Facility effluent monitoring plan for the uranium trioxide facility

A facility effluent monitoring plant is required by the US Department of Energy in DOE Order 5400.1 for any operations that involve hazardous materials and radioactive substances that could impact employee or public safety or the environment. This document is prepared using the specific guidelines identified in A Guide for Preparing Hanford Site Facility Effluent Monitoring Plans, WHC-EP-0438. This facility effluent monitoring plan assesses effluent monitoring systems and evaluates whether they are adequate to ensure the public health and safety as specified in applicable federal, state, and local requirements. This facility effluent monitoring plan is the first annual report. It shall ensure long-range integrity of the effluent monitoring systems by requiring an update whenever a new process or operation introduces new hazardous materials or significant radioactive materials. This document must be reviewed annually even if there are no operational changes, and it must be updated as a minimum every three years. The UO{sub 3} Plant is located in the south-central portion of the 200 West Area of the Hanford Site. The plant consists of two primary processing buildings and several ancillary facilities. The purpose of the UO{sub 3} Plant is to receive uranyl nitrate hexahydrate (UNH) from the Plutonium-Uranium Extractionmore » (PUREX) Plant, concentrate it, convert the UNH to uranium trioxide (UO{sub 3}) powder by calcination and package it for offsite shipment. The UO{sub 3} Plant has been placed in a standby mode. There are two liquid discharges, and three gaseous exhaust stacks, and seven building exhausters that are active during standby conditions.« less