Environmental Management System

Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso

One of the Gran Sasso National Laboratory (LNGS)’s most unique features is its location: it is located 1,400 mt. deep, in the middle of Central Italy’s largest massif, in the very heart of Gran Sasso’s National Park within a large water-table. During the construction of the Laboratory, these features required huge water collection, drainage and waterproofing works. Further, important works are currently being carried out to improve safety:  in fact, due to LNGS’s location, research activities must be carried out with great attention to the environment.

The LNGS could thus be a significant example of a meeting point between scientific research, the motor of human civilization, and the cradle of civilization itself: water.

In January, 2001, the LNGS adopted an Environmental Management System (“SGA”: “Sistema di Gestione Ambientale”) in compliance with the UNI EN ISO 14001 international standard concerning environmental management systems.

By adopting the SGA, the LNGS intended to achieve an improvement in its environment performance, respecting the following management principles: environmental commitment and policy, planning of environmental aspects, accomplishment and functioning, measurement and evaluation, review and improvement.

The adoption of the SGA required the whole personnel a great dedication, starting from the top organization level. The Director determined the environment policy: a statement about LNGS’s intentions and principles with respect to the protection of the environment and a point of reference for all activities and for the definition of environmental objectives.

The environmental management of LNGS’s activities is based on:

•  an environmental policy made known to all the personnel and to the outside;

•  the definition of environmental programs and objectives;

•  human, material and financial resources;

•  documents, management procedures, operating instructions, records;

•  a system for auditing and monitoring the environmental performance and the implementation of procedures and instructions concerning environment protection;

•  a periodical review made by the Director to check the adequacy and effectiveness of the measures being carried out

Water Waste Energy Emissions Experiments

Everyone must do its bit

Documents

PROCEDURA DI VALUTAZIONE DI IMPATTO AMBIENTALE
AVVISO AL PUBBLICO - Art. 24 del D.Lgs. 4/2008 e s. m.ed i.

Water

The LNGS’s underground facilities lie under Gran Sasso’s central rocky massif, which contains a huge water table. While excavating for the construction of the underground structures, very large quantities of water were found, which required impressive drainage, canalization and waterproofing work. The collected waters (ca. 100 lt./sec) are conveyed to a pipe that runs under the motorway and supplies Teramo’s aqueduct.

A considerable part (ca. 100 lt./sec) of rock waters, which drip from the laboratory’s walls and are not drinkable, is conveyed through several numbered collecting points to another underground circuit called “dripping water circuit”.

The accessible collecting points along the busiest routes (such as the tunnel for lorries and the neighboring areas) are protected by reinforced concrete curbs.

Unlike the neighboring tunnels, the halls are waterproof  thanks to a PVC covering, which lies under the reinforced concrete layer under the floor and is protected by two non woven fabric layers. The sheath is turned upon a 40 cm. high perimetric curb, which is heat-sealed to a sheath covering the extrados of the panels that cover the hall. 

The dripping water network goes through a sump pit near the entrance to the laboratory, then it is conveyed into an offlet running along the center line of the motorway’s left tunnel, receiving all waters percolating through the tunnel (the so called “motorway washing waters”). Special analysis devices, measuring Total Organic Carbon (TOC), conductibility, pH and turbidity, continuously monitor water in the above mentioned sump pit.  Particularly the TOC analyzer has a 0,5 ppb sensitivity and can therefore detect a variation of 0,5 mg./l. in the waters’ organic contents, that is the introduction of 1 mg./sec. of any substance considering the maximum discharge.

Outside, on Teramo’s side, these waters are collected by the Gravone ditch, which flows into the Mavone torrent, which in its turn flows into the Vomano river.

Thanks to its low temperature (6°C), dripping water is efficiently used for the closed circuit cooling both of experiment equipment and of underground halls, by conveying it to stainless steel plate-type heat exchangers.

Waste

Another of LNGS’s activities is the management of waste produced both in the underground and in the external facilities.

The ordinary waste produced in the external facilities is comparable to urban waste and is placed into ordinary skips. Other kinds of waste, mainly produced during the construction, maintenance, carrying out and dismantling of the experiments or of parts of them, are disposed of according to the law, drawing up the special yearly reports (MUD).

A temporary special waste storage building (150 sq. m., ca. 600 cu. m.) lies in a large square on the east side of the external facilities area: it is provided with all necessary safety equipment and with grilles and containment basins that are integrated in the building structure. It is used to store:

·         exhausted oils,

·         oil emulsions,

·         exhausted toner cartridges,

·         dismantled computers and electronic equipment,

·         resins and silicones,

·         batteries,

·         expired, organic/inorganic reagents,

·         exhausted neon tubes,

·         soda,

·         hydrochloric acid,

·         other chemicals,

for a total amount of ca. 600 tons of waste disposed of in 2003.

In the same square there are also 5 large cases (ca. 25 cu. m. each) for the differentiated collection of ca. 50,000 kg a year (48.609 in 2003) of waste, such as:

·         wrappings of several materials,

·         iron,

·         plastic,

·         wood,

·         paper.

Many containers of many kinds for the differentiated waste collection are placed in all buildings and are periodically emptied out into the main cases.

All liquid waste is placed in adequate containment basins.

Energy

The technological systems built for the LNGS building complex are designed so that they have the smallest possible impact on the environment and require the lowest possible consumption of energy. For this purpose, energy regeneration systems and alternative energy-powered systems are used, such as:

1.     solar panel systems to produce hot water;

2.     energy optimization systems;

3.     rotary recuperators;

4.     photovoltaic street lamps.

      1.     Solar energy is currently used to produce sanitary hot water for the canteen (with a 1,400 l. boiler), the guestrooms area (with a 450 l. boiler) and the library (with a 1,400 l. boiler).

These heating systems are integrated with more traditional ones, that are used in case the energy produced by the solar panels is insufficient (e.g. in case of high energy request). 

      2.     Air-conditioning systems at the LNGS are provided with several systems for energy saving.  In short:

-       In winter, the heat of condensation produced by the refrigerator groups used to cool special areas (such as the Computer Centre – CED) are used for heating: “regeneration circuit”.

-       In winter, the clean air coming from the outside is preheated by cooling down the water in the refrigeration circuit: “freecooling”.

-       In summer, an Ice Storing System (“S.A.G.”: “Sistema di Accumulo Ghiaccio”) or “ice bank” is used, that is a tank containing glycole-water, which stores up cold during the night and releases it during the day’s hottest hours. This allows to cope with peak temperatures using only a limited capacity of the refrigerator groups and to absorb electric power when it costs less and is less required.

      3.     Heat recuperators allow a correct change of air by means of fans that let foul air out and clean air in. At the same time, energy is recuperated from foul air before it is let out. All air treatment units in the external buildings are provided with rotary recuperators, where the heat exchange is performed by storing heat in the rotor. 

      4.   Three photovoltaic street lamps were installed at the LNGS. They are an application of a study for the construction of an experimental road lighting system. The constructed lighting system consists of a 18 W photovoltaic, conventional (i.e. without radio interface) street lamp and of two street lamps with radio interface: a 26 W one and a 36 W one. The choice of different powers depends on the system’s experimental purpose.

Emissions

The LNGS’s most considerable emissions into the atmosphere come from the heating plants. They are operated in accordance with the relevant regulations (DPR 412/93) and the flue gas inspection is performed twice as often as prescribed by the law.

Experiments

The experiments hosted at LNGS can have an impact on the Laboratory’s environmental aspects: therefore they must be carried out in accordance with the environmental regulations in force and with the procedures defined by the SGA.

All personnel involved in any of the experiments’ stages (installing, carrying out or dismantling) must help to pass on the necessary information to a correct environmental management.

When an experiment project is going to be submitted to the LNGS, it is necessary to follow the guidelines in "Rules for proposal at LNGS".

An experiment proposal must contain the following information:

a.   the environmental resources (electric and thermic energy, water etc.) that are necessary at each stage of the experiment;

b.  the expected emissions and environmental interactions;

c.   the substances that are going to be used;

d.  the preventive measures that will be adopted to mitigate/counterbalance any negative impact on the environment;

Everyone must do its bit

The shared commitment to environmental safeguard should induce all personnel, the collaborators of the international research institutes, contractors, providers, guests and all parties involved to actively cooperate to improve the Environmental Management System.

For this purpose, the specific training needs of all personnel at LNGS are identified, to ensure an adequate training and a full understanding of the SGA’s principles and importance and of each individual’s responsibility in achieving the appointed goals.

Regarding contracting firms, a specific procedure has been developed to regulate the relationship between the Environmental Management System and the activities carried out by external firms or companies: in fact, the typology of a supply or the way a service is carried out could affect in a higher or a lesser degree the Laboratory’s environmental facets.

Documents

The Environmental Management Systems documents and records potential emergency situations, response procedures, training and the relevant verifications that have an environmental importance.

The SGA documents are of different types, both on paper and on electronic media.

1.     The Environmental Management Manual (“MGA”:“Manuale di Gestione Ambientale”), which contains almost all documents the LNGS’s SGA is based on;

2.     The Management Procedures (“PG”: “Procedure Gestionali”), which describe the procedures for carrying out particular activities and define roles and responsibilities;

3.     Operating Instructions (“IO”: “Istruzioni Operative”), containing detailed instructions regarding particular operating activities;

4.     Forms (special waste quantities, differentiated waste quantities, audit reports etc.);

5.     ISOsoft 14001, a software used by the LNGS for most of its management procedures, which allows to perform different kinds of recordings, to manage deadlines and to document the SGA’s activities.

Director's Notice