Eneray Technolgy Review October 1980 [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory LLNL Environmental Sciences Research Program 1 The Marshall Islands project 2 Plutonium in the marine environment of the Marshall Islands 8 In this issue, we describe recent environmental research at LLNLrelated to nuclear, geothermal, and liquefiedgaseous-fuel technologies. Since 1972, LLNL has been conducting field studies and radiological assessment programs in the Marshall Islands to provide the people of Bikini and Enewetak (the sites of nuclear tests in the 1940s and 1950s} with data on resettlement options and land use. Studies of the cycling and transport of plutonium in the marine environmentsof the Enewetak and Bikini Atolls are increasing our ability to predict the consequences of radioactive waste disposal in the ocean. Measuring transuranics in the air . We have developed andfielded a very sensitive alpha measurement system used to determine the concentration of transuranics and other long-lived alpha emitters exhausted into the air from nuclear facilities. 14 The environmental impact of geothermal development in California’s Imperial Valley 19 Effects of geothermal effluents on ecosystems 23 Vapor dispersion from LNG spills 27 LLNL researchers are assessing the potential environmental impact of geothermal developmentin California's Impenal Valley. Weare evaluating the impact of hydrogen sulfide and mineral emissions from geothermal powerplants on surrounding ecosystems. LLNL is conducting heavily instrumentedtest spills of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to collect the data needed tc predict the consequences of large-scale LNG accidents. | UCRL-52000-80-10 Distribution Category UC-2 October 1980