Building 834 -- Cost-effective and innovative design of remediation systems using surplus equipment from former weapons programs

摘要

The Building 834 Complex at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Site 300, has been used by the weapons development programs at LLNL as a testing facility for measuring component response to environmental stresses such as extreme temperature. The heat-exchange system at the facility used trichloroethene TCE, at times with adjuvants, as the primary heat-transfer media for over 20 years. Accidental spills, pipe failures, and seal blowouts over that period contributed to a substantial contaminant plume in a perched water-bearing zone underlying the Complex. Individual wells near the source area have produced ground water samples with TCE concentrations exceeding 800,000 ppb. In the last several years, the authors have developed a modular ground water and soil vapor extraction system for remediating the plume source area. The modular facility design permits the testing of new technologies to expedite remediation, and/or reduce the quantity of hazardous wastes generated as byproducts of the primary remedial activities. To contain costs, the authors have used equipment and components recycled from the original Building 834 Complex heat-exchange system, and surplus equipment from other LLNL divisions. The authors have executed two large-scale tests of energy injection systems for TCE destruction in air (a free-air electron beam and a pulsed, ultraviolet photolysis system), and a soil heating test for accelerating vapor extraction. New work plans for this unique site are being prepared, incorporating the lessons learned in developing new technology with recycled equipment.