Indoor Radon Measurements from Residential Buildings with Basements in a Community with Potential LLRW Contamination - 19566
- Arcadis, 155 Frobisher Drive, Suite J-101, Waterloo, ON, N2V 2E1 (Canada)
- Arcadis, 121 Granton Drive, Suite 12, Richmond Hill, ON, L4B 3N4 (Canada)
The Port Hope Area Initiative (PHAI) represents the Government of Canada's commitment to the cleanup and safe, local, long-term management of historic low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) in two Southern Ontario municipalities-Port Hope and Clarington. The PHAI (see reference for internet address) is based on community-recommended solutions for the cleanup and safe long-term management of approximately 1.7 million cubic meters of LLRW. It is currently one of Canada's largest environmental remediation projects at a cost of over one billion dollars. Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) is implementing the PHAI on behalf of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, a Federal Crown Corporation. An initial characterization and remediation program in the urban area of Port Hope was conducted from 1976 to 1981. The waste is the result of radium and uranium processing in Port Hope by the former Federal Crown Corporation Eldorado Nuclear Limited between 1933 and 1988. One contaminant of concern in the LLRW is radium-226 (Ra-226) which may lead to elevated indoor levels of radon-222 (Rn-222) indoors. As part of CNL's implementation of the PHAI, Arcadis is conducting the Port Hope Project Property Radiological Survey of approximately 4,800 small-scale sites to identify 1) properties that have not been affected by historic operations and 2) properties that have residual historic low-level radioactive waste impacts requiring remediation either for soils or for interior contamination or both. Over the last six years, a component of the Small Scale Sites (SSS) characterization surveys have measured radon concentrations in essentially all buildings in Port Hope using alpha-track detectors. All properties had subsurface characterization including analytical characterization and lithology following the radon measurement reporting to measure if soil concentrations exceeded the PHAI Cleanup Criteria (PHAI CC) for Ra-226 of 0.29 Bq/g. Buildings with radon gas exceeding a trigger level of 200 becquerels per cubic meter (Bq/m{sup 3}) or those with ventilation systems required investigation of soil concentrations around the perimeter of the building. Ra-226 concentrations above the background level of 0.05 Bq/g due to LLRW sources were forwarded to create remedial action plans (RAPs) to remove the contamination near the building. The SSS surveys provide a substantive data set on the approximately 3,000 properties measured to date with interior Rn-222 gas measurements and descriptions of the physical characteristics of the buildings, the lithology of soils near the buildings and the measurements of Ra-226 concentration in the soils on the property. Consideration of the potential for contribution from non-LLRW Ra-226 from natural sources or coal ash was required on some properties. This paper describes the data and exploratory analysis of the relationship(s) between LLRW and non-LLRW factors that affect the variation in indoor radon concentrations. Historical information on the urban area, the measured Ra-226 concentration and the age of the building were correlated with radon concentrations. A large variety of native soils are found in the complex terrain and the type of native soil was correlated with the radon concentrations. A statistical analysis to address the impact of co-related explanatory variables to model indoor radon concentrations is planned when the SSS activities are complete. (authors)
- Research Organization:
- WM Symposia, Inc., PO Box 27646, 85285-7646 Tempe, AZ (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 23005422
- Report Number(s):
- INIS-US-21-WM-19566; TRN: US21V1349045756
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: WM2019: 45. Annual Waste Management Conference, Phoenix, AZ (United States), 3-7 Mar 2019; Other Information: Country of input: France; 2 refs.; available online at: https://www.xcdsystem.com/wmsym/2019/index.html
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Characterizing 5,000 Properties to Determine which Require Radiological Remediation - 19152
Innovative Data Management System in Support of Remedial Actions for Legacy Radioactive Contamination - 17280