Radiological survey of the McGuire Bomarc Site, New Jersey

Technical Report · Mon Mar 04 04:00:00 EDT 1974

OSTI ID:5325581

On November 12, 13 and 14, 1973, an aerial radiation survey was flown over a US Air Force deactivated Bomarc missile site near McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey. The purpose of the survey was to map {sup 241}Am associated with weapons grade plutonium within and immediately adjacent to the site. Presence of the {sup 241}Am was the result of a fire in one of the bunkers, which occurred in 1960. The aerial survey was conducted by EG G, Inc., a contractor to the United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), Division of Operational Safety, at the request of the United States Air Force, Office of the Surgeon General. This equipment and contractor team are part of a special capability recently developed within the AEC Division of Military Applications, to rapidly evaluate radiological contamination in areas affected as the result of a Broken-Arrow situation. Standard military helicopters, with military pilots, provide the aerial platform. Installation of equipment requires a few hours under supervision of the contractor team. The spatial distribution of the {sup 241}Am contamination on the terrain surface was measured using a large array of NaI gamma ray detectors, mounted on a helicopter. The data was acquired utilizing the REDAR (Radiation and Environmental Data Acquisition and Recorder) system. It was processed on the REDAC (Radiation and Environmental Data Analyzer and Computer) system. Measurements of both gamma ray count rate and energy spectra were made and correlated with the helicopter position data. Results are presented as isopleths giving the {sup 241}Am surface concentration in units of {mu}g/m{sup 2}. Measured values varied from background levels (< 0.04 {mu}g/m{sup 2} to between 0.43 {mu}g/m{sup 2} and 0.81 {mu}g/m{sup 2}). Additionally, gamma energy spectra and intensity variations over the affected areas are presented. 16 figs., 1 tab.

• Research Organization: EG and G, Inc., Las Vegas, NV (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC08-76NV01183
• OSTI ID: 5325581
• Report Number(s): EGG-1183-1624; ON: DE91018195
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

440103 -- Radiation Instrumentation-- Nuclear Spectroscopic Instrumentation
45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEFENSE
450200 -- Military Technology
Weaponry
&amp; National Defense-- Nuclear Explosions &amp; Explosives
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540230* -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring &amp; Transport-- (1990-)
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
AERIAL SURVEYING
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
AMERICIUM 241
AMERICIUM ISOTOPES
BACKGROUND RADIATION
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
COMPUTER CALCULATIONS
COMPUTER OUTPUT DEVICES
COMPUTER-GRAPHICS DEVICES
CONTAMINATION
DATA ACQUISITION
DATA ANALYSIS
DETECTION
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE
EQUIPMENT
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
FEDERAL REGION II
GAMMA DETECTION
GAMMA SPECTRA
GEOPHYSICAL SURVEYS
HEAVY NUCLEI
ISOTOPES
MAPPING
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MEASURING METHODS
MILITARY FACILITIES
MISSILE SILOS
NAI DETECTORS
NEW JERSEY
NORTH AMERICA
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
PLOTTERS
PLUTONIUM 241
PLUTONIUM ISOTOPES
RADIATION DETECTION
RADIATION DETECTORS
RADIATIONS
RADIOISOTOPES
RADIOMETRIC SURVEYS
REMOTE SENSING
SCINTILLATION COUNTERS
SITE CHARACTERIZATION
SOILS
SOLID SCINTILLATION DETECTORS
SPECTRA
SPONTANEOUS FISSION RADIOISOTOPES
SURVEYS
USA
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES