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Radiochemistry, Dirty Bomb and Repository Science Capabilities

at CEMRC in Carlsbad, New Mexico

Background

The Carlsbad Environmental Monitoring & Research Center is a division of the College of Engineering at New Mexico State University. This 26,000 ft2 radiochemistry facility includes environmental and general radiochemistry laboratories, a special plutonium-uranium lab, an in vivo bioassay facility, mobile laboratories, computing operations and offices. The facility can perform a wide range of environmental and radiochemistry work, characterization, monitoring, and feasibility studies in support of performance assessment, radiological and environmental training and education, subsurface flow and transport experiments, nuclear energy issues, and issues involving Homeland Security particularly those involving radiation dispersal devices (RDDs or dirty bombs).  CEMRC has partnered with Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Sandia National Laboratory (SNL), and Washington TRU Solutions (WTS) to create a unique facility with programs that include: environmental monitoring of almost any radiological and inorganic constituent; actinide chemistry and repository science particularly concerning the environmental behavior of Pu, Am, U and Np; dirty bomb mitigation research and training particularly for 137Cs and 60Co, head space gas and volatile organic compound (VOC) analyses; in vivo and in vitro bioassay, whole body dosimetry, military small arms range clean-up, evaluation and design of innovative treatment technologies, and soil, water, air and waste characterization.

The Department of Energy Carlsbad Field Office (DOE CBFO) currently operates the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, New Mexico, as a repository site for transuranic (TRU) waste generated as part of the nuclear defense research and production activities of the federal government (Figure 1).  The CEMRC facility (Figure 2) and staff provide support to WIPP, LANL, SNL and WTS primarily through site and environmental monitoring, in vivo bioassay, and scientific and laboratory support.

Capabilities

The primary focus of the Radiochemistry (RC) Group at CEMRC is the measurement of radioactive substances in various media.  These media include, but are not limited to, aerosols, soil, surface water and sediment, groundwater, drinking water, humans, biota and bioassay.  Approximately 1700 ft2 of space is allocated to the radiochemistry program, including a primary radiochemistry laboratory, and separate tracer and counting laboratories. The primary laboratory is equipped with 12 fume hoods (six HEPA-filtered) 4 glove boxes, various de-ionized water systems, cryogenic systems, centrifuges and over 500 ft of benchwork. The instrumentation laboratory is equipped for ultralow-level measurements of actinides, fission products, activated corrosion products, and naturally-occurring radionuclides, and has the lowest detection limits possible for many elements (femtoCurie levels routine). This instrumentation includes over 100 alpha spectrometers, two germanium gamma-ray spectrometers, two well-geometry (germanium) gamma-ray spectrometers, 5 gas proportional counters, three liquid scintillation counters. In addition, the RC group currently

 

 

Figure 1.  Locations of the CEMRC facilities and the WIPP Site.

 
participates in the DOE Environmental Measurements Laboratory Quality Assessment Program and is a participant in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Radiochemistry Intercomparison Program (RIP) for evaluation of low-level radionuclide measurements. All work is performed in accordance with the requirements of the Quality Assurance Plan (QAP) for the Radioanalytical Group and meets NQA-1 requirements for many DOE programs such as the CBFO QAPD. The QAP describes laboratory activities related to quality assurance objectives for measurement data; sample custody; calibration procedures and frequency; analytical procedures; data reduction, validation and reporting; internal quality control checks; calculation of data and quality indicators. The primary focus of the Environmental Chemistry Group (EC) is the measurement of inorganic substances in

 

Figure 2.  Aerial View of the CEMRC Facility

various media at environmental background levels, including aerosols, soil, surface water and sediment, ground- and drinking water, biota and bioassay.  About 1600 ft2 of laboratory space is allocated to environmental chemistry, including a primary laboratory for sample preparation, and an instrumental analysis laboratory.  Laboratories are equipped with three 8-foot chemical hoods, ultra-pure water system, two microwave digestion units (Milestone Ethos and a CEM MDS2100), reagent distillation/purification system,

dishwasher, refrigerators, electronic balance, and approximately 170 ft2 of bench surface.  Of the bench surface, approximately 40 ft2 are clean benches, which protect samples and reagents from contamination by acids and particulates.  The instrumentation laboratory is equipped for the analyses of trace elements, including heavy metals. This instrumentation includes low-resolution inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometers (ICP-MS, Perkin Elmer Elan 6000) and ICP-ES, ion chromatographs (Dionex 500), UV-Vis spectrophotometers (Cary 550 with temperature control, multi-sample capabilities and less than 0.1 nm resolution), and seven Gas Chromatograph/Mass Spectrometers.  In addition, the EC group participates in the InterLaB WatRTM Pollution WP-58 Proficiency Testing Program managed by Environmental Resource Associates.

CEMRC's in vivo bioassay facility, the most advanced in the world, occupies approximately 1000 square feet, and provides the primary analytical infrastructure for the internal dosimetry program. The facility includes a large shielded counting chamber, dedicated instrument control workstation, two change rooms with showers and toilets, and a reception area. The counting chamber measures 8 feet x 8 feet x 8 feet and is constructed of 10-inch thick cast iron. The counting chamber is equipped with a lung and whole body counting system consisting of 8 germanium detectors. Ultrasound techniques are used to measure subjects' chest wall thickness and composition to account for photon attenuation for positive lung burdens.  In addition, the program is accredited by DOE Laboratory Accreditation Program for Radiobioassay.

A unique component of the Center's facilities is the mobile bioassay laboratory (MBL). The MBL was designed to provide advanced bioassay and environmental analyses for onsite support of emergency and incident response, decommissioning, environmental restoration, and other research activities. Fabricated from a reinforced 57-ft trailer, the MBL is transportable by highway. Special electrical and HVAC systems have been installed to provide adequate support for electronics and environmental control. Self-contained potable water supply and grey water waste tanks are also provided. Over one-half of the trailer's area, approximately 190 ft2, is dedicated to analytical chemistry. The MBL is ideal for RDD response actions.

Other state-of-the-art capabilities have recently been installed at CEMRC (Figure 3); glove-boxes for Pu, Am, Np and U work and controlled atmosphere investigations; new HEPA-filtration hoods; a Nd:YAG Master Oscillator Power Oscillator (MOPO) laser system combining photoacoustic, fluorescence and breakdown spectroscopy; an X–ray diffractometer using Bragg-Brentano or parallel-beam geometry (Göbel mirrors) combined with phase quantification by Rietveld and least-squares-refinements, and with phase constitution analyzed to temperatures/pressures up to 600°C and 1 Mpa; an Unsaturated/Saturated Flow Apparatus (UFA; ASTM D6527) that can directly measure all transport properties, saturated or unsaturated (K, D, y, G, and others) in any porous media (rock, cement, ceramic, soil and others).

For more information contact: Dr. James Conca, CEMRC Director, New Mexico State University, 1400 University Drive, Carlsbad, NM  88220   (505) 234-5555 office   (505) 706-0214 cell   (505) 887-3051 FAX   jconca@cemrc.org  http://www.cemrc.org

 

Figure 3. CEMRC has many laboratories outfitted with specific capabilities, e.g., (from upper left) whole body counting, the UFA™ for measuring dynamic flow and transport, the counting lab with alpha, gamma and LSC, one of the radiochemistry wet labs, and glove boxes in the Pu lab for work with Pu, Am, U, Np, Cs, Sr and other radionuclides.