ENVIRONMENTAL RADIOACTIVITY AT ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY. Report for the Year 1959

Technical Report · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1961

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/4086902· OSTI ID:4086902

Sedlet, J.

The results of the environmental monitoring program at Argonne National Laboratory for 1959 are given. The radioactive content of the environment was measured by performing radiochemical analyses and total activity measurements on several types of materials collected on the ANL site and from locations approximately 10, 25, and 100 miles from the Laboratory. The sampling locations are given in Part II. The average total activities in samples of water, material from the beds of lakes and streams (bottom silt), soil, and plants during 1959 are tabulated. For purposes of comparison, the results obtnined from 1952 through 1959 are included. Air-filter results are also tabulated. Fallout activity was present in most samples at all locations. The amount of fall-out was relatively high during the first part of the year, but decreased markedly during the latter half. By the end of the year the shorter-lived fission products from fall-out were at the lowest level since 1955. Airborne beta activity from fall-out decreased from a maximum of about 5 mu mu c/m/sup 3/ in April to less than 0.1 mu mu c/m/sup 3/ in December. The average for the year, about 2.3 mu mu c/m/sup 3/, was 25% less than for 1958, but approximately twice as high as the average from 1953 to 1957. The long-lived airborne alpha activity has not changed appreciably since 1953. Air-filter samples were collected both on the site and at four locations from 6 to 20 miles from the Laboratory. The activities were essentially the same both on and off the site, and no indication of activity originating at Argonne was found in the samples. (auth)

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., Ill.
• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38
• NSA Number: NSA-15-011358
• OSTI ID: 4086902
• Report Number(s): ANL-6282
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

AEROSOLS
AIR
ALPHA PARTICLES
ANL
ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY
BETA PARTICLES
ENVIRONMENT
FALLOUT
FILTERS
FISSION PRODUCTS
HALF-LIFE
HEALTH AND SAFETY
HYDROLOGY
ILLINOIS
LABORATORY EQUIPMENT
MEASURED VALUES
MONITORING
NORTH AMERICA
PLANTS
QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS
QUANTITY RATIO
RADIOACTIVITY
RADIOCHEMISTRY
SAMPLING
SOILS
TABLES
USA
USAEC
WATER
ZONES