Counting system and resultant data from field determinations of radium-226 at twelve uranium mill tailings sites

Conference · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1982

OSTI ID:5214431

Rarrick, H L; Minnema, D M; Brewer, L W

A nuclear counting system has been developed and placed in service to determine the Radium-226 content of soils within and beneath uranium mill tailing piles. Minimum detectable activity is approximately 3 pCi Ra-226/g of soil in a 0.5 mr/hr background with a 3-min count. The counting system consists of a lead shield for holding core barrel samplers, a NaI crystal coupled to a photomultiplier (PM) tube, a preamplifier and amplifier, two single channel analyzers (SCAs), a programmable calculator, and a 500 W portable generator. The counting system, installed in a delivery van, was used to count 2773 samples during 10 months under extreme field conditions. Approximate cost of the system excluding vehicle is $8000 US. Vertical profile holes of the tailing piles exhibited Ra-226 activities from over 2000 pCi/g to 15 pCi/g. Ra-226 contamination levels in the soil beneath the tailings varied from 1000 pCi/g to background.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-76DP00789
• OSTI ID: 5214431
• Report Number(s): SAND-81-2645C; CONF-820552-3; IAEA-SM-262/45; ON: DE82014506
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ABANDONED SITES
ALKALINE EARTH ISOTOPES
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
COST
DATA
DESIGN
EQUIPMENT
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FEED MATERIALS PLANTS
HEAVY NUCLEI
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
INFORMATION
ISOTOPES
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MEASURING METHODS
MILL TAILINGS
MONITORING
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
NUCLEI
NUMERICAL DATA
RADIATION MONITORING
RADIOISOTOPES
RADIUM 226
RADIUM ISOTOPES
SAMPLING
SOILS
SOLID WASTES
TAILINGS
WASTES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES