ESER Program Description

Operations at the INL are conducted under requirements imposed by the DOE under authority of the Atomic Energy Act, and the EPA under a number of acts (e.g. the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act).  The requirements imposed by the DOE are specified in the DOE Orders.  These requirements include those to monitor the effects of DOE activities onsite and offsite of the INL (DOE Order 5400.1).  During calendar year 2001, environmental monitoring within the INL boundaries was primarily the responsibility of the INL Management and Operations (M&O) contractor, while monitoring outside the INL boundaries was conducted under the ESER Program.  The ESER Program is led by the S.M. Stoller Corporation in cooperation with its team members including the University of Idaho (UI) and Washington State University (WSU) for research, Montgomery Watson Harza and North Wind Environmental for technical support.  This report contains the monitoring results from the ESER Program for the first quarter of 2001 (January 1 – March 30). 

The surveillance portion of the ESER Program is designed to satisfy the following program objectives:

• Verify compliance with applicable environmental laws, regulations, and DOE Orders;
• Characterize and define trends in the physical, chemical, and biological condition of environmental media on and around the INL; 
• Assess the potential radiation dose to members of the public from INL effluents, and;
• Present program results clearly and concisely through the use of reports, presentations, newsletter articles, and press releases.

The goal of the surveillance program is to monitor several different media points within these potential pathways, including air, water, foodstuff, and soil, that could potentially contribute to the dose received by the public. 

Air samples are taken at 15 locations on and around the INL; surface water at five locations on the Snake River; drinking water at 14 locations around the INL; foodstuff which includes milk at nine dairies around the INL, potatoes from at least 5 local producers, wheat from approximately 10 local producers, lettuce from approximately nine home-owned gardens around the INL, sheep from 2 operators which graze their sheep on the INL, and various types of wildlife including big game (pronghorn, mule deer, and elk), waterfowl, and fish sampled on and near the INL.  Appendix A lists samples, sampling locations and collection frequency for the ESER Program.

Once samples have been collected and analyzed, the ESER Program has the responsibility for quality control of the data and preparing quarterly reports on results from the environmental surveillance program.  The quarterly reports are then combined into the INL Annual Site Environmental Report for each calendar year.  Annual reports also include data collected by other INL contractors. 

The ESER Program used two laboratories to perform analyses on environmental samples for the quarter reported here.  The Idaho State University (ISU) Environmental Assessment Laboratory (EAL) performed routine gross alpha, gross beta, tritium, and gamma spectrometry analyses.  Severn-Trent, Inc performed analyses requiring radiochemistry, including analysis for ⁹⁰Sr, ²³⁸Pu, ^239/240Pu, and ²⁴¹Am.  The Operational Dosimetry unit of the INL M&O contractor evaluates environmental dosimeters.  Samples collected by the ESER Program on behalf of the EPA (detailed in the next paragraph) are sent to the EPA’s Eastern Environmental Radiation Facility.

In the event of non-routine occurrences, such as suspected releases of radioactive material, the ESER Program may increase the frequency of sampling and/or the number of sampling locations based on the nature of the release and wind distribution patterns.  In the event of any suspected worldwide nuclear incidents, like the Chernobyl accident, the EPA may request additional sampling be performed through the Environmental Radiation Ambient Monitoring System (ERAMS) network of which the ESER Program operates air and precipitation sampling equipment in Idaho Falls.  The EPA established the ERAMS network in 1973 with an emphasis on identifying trends in the accumulation of long-lived radionuclides in the environment.  ERAMS is comprised of a nationwide network of sampling stations that provide air, precipitation, surface water, drinking water, and milk samples.  Any data found to be outside historical norms in the ESER Program are thoroughly investigated to determine if an INL origin is likely.  Investigation may include re-sampling and/or re-analysis of prior samples. 

For more information concerning the ESER Program, contact the S.M. Stoller Corporation at (208) 525-9358, or visit the Program’s web page (www.stoller-eser.com).