NATIONAL-IGNITION-FACILITY - IMPACTS OF CHEMICAL ACCIDENTS AND COMPARISON OF CHEMICAL AND RADIOLOGICAL ACCIDENT APPROACHES

An environmental assessment was conducted to estimate potential impact s or consequences associated with constructing and operating the propo sed National Ignition Facility (NIF). The multidisciplinary assessment covered topics ranging from radiological and chemical health and safe ty to socioeconomic and land-use issues. The impacts of five chemical accidents that could occur at NIF are compared, and the extent of thei r consequences for workers and off-site populations are discussed. Eac h of the five accident scenarios was modeled by a chemical release and dispersion model with a toxicological criterion for evaluating potent ial irreversible human health effects. Results show that most of the c hemical release scenarios considered will not impair the general publi c in taking protective actions in the event of an accidental release. The two exceptions are the mercury release (equipment failure) scenari os for the conceptual design and the enhanced design. In general, the predicted maximum threat zones are significantly less than the distanc e to the point of nearest public access.