Radiological results for samples collected on paired glass- and cellulose-fiber filters at the Sandia complex, Tonopah Test Range, Nevada
- Desert Research Inst. (DRI), Las Vegas, NV (United States)
Airborne particulates are collected at U.S. Department of Energy sites that exhibit radiological contamination on the soil surface to help assess the potential for wind to transport radionuclides from the contamination sites. Collecting these samples was originally accomplished by drawing air through a cellulose-fiber filter. These filters were replaced with glass-fiber filters in March 2011. Airborne particulates were collected side by side on the two filter materials between May 2013 and May 2014. Comparisons of the sample mass and the radioactivity determinations for the side-by-side samples were undertaken to determine if the change in the filter medium produced significant results. The differences in the results obtained using the two filter types were assessed visually by evaluating the time series and correlation plots and statistically by conducting a nonparametric matched-pair sign test. Generally, the glass-fiber filters collect larger samples of particulates and produce higher radioactivity values for the gross alpha, gross beta, and gamma spectroscopy analyses. However, the correlation between the radioanalytical results for the glass-fiber filters and the cellulose-fiber filters was not strong enough to generate a linear regression function to estimate the glass-fiber filter sample results from the cellulose-fiber filter sample results.
- Research Organization:
- Nevada University, Reno, NV (United States). Desert Research Institute
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- NA0000939
- OSTI ID:
- 1242391
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/DRI-45265; DOE/NV/0000939-29; TRN: US1600912
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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