Publications

This paper surveys the needs associated with environmental monitoring and long-term environmental stewardship. Emerging sensor technologies are reviewed to identify compatible technologies for various environmental monitoring applications. The contaminants that are considered in this report are grouped into the following categories: (1) metals, (2) radioisotopes, (3) volatile organic compounds, and (4) biological contaminants. United States regulatory drivers are evaluated for different applications (e.g., drinking water, storm water, pretreatment, and air emissions), and sensor requirements are derived from these regulatory metrics. Sensor capabilities are then summarized according to contaminant type, and the applicability of the different sensors to various environmental monitoring applications is discussed.

This report surveys the needs associated with environmental monitoring and long-term environmental stewardship. Emerging sensor technologies are reviewed to identify compatible technologies for various environmental monitoring applications. The contaminants that are considered in this report are grouped into the following categories: (1) metals, (2) radioisotopes, (3) volatile organic compounds, and (4) biological contaminants. Regulatory drivers are evaluated for different applications (e.g., drinking water, storm water, pretreatment, and air emissions), and sensor requirements are derived from these regulatory metrics. Sensor capabilities are then summarized according to contaminant type, and the applicability of the different sensors to various environmental monitoring applications is discussed.

The Department of Defense (DoD) has hundreds of facilities where radioactive materials have been used or are being used, including firing ranges, low-level radioactive waste disposal areas, and areas where past activities have resulted in environmental contamination. Affected sites range in size from a few acres to square miles. Impact to the DoD comes through military base closure and release to the public. It is important that radioactive contaminants are remediated to levels that result in acceptable risk to the public. Remediation requires characterization studies, e.g., sampling and surveys, to define the affected areas, removal actions, and final confirmatory sampling and surveys. Characterization of surface contamination concentrations has historically been performed using extensive soil sampling programs in conjunction with surface radiation surveys conducted with hand-held radiation monitoring equipment. Sampling is required within the suspect affected area and a large buffer area. Surface soil contaminant characterization using soil sampling and hand held monitoring are costly, time consuming, and result in long delays between submission of samples for analysis and obtaining of final results. This project took an existing, proven radiation survey technology that has had limited exposure and improved its capabilities by documenting correlation factors for various detector/radionuclide geometries that commonly occur in field surveys. With this tool, one can perform characterization and final release surveys much more quickly than is currently possible, and have detection limits that are as good as or better than current technology. This paper will discuss the capabilities of a large area plastic scintillation detector used in conjunction with a global positioning system (GPS) to improve site characterization, remediation, and final clearance surveys of the radioactively contaminated site. Survey results can rapidly identify areas that require remediation as well as guide surgical removal of contaminated soil that is above remediation guidelines. Post-remediation surveys can document that final radiological site conditions are within the remedial action limits.

The fate of six volatile organic compounds (VOC) in a 150-meter deep vadose zone was examined in support of a RCRA Corrective Measures Study of the Chemical Waste Landfill at Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico. The study focused on the modeling of potential future transport of the VOCs to exposure media upon the completion of two separate voluntary corrective measures--soil vapor extraction and landfill excavation--designed to significantly reduce contaminant levels in subsurface soils. modeling was performed with R-UNSAT, a finite-difference simulator that was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey. R-UNSAT facilitated a relatively unique and comprehensive assessment of vapor transport because it (1) simulated the simultaneous movement of all six VOCs, taking into account each constituent's diffusion coefficient as affected by its mole fraction within a mixture of chemicals, and (2) permitted simultaneous assessment of risk to human health via volatilization (air) and drinking water (groundwater) pathways. Modeling results suggested that monitored natural attenuation would represent a viable remedial alternative at the landfill after both voluntary corrective measures were completed.

An evaluation of biotic and abiotic attenuation processes potentially important to chlorinated and non-chlorinated volatile organic compound (VOC) fate and transport in the 148 meter thick vadose zone beneath the Chemical Waste Landfill (CWL) was conducted. A unique feature of this evaluation is the comparison of two estimates of VOC mass present in the soil gas, pore-water, and solid phases (but not including mass as non-aqueous phase liquid [NAPL]) of the vadose zone in 1993. One estimate, 1,800 kg, was obtained from vadose zone transport modeling that incorporated molecular diffusion and volatilization to the atmosphere, but not biotic or chemical processes. The other estimate, 2,120 kg, was obtained from the sum of VOC mass physically removed during soil vapor extraction and an estimate of VOC mass remaining in the vadose zone in 1998, both adjusted to exclude NAPL mass. This comparison indicates that biogeochemical processes were at best slightly important to historical VOC plume development. Some evidence of aerobic degradation of non-chlorinated VOCs and abiotic transformation of 1,1,1-Trichloroethane was identified. Despite potentially amenable site conditions, no evidence was found of cometabolic and anaerobic transformation pathways. Relying principally on soil-gas analytical results, an upper-bound estimate of 21% mass reduction due to natural biogeochemical processes was developed. Although available information for the CWL indicates that natural attenuation processes other than volatilization to the atmosphere did not effective y enhance groundwater protection, these processes could be important in significantly reducing groundwater contamination and exposure risks at other sites. More laboratory and field research is required to improve our collective ability to characterize and exploit natural VOC attenuation processes, especially with respect to the combination of relatively thick and dry vadose zones and chlorinated VOCs.

Sandia National Laboratories/New Mexico (SNL/NM) has established a formal facility assessment, decontamination and demolition oversight process with the goal of ensuring that excess or contaminated facilities are managed in a cost-effective manner that is protective of human health and the environment. The decontamination and demolition process is designed so that all disciplines are consulted and have input from the initiation of a project. The committee consists of all essential Environmental, Safety and Health (ES and H) and Facilities disciplines. The interdisciplinary-team approach has provided a mechanism that verifies adequate building and site assessment activities are conducted. This approach ensures that wastes generated during decontamination and demolition activities are handled and disposed according to Department of Energy (DOE), Federal, state, and local requirements. Because of the comprehensive nature of the SNL decontamination and demolition process, the strategy can be followed for demolition, renovation and new construction projects, regardless of funding source. An overview of the SNL/NM decontamination and demolition process is presented through a case study which demonstrates the practical importance of the formal process.

The Intelligent Systems and Robotics Center at Sandia National Laboratories is developing technologies for the automation of processes associated with environmental remediation and information-driven manufacturing. These technologies, which focus on automated planning and programming and sensor-based and model-based control, are used to build intelligent systems which are able to generate plans of action, program the necessary devices, and use sensors to react to changes in the environment. By automating tasks through the use of programmable devices tied to computer models which are augmented by sensing, requirements for faster, safer, and cheaper systems are being satisfied. However, because of the need for rapid cost-effective prototyping and multi-laboratory teaming, it is also necessary to define a consistent approach to the construction of controllers for such systems. As a result, the Generic Intelligent System Controller (GISC) concept has been developed. This concept promotes the philosophy of producing generic tool kits which can be used and reused to build intelligent control systems.

An object-oriented Robot Independent Programming Environment (RIPE) developed at Sandia National Laboratories is being used for rapid design and implementation of a variety of applications. A system architecture based on hierarchies of distributed multiprocessors provides the computing platform for a layered programming structure that models the application as a set of software objects. These objects are designed to support model-based automated planning and programming, real-time sensor-based activity, error handling, and robust communication. The object-oriented paradigm provides mechanisms such as inheritance and polymorphism which allow the implementation of the system to satisfy the goals of software reusability, extensibility, reliability, and portability. By designing a hierarchy of generic parent classes and device-specific subclasses which inherit the same interface, a Robot Independent Programming Language (RIPL) is realized. Work cell tasks demonstrating robotic cask handling operations for nuclear waste facilities are successfully implemented using this object-oriented software environment. © 1991 IEEE

As a result of the popularity of using HyperCard to rapidly prototype equipment and computer interfaces on Macintosh personal computers, the need ensued to evaluate prototype usability by collecting subjects' interactive performance data in real-time. Sandia National Laboratories, in collaboration with Stone Design Software, has developed ProtoTymer, a HyperCard stack that can time and record users' interactive sessions with prototypes developed using HyperCard. While operating in the background, ProtoTymer records the times, locations, and targets (objects clicked) of a subject's inputs during an interactive session. At the conclusion of the session, the resultant data file can be reviewed, summarized, printed, or transferred to a spreadsheet for statistical or graphical analysis. This paper describes ProtoTymer's design approach, features, limitations, and considerations for future versions. 2 refs., 4 figs.