2008 Site Environmental Report for Pantex Plant

2008 Site Environmental Report for Pantex Plant
Method Detection Limit - A measure of
instrument sensitivity using solutions that have
been subjected to all sample preparation steps for
the method.
Metric System - See International System of
Units.
Mitigation - The alleviation of adverse impacts on
resources by avoidance through project redesign
or project relocation.
Mixed waste - Waste containing both
radionuclides as defined by the Atomic Energy
Act, and hazardous constituents as defined by 42
USC 6901 et seq. and 40 CFR 261.
Mortuary remains - Human physical remains and
associated artifacts that exist in prehistoric and
historic temporal contexts.
National Ambient Air Quality Standards
(NAAQS) - Standards developed, under the
authority of the Clean Air Act by the
Environmental Protection Agency, to protect the
quality of the air we breathe. Standards are set for
six pollutants: sulfur dioxide, particulate matter
with a mean aerodynamic diameter of 10 microns
or less, carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide,
and lead.
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) -
Federal statute promulgated under 40 CFR part
1500 through 1508; requires Federal facility
actions be evaluated for environmental impacts,
usually in the form of Environmental Impact
Statements or Environmental Assessments.
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System (NPDES) - U.S. Federal Regulation (40
CFR, Parts 122 and 125) that requires permits for
the discharge of pollutants from any point source
into the waters of the United States.
National Register of Historic Places - A national
list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and
objects significant in American history,
architecture, archeology, engineering, and culture.
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Native American - A tribe, people, or culture that
is indigenous to the United States.
Necropsy - Autopsy, postmortem examination.
Nuclear weapon - Any weapon with a nuclear
device designed specifically to produce a large
release of energy (nuclear explosion) from the
fission and/or fusion of atomic nuclei.
Off-Normal Event - Abnormal or unplanned
events or conditions that adversely affect,
potentially affect, or are indicative of degradation
in, the safety, security, environmental or health
protection performance or operation of a facility.
Offsite - Outside the Pantex Plant site boundary.
Onsite - Within the Pantex Plant site boundary.
Ogallala Formation - Tertiary formation
consisting of gravel, sand, silt, and clay. This is
the principal geologic unit in the High Plains
Aquifer. Comprises the Ogallala Aquifer in the
panhandle of Texas, the primary source of
groundwater in the region. The top of the Ogallala
Formation in large areas of Texas and New
Mexico consists of a resistant caliche layer. The
Ogallala Formation at Pantex overlies the Triassic
Dockum Group strata and underlies the
Quaternary Blackwater Draw Formation.
Outfall - The outlet of a body of water. In the
surface water permitting program, the term outfall
refers to the effluent monitoring location identified
by the permit. An outfall may be Ainternal@
(associated with a building) or Afinal@ (the last
monitoring point at Pantex.)
Perched aquifer - Groundwater separated from
the underlying main body of ground water, or
aquifer, by unsaturated rock.
Permian - The last period of the Paleozoic era
(after the Pennsylvanian) thought to have covered
the span of time between 280 and 225 million
years ago (Ma); also, the corresponding system of
rocks. It is named after the province of Perm,
Russia, where rocks of this age were first studied.