Airborne radiological sampling of Mount St. Helens plumes
Particulate and gaseous samples for radiologial analyses were collected from the plumes created by eruptions of Mount St. Helens. The sampling aircraft and equipment used are routinely employed in aerial radiological surveillance at the Nevada Test Site by the Environmental Protection Agency's Environmental Monitoring Systems Laboratory in Las Vegas, Nevada. An initial sample set was collected on April 4, 1980, during the period of recurring minor eruptions. Samples were collected again on May 19 and 20 following the major eruption of May 18. The Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Radiation Programs analyzed the samples for uranium and thorium isotopes, radium-226, lead-210, polonium-210, and radon-222. Other laboratories analyzed samples to determine particle size distribution and elemental composition. The only samples containing radioactivity above normal ambient levels were collected on May 20. Polonium-210 concentrations in the plume, determined from a sample collected between 5 and 30 km from the crater, were approximately an order of magnitude above background. Radon-222 concentrations in samples collected from the plume centerline at a distance of 15 km averaged approximately four times the average surface concentrations. The small increases in radioactivity would cause no observable adverse health effects.
- Research Organization:
- Office of Radiation Programs, Las Vegas, NV (USA)
- OSTI ID:
- 5548652
- Report Number(s):
- PB-81-213795
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
AERIAL SURVEYING
AEROSOLS
AIR POLLUTION
ALKALINE EARTH ISOTOPES
ALKALINE EARTH METALS
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
COLLOIDS
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
DISPERSIONS
DISTRIBUTION
ELEMENTS
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
FLUIDS
GASES
HEAVY NUCLEI
ISOTOPES
LAVA
LEAD
LEAD 210
LEAD ISOTOPES
MATERIALS
METALS
MONITORING
MOUNTAINS
MT ST HELENS
NONMETALS
NUCLEI
PARTICLE SIZE
PLUMES
POLLUTION
POLONIUM
POLONIUM 210
POLONIUM ISOTOPES
RADIATION MONITORING
RADIOACTIVE AEROSOLS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVITY
RADIOISOTOPES
RADIUM
RADIUM 226
RADIUM ISOTOPES
RADON
RADON 222
RADON ISOTOPES
RARE GASES
SAMPLING
SIZE
SOLS
THORIUM ISOTOPES
URANIUM ISOTOPES
VOLCANIC GASES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES