Historical records of radioactive contamination in biota at the 200 Areas of the Hanford Site
Description/Abstract
This document summarizes and reports a literature search of 85 environmental monitoring records of wildlife and vegetation (biota) at the 200 East Area and the 200 West Area of the Hanford Site since 1965. These records were published annually and provided the majority of the data in this report. Additional sources of data have included records of specific facilities, such as site characterization documents and preoperational environmental surveys. These documents have been released for public use. Records before 1965 were still being researched and therefore not included in this document. The intent of compiling these data into a single source was to identify past and current concentrations of radionuclides in biota at specific facilities and waste sites within each operable unit that may be used to help guide cleanup activities in the 200 Areas to be completed under the Comprehensive Environmental Response and Liability Act (CERCLA). The 200 East Area and 200 West Area were the locations of the Hanford Site separation and process facilities and waste management units. For the purposes of this document, a sample was of interest if a Geiger-Mueller counter equipped with a pancake probe-indicated beta/gamma emitting radioactivity above 200 counts per minute (cpm), or if laboratory radioanalyses indicated a radionuclide concentration equaled or exceeded 10 picocuries per gram (pCi/g). About 4,500 individual cases of monitoring for radionuclide uptake or transport in biota in the 200 Areas environs were included in the documents reviewed. About 1,900 (i.e., 42%) of these biota had radionuclide concentrations in excess of 10 pCi/g. These radionuclide transport or uptake cases were distributed among 45 species of wildlife (primarily small mammals and feces) and 30 species of vegetation. The wildlife species most commonly associated with radioactive contamination were the house mouse and the deer mouse and of vegetation species, the Russian thistle.
| DOI | 10.2172/10191138 |
|---|---|
| Creator/Author: | Johnson, A.R. ; Markes, B.M. ; Schmidt, J.W. ; Shah, A.N. ; Weiss, S.G. ; Wilson, K.J. |
| Publication Date: | 1994 Jun 01 |
| OSTI Identifier: | OSTI ID: 10191138; Legacy ID: DE95001986 |
| Report Number(s): | WHC-MR--0418 |
| DOE Contract Number: | AC06-87RL10930 |
| DOI: | 10.2172/10191138 |
| Other Number(s): | Other: ON: DE95001986; TRN: TRN: 94:010094 |
| Resource Type: | Technical Report |
| Resource Relation: | Other Information: PBD: Jun 1994 |
| Coverage: | Topical |
| Research Org: | Westinghouse Hanford Co., Richland, WA (United States) |
| Sponsoring Org: | USDOE, Washington, DC (United States) |
| Subject: | 11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS; 12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES; WILD ANIMALS; RADIOECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION; PLANTS; HANFORD RESERVATION; RADIOACTIVITY; SITE CHARACTERIZATION; CONTAMINATION; WASTE MANAGEMENT; ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE PATHWAY |
| Country of Publication: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Format: | Size: 50 p. |
| Availability: | OSTI; NTIS; INIS; GPO Dep. To purchase this media from NTIS, click here |
| Update Date: | 2009 Dec 14 |
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