Building 579 waste ion exchange facility characterization report

External direct surveys were performed for elevated {gamma} levels with a PG2 portable detector connected to a PRM 5-3 meter and for elevated {alpha} and {beta} levels with an NE portable detector. No {gamma} activity above background was detected. Several locations, the floor and west wall of building 579 and the manhole, had low levels of {beta} activity, up to 87 {+-} 49 dis/min. These values are below the allowable residual surface contamination limits for removable beta activity. There is water in the Mixed Bed Exchange Vessel, the Cation Exchange Vessel, the Closed Drain Tank, the manhole and some of the pipes. The accessible internal surfaces of the pipes, tanks and columns had higher levels of {beta} activity up to 172 {+-} 52 dis/min and some {alpha} activity up to 106 {+-} 29 dis/min. After the water is removed from the vessels, tanks, and lines, they should be surveyed to determine whether the areas accessible for smear surveys are representative of the general inside contamination levels. There are elevated levels of radionuclides in the resin from the Cation Exchange Vessel and in the water from the manhole. Since the radionuclide concentrations in the manhole water are less than ten times the site release criteria, it does not need any processing before it is released to the onsite drains. Although there are RCRA metals on the resin in the Cation Exchange Vessel, the amount that is removed during a leaching analysis is below the toxicity Characteristic level. Therefore, the resin is a radioactive waste not a mixed waste