Evaluation of several relevant fractionation processes as possible explanation for radioxenon isotopic activity ratios in samples taken near underground nuclear explosions in shafts and tunnels

Bourret, S. Michelle; Kwicklis, Edward M.; Stauffer, Philip H.

doi:10.1016/j.jenvrad.2021.106698

Evaluation of several relevant fractionation processes as possible explanation for radioxenon isotopic activity ratios in samples taken near underground nuclear explosions in shafts and tunnels

Journal Article · Thu Jul 22 00:00:00 EDT 2021 · Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2021.106698· OSTI ID:1997177

Bourret, S. Michelle ^[1]; ^[1]; Stauffer, Philip H. ^[1]

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Gas samples taken from two historic underground nuclear tests done in 1989 at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS), formerly the Nevada Test Site (NTS), were examined to determine how xenon isotopes fractionate because of early-time cavity processes, transport through the rock, or dispersal through tunnels. Xenon isotopes are currently being used to distinguish civilian sources of xenon in the atmosphere from sources associated with underground nuclear explosions (UNEs). The two nuclear tests included (1) BARNWELL, a test conducted in a vertical shaft approximately 600 m below ground surface at Pahute Mesa, and (2) DISKO ELM, a horizontal line-of-sight test done in P-tunnel approximately 261 m below the surface of Aqueduct Mesa. Numerical flow and transport models developed for the two sites had mixed success when attempting to match the observed xenon isotope ratios. At the BARNWELL site, the simulated xenon isotope ratios were consistent with measurements from the chimney and ground surface and appeared to have been affected primarily by fractionation during subsurface transport. At the DISKO ELM site, samples taken from two elevations in the chimney failed to show the degree of fractionation predicted by the models during transport and did not show evidence for significant fractionation due to early-time condensation of refractory xenon-precursor radionuclides into the melt glass. Gas samples taken from the adjacent tunnels in the days following the test showed mixed evidence for early-time separation of xenon isotopes from their iodine precursors.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation

Grant/Contract Number:: 89233218CNA000001

OSTI ID:: 1997177

Report Number(s):: LA-UR--21-21943

Journal Information:: Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, Journal Name: Journal of Environmental Radioactivity Vol. 237; ISSN 0265-931X

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (27)

Thermally driven advection for radioxenon transport from an underground nuclear explosion: RADIOXENON PRODUCTION AND TRANSPORT Sun, Yunwei; Carrigan, Charles R. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 43, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL068290	journal	May 2016
Field testing of collection and measurement of radioxenon for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Bowyer, T. W.; Abel, K. H.; Hubbard, C. W. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, Vol. 240, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02349143	journal	April 1999
Discrimination of Nuclear Explosions against Civilian Sources Based on Atmospheric Xenon Isotopic Activity Ratios Kalinowski, Martin B.; Axelsson, Anders; Bean, Marc Pure and Applied Geophysics, Vol. 167, Issue 4-5 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-009-0032-1	journal	January 2010
Isotopic Characterization of Radioiodine and Radioxenon in Releases from Underground Nuclear Explosions with Various Degrees of Fractionation Kalinowski, Martin B.; Liao, Yen-Yo Pure and Applied Geophysics, Vol. 171, Issue 3-5 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-012-0580-7	journal	September 2012
Radioxenon Production and Transport from an Underground Nuclear Detonation to Ground Surface Sun, Yunwei; Carrigan, Charles R.; Hao, Yue Pure and Applied Geophysics, Vol. 172, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-014-0863-2	journal	June 2014
UTEX modeling of radioxenon isotopic fractionation resulting from subsurface transport Lowrey, J. D.; Biegalski, S. R.; Deinert, M. R. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, Vol. 296, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-012-2026-1	journal	August 2012
Noble gas migration experiment to support the detection of underground nuclear explosions Olsen, K. B.; Kirkham, R. R.; Woods, V. T. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, Vol. 307, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-015-4639-7	journal	December 2015
Immobile Pore-Water Storage Enhancement and Retardation of Gas Transport in Fractured Rock Harp, Dylan R.; Ortiz, John P.; Pandey, Sachin Transport in Porous Media, Vol. 124, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-018-1072-8	journal	May 2018
Introduction to the verification regime of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Hoffmann, Wolfgang; Kebeasy, Rashad; Firbas, Petr Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, Vol. 113, Issue 1-4 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-9201(99)00027-8	journal	June 1999
A model of oscillatory transport in granular soils, with application to barometric pumping and earth tides Neeper, Donald A. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, Vol. 48, Issue 3-4 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-7722(00)00181-9	journal	April 2001
Detection and analysis of xenon isotopes for the comprehensive nuclear-test-ban treaty international monitoring system Bowyer, T. W.; Schlosser, C.; Abel, K. H. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, Vol. 59, Issue 2, p. 139-151 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0265-931X(01)00042-X	journal	January 2002
Isotopic signature of atmospheric xenon released from light water reactors Kalinowski, Martin B.; Pistner, Christoph Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, Vol. 88, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2006.02.003	journal	January 2006
Characterisation of prompt and delayed atmospheric radioactivity releases from underground nuclear tests at Nevada as a function of release time Kalinowski, Martin B. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, Vol. 102, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2011.05.006	journal	September 2011
Beyond Barnwell: Applying lessons learned from the Barnwell site to other historic underground nuclear tests at Pahute Mesa to understand radioactive gas-seepage observations Bourret, S. Michelle; Kwicklis, Edward M.; Harp, Dylan R. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, Vol. 222 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2020.106297	journal	October 2020
Evaporation of an Iodine Sphere: Hindered Diffusion and Langmuir’s Conjecture Smith, Zebadiah M.; Loyalka, Sudarshan K. Langmuir, Vol. 26, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1021/la902374t	journal	January 2010
Discriminating Underground Nuclear Explosions Leading To Late‐Time Radionuclide Gas Seeps Harp, Dylan R.; Bourret, S. Michelle; Stauffer, Philip H. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 47, Issue 13 https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL086654	journal	June 2020
Time history of the cavity pressure and temperature following a nuclear detonation in alluvium Olsen, Clifford W. Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 72, Issue 20 https://doi.org/10.1029/JZ072i020p05037	journal	October 1967
Selective transport of hydrocarbons in the unsaturated zone due to aqueous and vapor phase partitioning Baehr, Arthur L. Water Resources Research, Vol. 23, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1029/WR023i010p01926	journal	October 1987
Trace gas emissions on geological faults as indicators of underground nuclear testing Carrigan, C. R.; Heinle, R. A.; Hudson, G. B. Nature, Vol. 382, Issue 6591 https://doi.org/10.1038/382528a0	journal	August 1996
Gas transport across the low-permeability containment zone of an underground nuclear explosion Carrigan, Charles R.; Sun, Yunwei; Hunter, Steven L. Scientific Reports, Vol. 10, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-58445-1	journal	January 2020
Permeability of porous solids Millington, R. J.; Quirk, J. P. Transactions of the Faraday Society, Vol. 57 https://doi.org/10.1039/tf9615701200	journal	January 1961
Radioactivity Trapped in Melt Produced by a Nuclear Explosion Borg, I. Y. Nuclear Technology, Vol. 26, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.13182/NT75-A24406	journal	May 1975
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty: relevant radionuclides Geer, L. -E. De Kerntechnik, Vol. 66, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1515/kern-2001-0060	journal	March 2022
Radionuclide Distribution in a Nuclear Test Cavity: the Baseball Event Thompson, J. L. ract, Vol. 72, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1524/ract.1996.72.3.157	journal	March 1996
Transport of Gaseous Fission Products Adjacent to an Underground Nuclear Test Cavity Smith, David K.; Nagle, Richard J.; Kenneally, Jacqueline M. ract, Vol. 73, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1524/ract.1996.73.4.177	journal	August 1996
Evaluating the Importance of Barometric Pumping for Subsurface Gas Transport Near an Underground Nuclear Test Site Bourret, S. M.; Kwicklis, E. M.; Miller, T. A. Vadose Zone Journal, Vol. 18, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.2136/vzj2018.07.0134	journal	January 2019
Compilation of Henry's law constants (version 4.0) for water as solvent Sander, R. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 15, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-4399-2015	journal	January 2015

Similar Records

UNESE Phase 2: Injection and measurement of gaseous tracers at U-12p Tunnel

Technical Report · Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 2020 · OSTI ID:1983357

Related Subjects

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
Cavity evolution
Isotope fractionation
Modeling
Transport processes
Underground nuclear explosions
Xenon isotopes

Evaluation of several relevant fractionation processes as possible explanation for radioxenon isotopic activity ratios in samples taken near underground nuclear explosions in shafts and tunnels

Citation Formats

References (27)

Similar Records

Related Subjects