Plutonium, americium, and uranium in blow-sand mounds of safety-shot sites at the Nevada Test Site and the Tonopah Test Range

Conference · Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1977

OSTI ID:5048447

Essington, E H; Gilbert, R O; Wireman, D L; Brady, D N; Fowler, E B

Blow-sand mounds or miniature sand dunes and mounds created by burrowing activities of animals were investigated by the Nevada Applied Ecology Group (NAEG) to determine the influence of mounds on plutonium, americium, and uranium distributions and inventories in areas of the Nevada Test Site and Tonopah Test Range. Those radioactive elements were added to the environment as a result of safety experiments of nuclear devices. Two studies were conducted. The first was to estimate the vertical distribution of americium in the blow-sand mounds and in the desert pavement surrounding the mounds. The second was to estimate the amount or concentration of the radioactive materials accumulated in the mound relative to the desert pavement. Five mound types were identified in which plutonium, americium, and uranium concentrations were measured: grass, shrub, complex, animal, and diffuse. The mount top (that portion above the surrounding land surface datum), the mound bottom (that portion below the mound to a depth of 5 cm below the surrounding land surface datum), and soil from the immediate area surrounding the mound were compared separately to determine if the radioactive elements had concentrated in the mounds. Results of the studies indicate that the mounds exhibit higher concentrations of plutonium, americium, and uranium than the immediate surrounding soil. The type of mound does not appear to have influenced the amount of the radioactive material found in the mound except for the animal mounds where the burrowing activities appear to have obliterated distribution patterns.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 5048447
• Report Number(s): LA-UR-78-645; CONF-770369-2; TRN: 78-009948
• Resource Relation: Conference: NAEG Pu program report meeting, Las Vegas, NV, USA, 2 Mar 1977; Other Information: Portions of document are illegible
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AMERICIUM
RADIOECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ANIMALS
CONTAMINATION
DESERTS
GRASS
NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
PLANTS
PLUTONIUM
SHRUBS
SOILS
URANIUM
BEHAVIOR
DISTRIBUTION
MAMMALS
NEVADA TEST SITE
SAND
ACTINIDES
ARID LANDS
BIOMASS
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SOURCES
EXPLOSIONS
METALS
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
TRANSPLUTONIUM ELEMENTS
TRANSURANIUM ELEMENTS
VERTEBRATES
510300* - Environment
Terrestrial- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport- (-1989)