[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 202 (Monday, October 20, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54446-54447]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-27720]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
[Docket No. ETEC-T030]
Certification of the Radiological Condition of Building T030 at
the Energy Technology Engineering Center Near Chatsworth, CA
AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Environmental Restoration.
ACTION: Notice of certification.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) has completed radiological
surveys and taken remedial action to decontaminate Building T030,
Particle Accelerator Facility, located at the Energy Technology
Engineering Center (ETEC) near Chatsworth, California. This property
was found to contain radioactive materials from activities carried out
for the Atomic Energy Commission and the Energy Research and
Development Administration (AEC/ERDA), predecessor agencies to DOE.
Although DOE owns the majority of the buildings and equipment, a
subsidiary of Boeing North American Incorporated, Rocketdyne Division,
owned the land.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mike Lopez, Program Manager,
Environmental Restoration Division, Oakland Operations Office, U.S.
Department of Energy, Oakland, CA 94612-5208.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: DOE has implemented environmental
restoration projects at ETEC (Ventura County, Map Book 3, Page 7,
Miscellaneous Records) as part of DOE's Environmental Restoration
Program. One objective of the program is to identify and clean up or
otherwise control facilities where residual radioactive contamination
remains from activities carried out under contract to AEC/ERDA during
the early years of the Nation's atomic energy program.
ETEC is comprised of a number of facilities and structures located
within Administrative Area IV of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory. The
work performed for DOE at ETEC consisted primarily of testing of
equipment, materials, and components for nuclear and energy related
programs. These nuclear energy research and development programs,
conducted by Atomics International under contract to AEC/ERDA, began in
1946. Several buildings and land areas became radiologically
contaminated as a result of facility operations and site activities.
Building T030 is one ETEC area that has been designated for cleanup
under the DOE Environmental Restoration Program. Other areas undergoing
decontamination will be released as they are completed and are verified
to meet established cleanup criteria and standards for release without
radiological restrictions as established in DOE Order 5400.5.
Building T030 is located in the north-eastern section of ETEC on
10th Street, off the west side of G Street, among several adjacent
buildings on paved ground. Building T030 was constructed in 1958 as a
Particle Accelerator Facility. The building has a total enclosed area
of 2,311 sq. ft. The facility consists of two connecting sections, both
with steel framing, siding, and roofs. The rear open (west) section was
constructed perpendicular to the front office (east) section. The rear
section was configured to accommodate a low-voltage particle
accelerator used as a proton on tritium (P-T) neutron source. An
outside concrete wall, north of the west section, provided shielding
for the accelerator beam. Men's and women's restrooms were built into
the facility so that the facility provided a complete self-contained
accelerator test installation. A fenced-in area between Buildings T030
and the adjacent building T641 was previously used as a palletized
material holding area. To the north of T030, south of T641, and west of
both buildings are outcroppings of Chatsworth sandstone formation. This
formation is only about 50 ft. from the north and west sides of T030.
After facility construction in 1958, a Van de Graaf accelerator was
moved into the facility in 1960. The accelerator could provide a proton
beam of up to tens of microamperes in current, with continuously
adjustable energies from a few hundred KeV up to a maximum of about 1
MeV. The particle beam was well focused, with a diameter of a few
millimeters. Neutrons were generated using a tritium target via the
3H(p,n)3He reaction. Five-gallon cans of borated
water were used for neutron shielding around the machine.
The accelerator was operated from 1960 through 1964, at which time
the facility was decommissioned. Even though it was not in use, the
accelerator remained in the facility after 1964. In 1966, a smear
survey of the accelerator showed tritium contamination. It was believed
that the tritium contamination had not spread to surrounding areas.
Following removal of the accelerator in 1966, the building was surveyed
and no residual contamination was found. The building was released for
other uses, and had subsequently been used as an office building for
purchasing and on-site traffic administrative work until 1995.
In 1988, a general radiological survey was conducted to clarify and
identify areas at ETEC requiring further radiological inspection or
remediation; Building T030 was included in this survey. The scope of
the Building T030 survey included ambient gamma exposure rate
measurements, ``indication'' beta surveys of the accelerator room and
the outside paved area used for storing palletized containers, and
exterior soil samples for tritium content. The result of that survey
showed no detectable contamination in the facility. Tritium analyses on
ten soil samples and the beta survey showed no detectable activity.
Background-corrected gamma measurements were all less than the
acceptance limit of 5 R/hr.
In September 1995, the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and
Education (ORISE) conducted a confirmatory survey of several facilities
at ETEC, including Building T030. With the
[[Page 54447]]
exception of a single finding for removable tritium contamination of
6,600 dpm/100 cm2 (below the acceptance limit of 10,000 dpm/
100 cm2) found on the north wall of the accelerator room, no unusual
findings were noted. However, ORISE did question the completeness of
the 1988 survey. Specifically, ORISE recommended complete measurements
of total or removable surface activity and additional sampling for
tritium activity in the accelerator area. Consistent with ORISE's
advice, a comprehensive final survey of Building T030 was conducted by
ETEC in 1996.
In 1996 approximately 2,311 sq. ft. of asbestos floor tile was
removed and disposed of. The cost associated with the removal of the
asbestos floor tile was approximately $9,200. The radiological survey
cost associated with Building T030 could not be isolated from total
radiological facility surveys but is estimated to have cost
approximately $20,000.
No appreciable personnel radiation exposure was anticipated or
encountered during decontamination and decommissioning and surveying of
Building T030.
The certification docket will be available for review between 9:00
a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday (except Federal holidays), in
the U.S. DOE Public Reading Room located in Room 1E-190 of the
Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC
Copies of the certification docket will also be available at the
following locations: DOE Public Document Room, U.S. Department of
Energy, Oakland Operations Office, the Federal Building, 1301 Clay
Street, Oakland, California; California State University, Northridge,
Urban Archives Center, Oviatt Library, Room 4, 18111 Nordhoff,
Northridge, California; Simi Valley Library, 2629 Tapo Canyon Road,
Simi Valley, California; and the Platt Branch, Los Angeles Public
Library, 23600 Victory Boulevard, Woodland Hills, California.
DOE has issued the following statement of certification.
Statement of Certification: Energy Technology Engineering Center,
Building T030
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Oakland Operations Office,
Environmental Restoration Division, has reviewed and analyzed the
radiological data obtained following decontamination of Building
T030 at the Energy Technology Engineering Center. Based on analysis
of all data collected and the results of the independent
verification, DOE certifies that the following property is in
compliance with DOE radiological decontamination criteria and
standards as established in DOE Order 5400.5. This certification of
compliance provides assurance that future use of the property will
result in no radiological exposure above applicable guidelines
established to protect members of the general public or site
occupants. Accordingly, the property specified below is released
from DOE's Environmental Restoration Program.
Property Owned by Boeing North American Incorporated
Building T030 at the Energy Technology Engineering Center (situated
within Area IV of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory), located in a
portion of Tract ``A'' of Rancho Simi, in the County of Ventura, State
of California, as per map recorded in Book 3, Page 7 of Miscellaneous
Records of Ventura County.
Issued in Washington, D.C., on October 10, 1997.
James J. Fiore,
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Environmental Restoration.
[FR Doc. 97-27720 Filed 10-17-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
