BNL Begins Pumping Water Out of Reactor Pool

[Andy Hull <hull@mail.sep.bnl.gov>]

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>Subject: BNL Begins Pumping Water Out of Reactor Pool
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>The following news release is being issued today by the Public Affairs
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>                #97-125                 Contact:  Mona S. Rowe, or
>                Issued 12/18/97                       Kara Villamil
>
>
>BROOKHAVEN LAB BEGINS PUMPING WATER OUT OF REACTOR POOL
>Action Will Stop Tritium Leak
>
>Upton, NY - Today, the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National
>Laboratory began pumping water out of the spent-fuel pool of the High Flux
>Beam Reactor.  This action will stop the tritium leak from pool and marks a
>major milestone in addressing tritium contamination in groundwater on the
>BNL property.  Congress has explicitly authorized and funded this activity.
>        Over a period of about two weeks, approximately 65,000 gallons of
>water will be pumped from the spent-fuel pool and transferred via a
>double-walled underground pipe to double-walled storage tanks on the BNL
>property.  Suffolk County Department of Health Services has inspected the
>piping and the tanks, as well as a leak detection system for the tanks and
>transfer piping.  In addition, the tanks were successfully pressure tested
>and certified by Underwriters Laboratory.
>
>Background
>
>        In January of this year, monitoring wells immediately south of the
>HFBR showed tritium in the groundwater at concentrations above the state
>and federal drinking water standard.  BNL subsequently determined that
>tritiated water was leaking at a rate of six to nine gallons a day from the
>spent-fuel pool located in the basement of the HFBR building.
>        After installing over 140 monitoring wells and analyzing over 1,000
>samples in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and
>the County's Department of Health Services, BNL was able to define the
>contamination, which is confined to the Lab property.  Both EPA and the
>County have stated that the contamination poses no danger to BNL employees
>or the public.
>        In May, groundwater pumping was begun as an interim action to
>prevent further spread of the contamination above the drinking water
>standard.  Between May and September, BNL removed spent fuel elements from
>the spent-fuel pool and shipped them off site, in preparation for pumping
>water out of the pool.
>        The final remediation of the tritium contamination will be decided
>as part of the federal Superfund process.  Community members will have
>opportunities to participate in review of and comment on remediation plans.
> The Superfund process also institutes a formal procedure for state and
>federal oversight of the remediation.  The Department of Energy has begun a
>formal environmental analysis that will help determine the future of the
>reactor.
>        When the tritium contamination was discovered early this year, the
>HFBR was already shut down for routine maintenance.  The reactor has
>remained shut down.
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