Environmental monitoring in the vicinity of the Savannah River Plant. Annual report, 1977

Technical Report · Sat Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1977

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/7208270· OSTI ID:7208270

The concentration of radioactivity added by the Savannah River Plant operations to the environs during 1977 was, for the most part, too small to be distinguished from natural background radiation and fallout from worldwide nuclear weapon tests. Beta activity in particulate air filters was about two times the 1976 level and was due entirely to global fallout. Tritium oxide in air at the plant perimeter was greater than in air at more distant locations; the average concentration at the plant perimeter (65 pCi/m/sup 3/) was 0.03% of the Concentration Guide (CG). Tritium, /sup 137/Cs, and /sup 90/Sr were the only radionuclides of plant origin detectable in Savannah River water by routine analyses. None of these had an average concentration exceeding 0.2% of the CG in river water sampled 8 mi downstream from the plant. The tritium concentration in river water immediately downstream of the plant (4.8 pCi/ml, including 0.5 pCi/ml background river contribution) represented the highest CG percentage (0.16) of the three radionuclides measured in river water. Special research programs using ultra-low-level techniques may detect trace quantities of other radionuclides of plant origin. Radioactive materials in river fish also continued very low (0.2 pCi/g /sup 137/Cs maximum). Annual analyses of plant perimeter soil samples 0-5 cm deep) showed deposition of /sup 137/Cs (52 mCi/km/sup 2/) and /sup 239/Pu (1.2 mCi/km/sup 2/) within the range normally found in global fallout. /sup 238/Pu in all soil samples was near the sensitivity of the analysis (approximately 0.1 mCi/km/sup 2/). For 1977, the calculated annual average dose from atmospheric releases of radioactive materials from SRP was 0.8 millirem (mrem) at the plant perimeter.

• Research Organization: Du Pont de Nemours (E.I.) and Co., Aiken, S.C. (USA). Savannah River Plant
• DOE Contract Number: EY-76-C-09-0001
• OSTI ID: 7208270
• Report Number(s): DPSPU-78-30-1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

500200 -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
500300* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
510300 -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
520200 -- Environment
Aquatic-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
520300 -- Environment
Aquatic-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- (1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
AIR
ALKALI METAL ISOTOPES
ALKALINE EARTH ISOTOPES
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CESIUM 137
CESIUM ISOTOPES
CHEMICAL EFFLUENTS
DOSES
DRINKING WATER
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
FLUIDS
GASES
HAZARDS
HEALTH HAZARDS
HEAVY NUCLEI
HUMAN POPULATIONS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROGEN ISOTOPES
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
MANAGEMENT
MASS TRANSFER
MONITORING
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PLUTONIUM 239
PLUTONIUM ISOTOPES
POPULATIONS
RADIATION DOSES
RADIATION MONITORING
RADIOACTIVE EFFLUENTS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RADIOACTIVITY
RADIOISOTOPES
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
SAMPLING
SAVANNAH RIVER PLANT
SOILS
STRONTIUM 90
STRONTIUM ISOTOPES
SURFACE AIR
SURFACE WATERS
TRITIUM
US AEC
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES
WATER
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES