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Tuesday, Nov. 16, 1999
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Lab releases data from Mortandad Canyon surveillance well
Water samples taken from a new characterization well located in Mortandad Canyon, downstream from the Laboratory's Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility discharge area, show no significant contaminants in the regional aquifer.
The well, called R-15, is the fourth of 32 planned water-monitoring wells sponsored by the Lab's Defense Programs and Environmental Restoration Project that will help scientists better understand hydrologic and geochemical processes on the Pajarito Plateau, and whether Laboratory-derived contaminants or other substances have made their way into local ground water bodies.
Samples of the regional aquifer taken at the Mortandad Canyon well site showed barely detectable levels of tritium. The tritium found in the aquifer presents no added health risk to the public. Tests for other chemical and radioactive constituents in the regional aquifer at the Mortandad well location did not show contamination levels for any constituent that exceed federal drinking water standards. The regional aquifer is an underground reservoir that supplies the Los Alamos area with drinking water.
Water samples taken from an intermediate water zone located several hundred feet above the regional aquifer showed elevated tritium levels, but the levels still are well below federal drinking water standards.
The R-15 well is located about one-and-a-half miles east of the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility located at Technical Area 50, north of Pajarito Road between Los Alamos and White Rock. The TA-50 treatment plant, which first became operational in 1962, handles the nearly 8 million gallons of low-level radioactive liquid waste generated each year by the Laboratory. Liquid waste is treated extensively before waste water is discharged into Mortandad Canyon. The TA-50 RLWTF's state-of-the-art treatment techniques and a commitment by the Laboratory to recycle and reduce liquid wastes have vastly improved the quality of water discharged into the canyon and have greatly reduced discharge volumes.
However, due to historic discharges of radioactive effluent from the TA-50 plant and from early treatment facilities at Ten-Site and DP Site, as well as discharges of nonradioactive effluent into sludge ponds at a former sanitary waste treatment facility located at TA-35 just west of TA-50, Lab hydrologists and geochemists expected to see ground water contamination -- specifically by tritium from radioactive waste discharges and nitrates from sanitary and industrial wastes -- at the R-15 location.
The R-15 well site also is located just east of sediment traps in the canyon that are designed to catch sediments moved by runoff, thereby reducing the potential for possible contaminants to be carried closer to the Laboratory boundary. Sediments in the traps have been collected and sampled, and have been found to contain low levels of radionuclides.
"We worked closely with regulators from the New Mexico Environment Department to choose a location for R-15 in Mortandad Canyon where we believed we potentially would see contamination that was the result of historic discharges," said Charlie Nylander, leader of the Laboratory's Monitoring Well Installation Project. "The well location is down-gradient from the confluence of Ten-Site Canyon and Mortandad Canyon, in close proximity to the Mortandad Canyon sediment traps, and where the Mortandad Canyon stream channel widens. We located the drilling site on the southern edge of the canyon so we would be able to see any southern flow that would result from the drawing effect on the aquifer that you would expect to see from municipal water supply wells in the Pajarito well field."
Instead of seeing higher than previously seen concentrations of contaminants as they might have expected, Laboratory hydrologists found that contaminant concentrations were consistent with data obtained from earlier surveillance wells.
The R-15 well yielded the following results:
Other radionuclides such as strontium, plutonium and americium, which were discharged into Mortandad Canyon, strongly stick (adsorb) to rocks and do not migrate as fast as tritium does.
Once the well is complete, Laboratory geochemists will take samples to determine whether the uranium comes from natural sources or the Laboratory. (For comparison, measurements of private drinking water wells in parts of Northern New Mexico have found up to 900 parts per billion of uranium due to high levels of naturally occurring uranium in geologic formations in the region.)
"Although we are pleased that contaminant concentrations are well below drinking water standards, we need to be cautious about generalizing these results for all water below Mortandad Canyon," said David Broxton, a geologist in Geology and Geochemistry (EES-1) and a member of the Monitoring Well Installation Project team. "We are not satisfied that we have successfully characterized the canyon with only one well."
As part of the entire monitoring-well project, researchers plan to drill two more wells in Mortandad Canyon. In addition, hydrologists are considering constructing another well to monitor the intermediate zone. When R-15 is equipped for long-term sampling - most likely by the end of the year - Laboratory scientists will collect samples each quarter and analyze them for contaminants. Construction on the first of the two remaining monitoring wells planned for Mortandad Canyon could begin next year.
Drilling work on R-15 was done in two phases. The first phase began in August 1998, and crews drilled and characterized 420 feet in about a month. No groundwater was encountered during the first phase. The second phase began last July.
--James E. Rickman
Town-hall meeting slated for Wednesday
Ideas sought for improving the way
the Laboratory funds research internally
Laboratory Director John Browne is appealing to technical staff members, students and other employees for their best ideas on how to address recent Congressional cuts in funding for Laboratory-Directed Research and Development.
Browne will host a town meeting at 1:10 p.m. Wednesday in the Administration Building Auditorium to discuss how the Laboratory funds basic research and to solicit suggestions for dealing with the cuts, which the director said "strike at the heart of this Laboratory's identity."
Browne; Bill Press, deputy director for science and technology; and Jas Mercer-Smith, deputy associate Laboratory director for nuclear weapons, will lead the discussion. They asked that researchers not only bring ideas for improving the way the Laboratory funds research internally, but also their suggestions for demonstrating to Congress and other policy makers the importance of basic research. For more information, see the Nov. 10 Newsbulletin.
October proclaimed 'Supercomputing Month'
Gov. Gary Johnson recently recognized the Laboratory's High School Supercomputing Challenge for helping to expose high school students to science through use of the Lab's super computers and improving the qualify of life for all New Mexico residents.
David Kratzer of Customer Service (CIC-6) and coordinator of the challenge also received a certificate of appreciation from the governor.
The certificate and proclamation were issued at the kickoff and orientation session last month in Glorieta for the 10th annual High School Supercomputing Challenge.
The goal of the New Mexico high school supercomputing challenge is to increase knowledge of science and computing, expose students and teachers to computers and applied mathematics, and instill enthusiasm for science in high school students, their families and communities. Any New Mexico high school student in grades 9-12 is eligible to enter the challenge.
In proclaiming the month of October as "Supercomputing Month" in New Mexico, the governor said the challenge gives high school students the opportunity to work with peers on a statewide basis in a nonselective atmosphere. He described students' access to powerful supercomputers as "a benefit unique to New Mexico and not found anywhere else in the world."
He also said the high school supercomputing challenge has touched the lives of students and teachers from every county in the state and has enhanced "the knowledge level of the citizens of the state of New Mexico in science, mathematics and computing, teamwork, responsibility, organization, commitment, civic and community pride."
The proclamation said the supercomputing challenge "[breaks down] barriers wrought by conditions of poverty and disparity, uneven patterns of socioeconomic development, lack of educational opportunity, distance and geographic isolation and the constraints of time and limited fiscal resources."
The certificate of appreciation to Kratzer, which was signed Sept. 20 by Gov. Johnson, thanks Kratzer for his "outstanding service to the children, educators and citizenry of New Mexico."
"Your efforts in making a difference has served as an example for us all, and the citizens of the state of New Mexico owe you a debt of gratitude for your commitment and devotion," the certificate states.
"It was a surprise to me," Kratzer said of the certificate of appreciation and the proclamation from the governor. "I'm proud to be recognized for my decade of work on the challenge. It's a program I believe in, and I've worked with many terrific people over the years."
Kratzer noted that 85 student teams made up of about 325 students representing 35 New Mexico cities and towns are participating in this year's challenge, which culminates in April when student finalist teams are invited to Los Alamos to present their year-long projects and take part in a public awards ceremony that showcases their work.
More information about the New Mexico High School Supercomputing Challenge can be found online at http://www.challenge.nm.org.
--Steve Sandoval
E-mail site created to help inform workforce of upcoming events
Laboratory employees whose job it is to communicate to the workforce information on upcoming events or activities of Labwide interest have a new tool called events@lanl.gov.
The new e-mail site was created in September to help inform the workforce of upcoming Labwide events such as Director's colloquiums, town-hall meetings, visits, guest speakers or special presentations, said Jud Morhart of the Training Integration Office (HR-TI) in Human Resources.
It also was created in response to some conclusions of a lessons-learned working group that looked into processes surrounding last summer's security immersion stand down.
"We learned that at the Laboratory, 'where' is no longer just in an auditorium," said Morhart. "Many of the events in the auditorium also go out on LABNET and RealPlayer. We estimate that for every person who attends a live event, there are eight to 10 who watch or listen to it on LABNET or RealPlayer.
"The task group found that all of us need to do a better job of networking information about major events to the groups who manage events infrastructure," Morhart continued. "We need to ensure that appropriate media, safety and security personnel have this information ahead of time. The fire people have to know when a large crowd is gathering for an event," he said.
Morhart added that the new electronic mail address is only one of a number of communications tools employees and managers should use to communicate.
"It's still appropriate to call organizations or engage in face to face communications," he said. "It's not designed to bypass calling up CIC-9 to ask them to videotape an event."
Organizations who have an upcoming event planned and want to publicize it can write to events@lanl.gov, Morhart explained. A notice of the event is then sent to representatives who play a communications role or need to know about the event, such as the Security (S) Division, he said.
The name of the event, time, place, date, if a sign-language interpreter is needed and if the event will be broadcast on LABNET should be included in the information sent to the new e-mail address, which is maintained by HR-TI.
Representatives from the Diversity (DV) Office; Public Affairs (PA) Office, including Protocol; the Director's Office; Training and Development (HR-6); HR-TI; Communication Arts and Services (CIC-1); Communications (CIC-4); Imaging Services (CIC-9); Security Program Integration (S-2); and Fire Protection (S-8) are on the events@lanl.gov distribution list.
Morhart said CIC-1 is notified because it handles the Lab's World Wide Web pages, while CIC-4 runs LABNET.
Public Affairs produces the Daily Newsbulletin, while DV is notified in the event that a sign-language interpreter is required for the planned event.
--Steve Sandoval
Cyber Security training courses postponed
The Cyber Security courses scheduled for November and December have been postponed until February 2000. The content of the courses is being reviewed by subject-matter experts at the Laboratory to ensure it reflects the most current Lab-specific policies and procedures for cyber security. The courses are being sponsored by the Department of Energy as part of Energy Secretary Bill Richardson's security-reform package and will help the Lab meet its milestones in the Nine Point Security Plan. For more information on this program, see the Oct. 26 Newsbulletin.
Energy Department releases study of alternatives for siting of plutonium disposition facilities
The Department of Energy last week released to the public the "Surplus Plutonium Disposition Final Environmental Impact Statement" that analyzes the potential impacts of alternatives for the disposition of up to 50 metric tons of plutonium surplus to the United States' defense needs. The document also identifies the Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C., as the preferred location for building three key plutonium disposition facilities. More information can be found in the DOE news release.
Icehouse has unwelcome visitor
PHOTO: Johnson Controls Northern New Mexico employees trapped this ring tailed cat in the Icehouse in Los Alamos canyon, Technical Area 41. Nicknamed Icey by the Engineering Sciences and Applications (ESA) Division weapons engineering folks, the critter had been eating employees' food and leaving special calling cards on their chairs. The young female was relocated to a new area. James Biggs of Ecology (ESH-20) says the ring tailed cat is fairly common, although Los Alamos is pushing their northern limit. They are carnivorous and eat small rodents and birds. Photo by LeRoy N. Sanchez
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