Surveillance of Site A and Plot M
The results of the environmental surveillance program conducted at Site A/Plot M in the Palos Forest Preserve area for CY 1992 are presented. The surveillance program is the ongoing remedial action that resulted from the 1976--1978 radiological characterization of the site. That study determined that very low levels of hydrogen-3 (as tritiated water) had migrated from the burial ground and were present in two nearby hand-pumped picnic wells. The current program consists of sample collection and analysis of air, surface and subsurface water, and bottom sediment. The results of the analyses are used to (1) determine the migration pathway of water from the burial ground (Plot M) to the hand-pumped picnic wells, (2) establish if buried radionuclides other than hydrogen-3 have migrated, and (3) generally characterize the radiological environment of the area. Hydrogen-3 in the Red Gate Woods picnic wells was still detected this year, but the average and maximum concentrations were significantly less than found earlier. Tritiated water continues to be detected in a number of wells, boreholes, dolomite holes, and a surface stream. For many years it was the only radionuclide found to have migrated in measurable quantities. Analyses since 1984 have indicated the presence of low levels of strontium-90 in water from a number of boreholes next to Plot M. The available data does not allow a firm conclusion as to whether the presence of this nuclide represents recent migration or movement that may have occurred before Plot M was capped. The results of the surveillance program continue to indicate that the radioactivity remaining at Site A/Plot M does not endanger the health or safety of the public visiting the site, using the picnic area, or living in the vicinity.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-31109-ENG-38
- OSTI ID:
- 6291408
- Report Number(s):
- ANL-93/4; ON: DE93016339
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Surveillance of Site A and Plot M report for 1995
Surveillance of Site A and Plot M. Report for 1996
Related Subjects
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
ANL
REMEDIAL ACTION
GROUND WATER
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
SOILS
TRITIUM
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
BOREHOLES
DOLOMITE
MANHATTAN PROJECT
RADIATION MONITORING
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
SITE CHARACTERIZATION
STRONTIUM 90
UNDERGROUND DISPOSAL
WATER WELLS
ALKALINE EARTH ISOTOPES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CARBONATE MINERALS
CAVITIES
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROGEN ISOTOPES
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
MANAGEMENT
MASS TRANSFER
MINERALS
MONITORING
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
RADIOISOTOPES
STRONTIUM ISOTOPES
US AEC
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WATER
WELLS
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
540250* - Environment
Terrestrial- Site Resource & Use Studies- (1990-)
052002 - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Disposal & Storage