Radiological surveys of deer harvests on the Oak Ridge Reservation

Conference · Fri Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1990 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (USA)

OSTI ID:6154653

Eldridge, J S ^[1]

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1. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, TN (USA)

A rapidly increasing number of deer/vehicle collisions on the Oak Ridge Reservation and contiguous lands resulted in the need for an aggressive method of reducing the deer population. Managed hunts on the reservation was the method chosen for this reduction, and the Oak Ridge Wildlife Management Area was established in November 1984. Because of possible radiological contamination of the deer herd from the three major nuclear installations on the reservation, a rigorous radiological survey of all harvested deer was deemed necessary to ensure that successful hunters or their families would not be exposed to excess radiation dose from the consumption of venison from the managed hunts. Data collected from previous vehicle-killed deer showed the possibility of contamination from {sup 137}Cs, {sup 90}Sr, {sup 60}Co, and {sup 75}Se. Methodology for {sup 90}Sr screening at a 0.25-mSv commitment required special considerations for field analysis since {sup 90}Sr decays by beta emission. A versatile data-base program was established with a personal computer system to handle the copious data related to both radiological and biological parameters collected during the harvest. The field screen values were verified by subsequent laboratory analyses utilizing Cerenkov counting. These verification analyses proved the utility of the field methodology for {sup 90}Sr detection in deer bones at the 1 Bq/g screening level.

• OSTI ID: 6154653
• Report Number(s): CONF-900608--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (USA) Journal Volume: 61
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

054000 -- Nuclear Fuels-- Health & Safety
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540230* -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES
ALKALI METAL ISOTOPES
ALKALINE EARTH ISOTOPES
ANIMAL TISSUES
ANIMALS
AUTOMOBILES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BODY
BONE TISSUES
CESIUM 137
CESIUM ISOTOPES
CHERENKOV COUNTING
COBALT 60
COBALT ISOTOPES
COLLISIONS
CONNECTIVE TISSUE
COUNTING TECHNIQUES
DATA BASE MANAGEMENT
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
DEER
DOSES
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ELECTRON CAPTURE RADIOISOTOPES
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
INGESTION
INTAKE
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
INTERNAL CONVERSION RADIOISOTOPES
INTERNAL IRRADIATION
IRRADIATION
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
MAMMALS
MANAGEMENT
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MINUTES LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NUCLEI
OAK RIDGE RESERVATION
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
ODD-ODD NUCLEI
PLASTIC SCINTILLATION DETECTORS
POPULATION DYNAMICS
PROPERTY MANAGEMENT
QUALITY ASSURANCE
RADIATION DETECTORS
RADIATION DOSES
RADIATION PROTECTION
RADIOECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
RADIOISOTOPES
RADIONUCLIDE KINETICS
RETENTION
RUMINANTS
SCINTILLATION COUNTERS
SELENIUM 75
SELENIUM ISOTOPES
SENSITIVITY
SOLID SCINTILLATION DETECTORS
STRONTIUM 90
STRONTIUM ISOTOPES
SURVEYS
THRESHOLD DOSE
TISSUES
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
VEHICLES
VERTEBRATES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOT
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES