Surveillance of Site A and Plot M - Report for 1999.

Golchert, N. W.

Argonne National Laboratory

关键词: Radioactive Waste Facilities;    Tritium;    Radionuclide Migration;    Radiation Monitoring;    Strontium 90;   

DOI  :  10.2172/757500
RP-ID  :  ANL-00/3
RP-ID  :  W-31109-ENG-38
RP-ID  :  757500

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

The results of the environmental surveillance program conducted at Site A/Plot M in the Palos Forest Preserve area for Calendar Year 1999 are presented. Based on the results of the 1976-1978 radiological characterization of the site, a determination was made that a surveillance program be established. The characterization study determined that very low levels of hydrogen-3 (as tritiated water) had migrated from the burial ground and were present in two nearby hand-pumped picnic wells. The current surveillance program consists of sample collection and analysis of surface and subsurface water. The results of the analyses are used to (1) monitor the migration pathway of water from the burial ground (Plot M) to the handpumped picnic wells, (2) establish if buried radionuclides other than hydrogen-3 have migrated, and (3) generally characterize the radiological environment of the area. Hydrogen-3 in the Red Gate Woods picnic wells was still detected this year, but the average and maximum concentrations were significantly less than found earlier. Tritiated water continues to be detected in a number of wells, boreholes, dolomite holes, and a surface stream. For many years it was the only radionuclide found to have migrated in measurable quantities. Analyses since 1984 have indicated the presence of low levels of strontium-90 in water from a number of boreholes next to Plot M. The available data does not allow a firm conclusion as to whether the presence of this nuclide represents migration prior to the installation of the boreholes or movement that may have occurred before Plot M was capped. The results of the surveillance program continue to indicate that the radioactivity remaining at Site A/Plot M does not endanger the health or safety of the public visiting the site, using the picnic area, or living in the vicinity.