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
LAVA
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
RADIATION MONITORING
MT ST HELENS
VOLCANIC GASES
AERIAL SURVEYING
AIR POLLUTION
DISTRIBUTION
LEAD
LEAD 210
PARTICLE SIZE
PLUMES
POLONIUM
POLONIUM 210
RADIOACTIVE AEROSOLS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVITY
RADIUM
RADIUM 226
RADON
RADON 222
SAMPLING
THORIUM ISOTOPES
URANIUM ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
AEROSOLS
ALKALINE EARTH ISOTOPES
ALKALINE EARTH METALS
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
COLLOIDS
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
DISPERSIONS
ELEMENTS
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
FLUIDS
GASES
HEAVY NUCLEI
ISOTOPES
LEAD ISOTOPES
MATERIALS
METALS
MONITORING
MOUNTAINS
NONMETALS
NUCLEI
POLLUTION
POLONIUM ISOTOPES
RADIOISOTOPES
RADIUM ISOTOPES
RADON ISOTOPES
RARE GASES
SIZE
SOLS
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
500300* - Environment
Atmospheric- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport- (-1989)
510301 - Environment
Terrestrial- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport- Soil- (-1987)