The report, "Environmental Surveillance and Compliance at Los Alamos during 1997," and a shorter report address monitorings of Laboratory and local community air and water quality, soils and foodstuffs, and its compliance with federal regulations.
Monitoring data is used to calculate annual radiation doses to the public for three principal exposure pathways: inhalation, external exposure and ingestion, according to Julie Johnston of Los Alamos' Ecology Group and the report's coordinator.
Dose calculations in the report show that Los Alamos is well below DOE's regulatory dose limit - 100 millirem in a year - for a member of the public, she said. For 1997, the calculated maximum on-site individual exposure to a member of the public is 6.1 millirem, Johnston added.
William Harrell, program manager for operations of DOE's Environmental Protection Division Albuquerque Area Office, commended Dennis Erickson, Los Alamos' Environment, Safety and Health Division director, on timely completion of the report. "Report authors and editors are commended for the continuous improvement reflected in the production of the 1997 report. The DOE staff also appreciate the interest of the [Ecology Group's] Publications Team in the effective coordination of this document and keeping the distribution to the public on schedule."
The report describes the Laboratory's environmental surveillance activities to determine compliance with state and federal standards and to convey environmental data, Johnston said. Groundwater, ambient air, surface water, the county's water supply, soils, sediments and foodstuffs all are monitored for external penetrating radiation, quantities of airborne emissions and liquid effluents, concentrations of chemicals and radionuclide activity, said Johnston.
Johnston noted that Los Alamos' environmental surveillance program staff takes samples from about 600 different locations around the Laboratory and within a 50-mile radius of the Laboratory. Through the sampling locations, more than 12,000 environmental samples are collected every year and 250,000 analyses for radiochemicals and nonradiochemicals are completed, she said.
The publication is widely read and serves a useful purpose, said Johnston. "We know environmentalists and others interested in what the Lab is doing closely examine this report," said Johnston. "We have external reviewers from the state Environment Department and the DOE Oversight Bureau who annually review this report and also independently conduct environmental sampling at the Laboratory.
"It also shows that the Lab widely makes available its environmental surveillance data annually. It is an important document for the Lab to distribute," said Johnston.
Johnston added that the Laboratory also holds an annual meeting open for members of the public to ask questions and learn more about Los Alamos' environmental surveillance program.
Seven hundred copies of the report were published and it is available at Los Alamos' Research Library, at Laboratory outreach centers in Española, Santa Fe and Los Alamos and the University of California Northern New Mexico Office downtown.
A smaller publication, "Overview of Environmental Surveillance at Los Alamos during 1997," also has been published. It summarizes the Lab's environmental surveillance programs.
An electronic version of "Environmental Surveillance and Compliance at Los Alamos during 1997" also can be found at http://lib-www.lanl.gov/pubs/la-133487.htm online on the World Wide Web. (Adobe Acrobat 3.0 is needed to read this report).
The shorter, 15-page "Overview of Environmental Surveillance and Compliance at Los Alamos during 1997" also is available electronically at http://lib-www.lanl.gov/la-pubs/00418570.pdf on the World Wide Web.
For more information, call Johnston at 665-0231. Or write to juliej@lanl.gov by electronic mail.
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Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health, and global security concerns.