1995 Site Environmental Report 6.4 CP-5 Reactor Area

6.4. CP-5 Reactor Area

The CP-5 reactor is an inactive research reactor located in Building 330 (see Figure 1.1). CP-5 was a 5 MW research reactor that was used from 1954 until operations were ceased in 1977. In addition to the reactor vessel itself, the CP-5 complex contained several large cooling towers and an outdoor equipment yard used for storage of equipment and supplies. The reactor and associated yard area are in the process of being decommissioned. A single exploratory monitoring well was installed in 1989 in the yard immediately behind the reactor building, just outside the reactor fuel storage area of the complex. Two new wells were installed as part of a full characterization study of this site, which took place during 1993. The three wells were sampled quarterly in 1995 and analyzed for radionuclides, metals, VOCs, SVOCs, pesticides, herbicides, and PCBs. The results are shown in Tables 6.40 to 6.42. Table 6.43 characterizes all wells in this area (see Figure 6.21 for locations).

Well 330011 is installed in a relatively porous, saturated region of soil and as a result, recharges quickly. Purging the well by removing several well volumes of water does not lower the water level appreciably. The water has a higher conductivity than similar wells at other locations. The manganese WQS was exceeded each quarter, and levels ranged from 0.86 mg/L to 0.97 mg/L. Low levels of barium and chloride were found, all well below the WQS. Manganese and barium

TABLE 6.40 Groundwater Monitoring Results: 300 Area, Well 330011, 1995 m(MSL) Well Point Elevation 215.70 Ground Surface Elevation 222.56 Casing Material: Steel
Constituent	Units	March 9	May 31	Aug. 29	Nov. 10
Water Elevation	m	219.75	219.77	219.18	219.16
Temperature	C	8.9	13.9	18.1	18.9
pH	pH	7.28	7.97	6.92	7.22
Redox	mV	375	155	180	194
Conductivity	mho/cm	1045	994	1340	1183
Chloride - Filtered	mg/L	76	62	178	116
Arsenic - Filtered	mg/L	<0.0025	<0.0025	<0.0025	<0.0025
Barium - Filtered	mg/L	0.0653	0.0674	0.0769	0.0706
Beryllium - Filtered	mg/L	<0.0001	<0.0001	<0.0001	<0.0001
Cadmium - Filtered	mg/L	<0.0001	<0.0001	0.0001	<0.0001
Chromium - Filtered	mg/L	<0.060	<0.060	<0.060	<0.060
Cobalt - Filtered	mg/L	<0.025	<0.025	<0.025	<0.025
Copper - Filtered	mg/L	<0.045	<0.045	<0.045	<0.045
Iron - Filtered	mg/L	<0.025	<0.025	<0.025	<0.025
Lead - Filtered	mg/L	<0.0005	<0.0005	<0.0005	<0.0005
Manganese - Filtered	mg/L	0.8655	0.9225	0.9691	0.8624
Mercury - Filtered	mg/L	<0.0001	<0.0001	<0.0001	<0.0001
Nickel - Filtered	mg/L	<0.040	<0.040	<0.040	<0.040
Silver - Filtered	mg/L	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001
Thallium - Filtered	mg/L	<0.0015	<0.0015	<0.0015	<0.0015
Vanadium - Filtered	mg/L	<0.055	<0.055	<0.055	<0.055
Zinc - Filtered	mg/L	<0.0150	<0.0150	<0.0150	0.0316
Cesium-137	pCi/L	<1.0	<1.0	<1.0	<1.0
Hydrogen-3	nCi/L	7.785	4.370	9.189	5.139
Strontium-90	pCi/L	1.18	0.98	1.43	1.57
Acetone	g/L	-^a	2	-	3
Dichlorofluoromethane	g/L	4	2	4	3
Methylene Chloride	g/L	6	-	-	2
Trichlorofluoromethane	g/L	4	2	3	4
^a A hyphen indicates that the concentration is below the detection limit.

TABLE 6.42
Groundwater Monitoring Results: 300 Area, Well 330031, 1995

m(MSL)
Well Point Elevation 220.97
Ground Surface Elevation 226.18
Casing Material: S. Steel

Constituent

Units

March 9

March 9

May 31

Aug. 29

Nov. 14

Water Elevation

m

225.88

225.88

225.94

224.90

226.03

Temperature C 6.1 6.1 10.4 14.4 12.8

pH pH 7.50 7.50 7.20 7.46 7.21

Redox mV 364 364 199 160 40

Conductivity mho/cm 774 774 818 942 880

Chloride - Filtered mg/L 52 51 54 56 73

Arsenic - Filtered mg/L <0.0025 <0.0025 <0.0025 <0.0025 <0.0025

Barium - Filtered mg/L 0.0281 0.0311 0.0364 0.0388 0.0397

Beryllium - Filtered mg/L <0.0001 <0.0001 <0.0001 <0.0001 <0.0001

Cadmium - Filtered mg/L <0.0001 <0.0001 <0.0001 <0.0001 <0.0001

Chromium - Filtered mg/L <0.060 <0.060 <0.060 <0.060 <0.060

Cobalt - Filtered mg/L <0.025 <0.025 <0.025 <0.025 <0.025

Copper - Filtered mg/L <0.045 <0.045 <0.045 <0.045 <0.045

Iron - Filtered mg/L <0.025 <0.025 <0.025 <0.025 <0.025

Lead - Filtered mg/L <0.0005 <0.0005 <0.0005 <0.0005 <0.0005

Manganese - Filtered mg/L <0.0200 <0.0200 <0.0200 0.0358 0.0410

Mercury - Filtered mg/L <0.0001 <0.0001 <0.0001 <0.0001 <0.0001

Nickel - Filtered mg/L <0.0400 <0.0400 <0.0400 <0.0400 0.1608

Silver - Filtered mg/L <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001

Thallium - Filtered mg/L <0.0015 <0.0015 <0.0015 <0.0015 <0.0015

Vanadium - Filtered mg/L <0.055 <0.055 <0.055 <0.055 <0.055

Zinc - Filtered mg/L <0.015 <0.015 <0.015 <0.015 <0.015

Cesium-137 pCi/L <1.0 <1.0 <1.0 <1.0 <1.0

Hydrogen-3 nCi/L 0.340 0.296 0.279 0.313 0.267

Strontium-90 pCi/L <0.25 <0.25 <0.25 <0.25 <0.25

Acetone g/L 4 3 2 -^a 4

Methylene Chloride g/L 13 5 - - 2

^a A hyphen indicates that the concentration is below the detection limit.

TABLE 6.43
Groundwater Monitoring Wells: 330 Area/CP-5

ID
Number

Well
Depth^a

Ground
Elevation^b

Monitoring
Zone^c

Well
Type^d

Date
Drilled

330011

20

745.5

10-20/736-726

2/PVC

8/89

330021 19 746.5 4-19/743-728 2/SS 9/93

330031 17.1 742.1 2-17/740-725 2/SS 9/93

^a Feet below ground.
^b Feet mean sea level.
^c Depth/elevation.
^d Inner diameter (in.)/well material (PVC = polyvinyl chloride, SS = stainless steel).

were detected each quarter in well 330021. Manganese was found two quarters in well 330031, and barium each quarter, all well below the WQS.

Similar to results in 1991, 1992, 1993, and 1994 collected from well 330011, each sample collected and analyzed in 1995 contained trichlorofluoromethane and dichlorofluoromethane ranging from 2 g/L to 4 g/L. These levels are significantly lower than those reported in 1991 and 1992. Methylene chloride and acetone were noted at trace levels each quarter in each well.

The levels of hydrogen-3 ranged from 0.10 to 9.19 nCi/L, and the levels of strontium-90 ranged from < 0.25 to 1.6 pCi/L and were noted only in well 330011. Cesium-137 ranged from < 1 to 1.8 pCi/L and was noted only during the first quarter in well 330021. CP-5 was a heavy water-moderated reactor. During its operational life, several incidents occurred that released small amounts of this heavy water containing high concentrations of hydrogen-3 to the environment. In addition, the normal operation released significant amounts of water vapor containing hydrogen-3 from the main ventilation system that may have condensed and fallen to the ground in the form of precipitation. These activities are believed to be responsible for the residual amounts of hydrogen-3 now found in the groundwater. The source of the strontium-90 is not known.

Back to the Chapter Six Table of Contents

TABLE 6.41 Groundwater Monitoring Results: 300 Area, Well 330021, 1995 m(MSL) Well Point Elevation 215.88 Ground Surface Elevation 227.52 Casing Material: S. Steel
Constituent	Units	March 9	May 31	Aug. 29	Nov. 14
Water Elevation	m	226.64	226.64	225.00	225.69
Temperature	C	7.9	9.5	12.5	12.8
pH	pH	7.59	7.61	7.90	7.31
Redox	mV	352	222	83	78
Conductivity	mho/cm	544	566	641	573
Chloride - Filtered	mg/L	11	4	9	9
Arsenic- Filtered	mg/L	<0.0025	<0.0025	<0.0025	<0.0025
Barium - Filtered	mg/L	0.0263	0.0241	0.0246	0.0311
Beryllium - Filtered	mg/L	<0.0001	<0.0001	<0.0001	<0.0001
Cadmium - Filtered	mg/L	<0.0001	<0.0001	<0.0001	<0.0001
Chromium - Filtered	mg/L	<0.060	<0.060	<0.060	<0.060
Cobalt - Filtered	mg/L	<0.025	<0.025	<0.025	<0.025
Copper - Filtered	mg/L	<0.045	<0.045	<0.045	<0.045
Iron - Filtered	mg/L	<0.025	<0.025	<0.025	<0.025
Lead - Filtered	mg/L	<0.0005	<0.0005	<0.0005	<0.0005
Manganese - Filtered	mg/L	0.1217	<0.0200	0.0228	<0.0200
Mercury - Filtered	mg/L	<0.0001	<0.0001	<0.0001	<0.0001
Nickel - Filtered	mg/L	0.1501	<0.0400	<0.0400	<0.0400
Silver - Filtered	mg/L	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001
Thallium - Filtered	mg/L	<0.0015	<0.0015	<0.0015	<0.0015
Vanadium - Filtered	mg/L	<0.055	<0.055	<0.055	<0.055
Zinc - Filtered	mg/L	<0.015	<0.015	<0.015	<0.015
Cesium-137	pCi/L	1.75	<1.0	<1.0	<1.0
Hydrogen-3	nCi/L	0.229	0.103	0.147	0.183
Strontium-90	pCi/L	<0.25	<0.25	<0.25	<0.25
Acetone	g/L	-^a	-	-	4
Methylene Chloride	g/L	2	-	-	2
^a A hyphen indicates that the concentration is below the detection limit.

TABLE 6.43 Groundwater Monitoring Wells: 330 Area/CP-5
ID Number	Well Depth^a	Ground Elevation^b	Monitoring Zone^c	Well Type^d	Date Drilled
330011	20	745.5	10-20/736-726	2/PVC	8/89
330021	19	746.5	4-19/743-728	2/SS	9/93
330031	17.1	742.1	2-17/740-725	2/SS	9/93
^a Feet below ground. ^b Feet mean sea level. ^c Depth/elevation. ^d Inner diameter (in.)/well material (PVC = polyvinyl chloride, SS = stainless steel).