An approach to remedial action decisions on sites which are marginally contaminated with Radium-226
Current standard of the US Environmental protection Agency (EPA) for contamination of soil with uranium mill tailings include the requirements that the average Ra-226 concentrations over a 100-m/sup 2/ area should not exceed 5 pCi/g above background in the top cm of soil (40 CFR Part 192). The determination of compliance of a property with this portion of the EPA standard is often based on the Ra-226 concentration in one or two composite samples. When the decision is based on such a small sample size, the usual approach may falsely include or falsely exclude large numbers of properties for remedial action. This report illustrates how a preliminary determination of certain general statistical characteristics of the contamination may be most efficiently applied to reduce the number of erroneous decisions and associated costs concerning compliance with the EPA standard. Two points of decision are addressed: (1) whether a contaminated property should be included in a remedial action program and (2) whether a property that has undergone remedial action has been sufficiently decontaminated. The conclusions of this study apply generally (but perhaps not quantitatively) to determination of compliance with the EPA standard for Ra-226 in subsurface soil or that for radon daughters in air, for example, or with a great many regulatory limits for other contaminants. 4 refs., 7 figs., 5 tabs.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-84OR21400
- OSTI ID:
- 5900451
- Report Number(s):
- ORNL/TM-11172; ON: DE89016918
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
RADIOECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
STANDARDS
SOILS
CONTAMINATION
US EPA
DECISION MAKING
COMPLIANCE
DAUGHTER PRODUCTS
MILL TAILINGS
RADIUM 226
RADON 222
REGULATIONS
ALKALINE EARTH ISOTOPES
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CARBON 14 DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
HEAVY ION DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
HEAVY NUCLEI
ISOTOPES
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NUCLEI
RADIOISOTOPES
RADIUM ISOTOPES
RADON ISOTOPES
SOLID WASTES
TAILINGS
US ORGANIZATIONS
WASTES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
054000* - Nuclear Fuels- Health & Safety
052002 - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Disposal & Storage
053000 - Nuclear Fuels- Environmental Aspects