Challenges in Determining the Isotopic Mixture for the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant
- Sandia National Laboratories
As part of the United States response to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant emergency, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Consequence Management (CM) Teams were activated with elements deploying to Japan. The NNSA CM teams faced the urgent need for information regarding the potential radiological doses that citizens of might experience. This paper discusses the challenges and lessons learned associated with the analysis of field collected samples and gamma spectra in an attempt to determine the isotopic mixture present on the ground around the Plant. There were several interesting and surprising lessons to be learned from the sample analysis portion of the response. The paper discusses several elements of the response that were unique to the event occurring in Japan, as well as several elements that would have occurred in a U.S. nuclear reactor event. Sections of this paper address details of the specific analytical challenges faced during the efforts to analyze samples and try to understand the overall release source term.
- Research Organization:
- US Department of Energy (USDOE), Washington DC (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE NA Office of Emergency Response (NA-42)
- OSTI ID:
- 1081480
- Journal Information:
- Health Physics, Vol. 102, Issue 5
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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