Emergency Response Program
Contents
 Contact
the Staff
Update
Your Contact Info
Palo
Verde Nuclear Generating Station
First
Responder Training
Unidentified
Radioactive Material
WIPP
Calendar
of Events
Links
Palo Verde
Nuclear Generating Station
PVNGS In order to respond to an incident at Palo
Verde, the Program maintains the capability to assess information coming from both the
plant and the field and to use that information to project doses in the environment. Dose
projection is accomplished through the use of computer modeling using the Nuclear
Regulatory Agency’s Radiological Assessment System for Consequence Analysis (RASCAL).
Field data (radiation surveys and both environmental and foodstuff samples) are obtained
by the Monitor Pool, a group of volunteers from state and Maricopa County agencies who
take a one week training course and one day annual refreshers in order to maintain
proficiency. In addition to the training, there are usually two exercises each year and
additional daylong training sessions preceding each exercise.
Back to top
First
Responder Training
First Responder Training The Program offers two
classes per year: an 8-12 hour first responder to radiation incidents course, and a 4-hour
survey instrument class for responders using civil defense instruments as a base. The
responder course includes:
 | A review of the characteristics of the various types of radiation. |
| A review of radiation units and terminology. |
| A review of the biological effects of radiation including guidance on dose limits for
emergency workers. |
| Radioactive materials transportation (including packaging, labels, placards, material
form, manifest information, and what all those numbers mean). |
| Hands on training on the use of radiation detection equipment using Civil Defense
instruments as a base; includes a practical exercise with radioactive items. |
| A review of survey techniques and responder protective actions. |
| A layout of devices/packaging containing radioactive material which are common in
transport. |
See the Arizona Division of Emergency Management (ADEM) Training
Calendar for dates and application information. These twice-a-year classes are scheduled
for the Phoenix area; however, we can tailor a class to your needs and provide classes at
your location.
Back to top
Unidentified Radioactive Material
This is radioactive material, usually appearing in loads of scrap metal
or trash destined for recycling or disposal, which cannot be readily identified nor can
ownership be easily determined. The Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors
(CRCPD) has entered into an agreement with the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) to
exempt shipments of scrap containing such material from DOT regulations, subject to
certain conditions, in order to allow its expeditious return to its point of origin. The
exemption text and exemption forms may be viewed through the following
links.
Recycling
Disposal
Back to top
WIPP
What is WIPP?
"WIPP" is the abbreviation for the Waste Isolation Pilot
Plant, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) facility located in the remote Chihuahuan
desert of southeastern New Mexico, approximately 26 miles southeast of Carlsbad.
WIPP is an underground nuclear waste disposal.
The site chosen is a 16-square-mile tract of federal land that consists of a 2,000-foot salt
formation that has been stable for more than 200 million years. The project facilities include disposal rooms excavated
2150 feet underground. The facility is the nation's first geological repository for permanent
disposal of Transuranic (TRU) radioactive waste. Congress authorized the development of WIPP in 1980 to demonstrate the safe disposal
of radioactive waste resulting from defense programs of the United States.
What is Transuranic Radioactive Waste?
The term "Transuranic" is derived from trans, meaning
beyond, and uranic, meaning uranium.
TRU waste which contains manmade radioactive elements, and have an atomic number greater than uranium (and therefore
"beyond uranium") is produced during nuclear fuel assembly, nuclear
weapons research, productions, and cleanup, and as a result of reprocessing spent nuclear fuels.The waste generally consists of protective clothing, tools, glassware,
and equipment contaminated with radioactive materials. WIPP, is the world's first underground repository licensed to safely
and permanently dispose of Transuranic radioactive waste left from the
research and production of nuclear weapons. After more than 20 years of scientific study, public input, and regulatory struggles, WIPP began
operations on March 26, 1999.
|
Why Salt?
There are many advantages to mining in rock salt.
Some of them are:
|
|
Most deposits are found in very stable geologic areas with
very little earthquake activity. |
|
Salt deposits demonstrate the absence of flowing fresh water
that could move waste to the surface. |
|
Salt is relative easy to
Mine |
|
And, salt heals its own fractures because of its plastic
quality. That is, salt formations
will slowly and progressively move in to fill mined areas and safely seal the radioactive waste from the environment. |
|
Salt deposits demonstrate the absence of flowing fresh water
that could move waste to the surface. |
|
Salt is relative easy to Mine. |
|
And, salt heals its own fractures because of its plastic
quality. That is, salt formations
will slowly and progressively move in to fill mined areas and safely seal the radioactive waste from the environment. |
|
The Storage Area
Each disposal room is 300 feet long, 33 feet wide and 13 feet high, and
each will hold the equivalent of 12,000 55 gallon drums of waste. The Waste is stored with Magnesium oxide to act as a chemical buffer,
the stack of drums is to only be three high, DOE is to keep detailed records
about the location and the contents of each drum. The waste is being
shipped from the nation’s DOE sites. These generator sites through out the US have upward of 600,000
55-gallon barrels (38,000 shipments) of TRU waste waiting transport to WIPP in the next 35 years.
This waste will be shipped in specially built containers called
TRUPACT-II’s. They are made of 2 stainless-steel vessels, one inside the other, both
sealed and not vented.
|
State’s Responsibility
Plan Development
| Develop effective emergency response plans and procedures for
responding to WIPP transport incidents along the shipping corridor. |
| Insure training reaches all public sector employers, which
includes references and resources for radiological training, drills, and exercises. |
| The most important: Public Outreach. Clearly communicate to
the media and public the actual risk of shipments and the safety measurements in place. |
| The state is getting the hospitals and first responders
trained. |
|
|
Back to top
|
| |