and _indicate der ces8ive leakage passed the filters. 4. Phase 3 of the comparative particle sizing study was bepun in cooperation with are present at tv a of the lavelace pre c ip it8tors from 4different laboratories were used to collect a uranium oxide aerosol. The collected material will1be sized and the results compared. Three thermal pre c ip it at or s and 4t lect roB ta tic 5. Air sampling i n the HRL Building rupp lio d air SYlteRI has been re8umcd in order to canpare a newtype filter media with the oil coated metal filters which have been used since completion of the building. One weekas results indicated these filters were o f equal eff ici cn cy. A n obvious contact de rmit it ir ha* lracri noted i n one of the opor8tors performing pluto n fm analyses for Group H-5. Efforts have ken made to minimize expos are to chemicals and patch tests have not revealed any significant source of aller qe nic exposure. it i 8 planned t o change the plutonium procedure to the ion exchange method, it i 8 hoped that the unknown expoeure will be eliminated by the end of the next reporting period. Consultations were held with IC-Division and Or.Leslie Silverman on pro bl ers of air cleaning xn the event ef an accident tothe Core Te8t Facility.

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niaccrl lr neo us Ad iq it al counter has nou been added t o the wind equipmnt in 511-43. Currently a check i r being made between the digital count and chart recording of total v in d paasage. A more compre!:ensive study of winds i a beinq prepared

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to evaluate the probability of exposure to gases from the Omega Stack. This study I. being prep red for H-1 personnel in conjunction with their evaluation of control. A preliminary study of 1131 incidence was made for of Atmospheric Sciences, mulder, Colorado. Hartcll =ontends tb*t underground teoting at N T S can account for all of the U.S. observed of th. incidents must be attributable to other sources. . The preliminary investigation indicate8 that certainly some While a reasonably comprehensive cli mr to l ~ ica lstudy is now k i n 9 prepared fnr publication, extract studies and an extenaion to a more complete study arc underway. instruments were normal for the month; background of approximately 0.015 mrfir., with a very f e w short time cxcursLons. Calibrrtion of the instruments r i t h a source show that one tenth of the RCG value of appmximately 0.05 mr/hr. i u readily read by the instruments. 2. The maximum lonq lived alpha activity found for a one 3. 9eta-ga1~nractivities in air and preciphtion for thc month of July were: Av du ay Ma%/ Da y Uin/Day Total 4. Wtnty samples of well and surface water were assayed during the month. A sample at the upper weir i n brtandatl Canyon 0- 0 -

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5. Circulating bater systems a t DP West were spot mampled. Th maximum plutonium valw found was 11.5 d / dcc. TA-21 mte 88sayed for americium. No activity was found inmy m w waate flow were normal except for a period uhmn the air filter8 were king cleaned at Sie a Building, TA-1. Radioactivity of tte waatr varied from 0.31 to 20.33 c / dml. . The vacuwn filter was overhauled an6 placed into Opcr8tfOn on afour days per mek ba8ir. Major maintenance also included removal of accumulated rltdge and rand from the wash water h o l d i n q tank by Zia 18borer8. 2. TA-50. central Treatment Plant Wa8tc volumes were somewhat higher than the lart Potid. Radioactivity of the waste waa normal and effluent quality was Ttm vacuum filter was placed in operation on contaminated 8ludg. and a nunrkr of equipment and operating difficult ie. were resolved. An order has ken placed for the installation of clean - out8in F re coat,sludge and drain piping to permit quicker and easier correction of stoppages. h large volum8 air dryer wa8 in8tall.d in the instrument air 8y8tem and difficulties with the pneumatic control8yster were immediately reduced t o a minimum. work Was started in August on provision of a qrrrvity drain line from the LD-2 pumping station.This line will provide b large

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Pactor of a rfc ty in the ew nt the amp pup fail m too w rate. Six liter8 of calor re8idue containing a total of 60 mg war. Udad to the plant in fl w nt flow this Per ioa. Waste wlurrre cont in wd to be very high. Activities *re about norm1 except for afew days when pup cleaning oporaticnm a t SuildCng 2increased raw Wart8r8dio activity to a point where it kcme necessary to dia charge two final tanks t o the tile field. It was impossible tore circulate at this time dr;c t o thm iarge flow volumes. k.tlc i un waste qur nti tie a return ad to the high avrr.9. of th. ..Slier periods of the year after the 8h8Kp declim Of the Sludcp accumulations i n the fin81holding tanka were Plana for installation of a cement silo -re finally Approximately 31,700 gallon8 of waste were received thir period. ?orty-seven thousand four hundred gallons of accumulat8d low activity waste were pumped t o TA-50 and treated chemically. Adequate storage space is available. 5. Cross Conncction Proqran As a part of the policy of elf n in at in q crosa connect imo, a proqram has been arranged with the os Anqelas Department a t Water and Power to train three of our men inin3tall ation. plumbing will pr rt ici pate in this program September 9-11, 1963. Following this,a comprehensive inspection and maintenance of existing backflow prev cnt crs at LA% will be initiated. Ueanwhilc 0- 10 -

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plana are kina chcked and rrc-ndations made on new construc:tbor1 to eliminate ctoaa connections. Addition81 hrsnchrs and toots Cram the trees a t Bay0 Site hve Wen 8s8ayed for radioactivity : auto rad torr a phr have hen made. Activity appears to k deposited i n the sap rood ina Mn-uniform manner. The hartd is normally "cold'. In every case,the "hottest' areas are those associatffd with the bark - car biu n interface. n controlled experimct has uecn tnrtiated; three trees have ken "apiked' …