Production Support Lab Example Assessment

DOE-HDBK-3010-94

7.0 Application Examples; Conclusion

plutonium is treated as powder for the purpose of estimating resuspension, the

respirable source term is:

(560 g * 1.0 * 4E-8/hr) + (690 * 1.0 * 4E-6/hr) = 2.8E-3 g/hr

If a standard resuspension time of 48 hours is assumed, the total additional release is

0.1 g. Again, the total release estimated is small for such a severe event.

7.3.11.3

Production Support Lab Example Assessment

The treatment of releases for the lab facility is generally more superficial than that given to

the individual process phenomena in the plutonium recovery facility, which is considered

appropriate. From a release perspective, the potential issues of concern in the lab facility do

not involve a potential complexity or hazard level approaching the process facility. It would

be a waste of time and resources to treat source term estimation for the lab facility at a level

of analytical detail commensurate with the process facility. There is simply very little

information of actual value in formal source term estimates for the lab facility.

7.3.12

Conclusion

A number of comments on the initial draft of this document requested that it be made more

"user-friendly," with examples being specifically requested on multiple occasions. This

chapter is a direct result of those requests. It is hoped that the examples provided will be of

assistance to users of this handbook.

There is, however, an inherent limit on the level of "user-friendliness" that can be

incorporated. The values provided cannot become truly generic. A useful cookbook

prescription is not feasible, if for no other reason than the simple fact that there is not only

one proper approach to using this information. As has been stated, the degree of modelling

performed is a function of the ultimate use to which the information will be put. In that

sense, the most valuable insight obtained from these examples is the sterility of this release

fraction information in a vacuum. Actual experience and understanding of the types of

activities being analyzed and the practical limits of phenomena on an industrial scale are as

critical to proper application as the experimental data itself. No amount of data or source

term algorithms can take the place of such knowledge. The data itself was originally

developed within the context of that knowledge, and it is that context that provides

information supporting general bases for decisionmaking as opposed to mathematical

gamesmanship of little ultimate utility.

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