METEOROLOGICAL PROCESSES IN THE TRANSPORT OF WEAPON RADIOIODINE
Journal Article
·
· Health Physics (England)
Analysis of the I/sup 131/ content of milk sampled by the Public Health Service Pasteurized Milk Network between September 1, 1961 and January 1, 1963, indicate that there have been eleven incidents in which milk was contaminated in excess of an arbitrarily chosen 300 pC/l. Three distinct meteorological processes are invoked to account for the transport of I/sup 131/ in these cases from source to milkshed. First, two cases, one affecting Spokane, Washington, and a second Salt Lake City, involved the drift of nuclear clouds from low altitude releases of radioiodine from the Nevada Test Site. Second, there were two cases in which debris was brought to the surface along the southern edge of a high pressure system. The first of these two cases involved debris released at the Novaya Zemlya proving grounds, and the second, debris from the central Asian proving grounds. Both resulted from the subsidence of air masses, bringing the associated debris to lower altitudes. The final mechanism for the deposition of I/sup 131/ is precipitation scavenging. One case deals with debris scavenged from either the upper reaches of the troposphere over the central United States, the debris having originated some 4 days earlier over Christmas Island. The seven instances of precipitation scavenging confirm the dominance of this deposition mechanism. The macro features of transport and deposition of radioactive debris rather than the micro mechanisms of uptake or deposition are discussed. (auth)
- Research Organization:
- U.S. Weather Bureau, Washington, D.C.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- NSA Number:
- NSA-18-008910
- OSTI ID:
- 4091648
- Journal Information:
- Health Physics (England), Journal Name: Health Physics (England) Vol. Vol: 9; ISSN HLTPA
- Country of Publication:
- Country unknown/Code not available
- Language:
- English
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