Field Evaluation of the Explosive Deposition of Cesium on Concrete Surfaces Following the Detonation of a Mock Radiological Dispersal Device (RDD)
Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory conducted a field study to evaluate the deposition of an explosively dispersed radionuclide surrogate (CsCl) on grime and non-grime containing urban surfaces. An additional objective of this study was to evaluate several laboratory surface contamination techniques for the preparation of mock urban surfaces in order to determine the method that most closely mimics surface contamination following an RDD event. The field study was conducted at the LLNL Site 300 Contained Firing Facility (CFF). For our study, we detonated a mock RDD made using C4 and non-radioactive CsCl. Lab prepared concrete samples (3.8 cm x 7.6 cm cylinders) were made using 4 different conditioning regimes to mimic a range of conditions that may be encountered during an RDD event. This sample set included dry, wet, carbonated and non-carbonated cores with and without the application of urban grime. In addition, concreted samples (13 cm x 13 cm x 5 cm) removed from an urban surface were placed inside the CFF chamber. The samples were placed inside the firing chamber at 3 different distances from the mock RDD device. Following the detonation of the mock RDD, the samples were removed from the firing chamber and selected cores were characterized by laser ablation and scanning electron microscopy. Preliminary results suggest that Cs migrates into the concrete samples and the presence of a grime layer does not appear to impede this migration.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 902267
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-PROC-226374; TRN: US0702821
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Presented at: Waste Management '07, Tuscon, AZ, United States, Feb 26 - Mar 02, 2007
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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