Iodine-129 in forage and deer on the Hanford site and other Pacific Northwest locations
Samples of surface soil, litter, forage, and deer (rumen content, muscle, liver, and thyroid gland) were collected from Bend, Oregon; Centralia, Washington; Wenatchee, Washington; the Wooten Game Range near Dayton, Washington; and on or near the Hanford Site, Richland, Washington. The concentrations of /sup 129/I and /sup 127/I were determined using neturon activation techniques. The purpose of the study was to establish the current levels of /sup 129/I in the environs of the Hanford Site prior to the proposed restart of fuel reprocessing at the PUREX plant. The results of this study clearly demonstrated the longevity of /sup 129/I in the biosphere following gaseous release from a nuclear facility. Analyses of thyroid glands showed that deer living within 160 km (Wooten Game Range) of Hanford had elevated levels of /sup 129/I when compared to the more distant Pacific Northwest locations (Centralia, or Bend). Levels of /sup 129/I in deer thyroid from Bend, or Centralia, (15 fCi/g wet weight), were about five times higher than values reported for the central United States, while, Hanford samples were about 2,700 times higher. The average concentration of /sup 129/I in deer thyroids collected at Hanford in 1978 was similar to samples collected 14 years earlier. The concentrations of /sup 129/I in soil, litter, forage, and other deer samples generally decrease in the order: Hanford > Wooten > Wenatchee > Centralia approx. = Bend. This corresponds to an increase in distance from the Hanford Site.
- Research Organization:
- Battelle Pacific Northwest Labs., Richland, WA (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC06-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 6640419
- Report Number(s):
- PNL-3357; TRN: 81-004925
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
HANFORD RESERVATION
CONTAMINATION
IODINE 127
RADIOECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
IODINE 129
ACTIVATION ANALYSIS
DEER
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FORAGE
FOREST LITTER
GASEOUS WASTES
NEUTRONS
SOILS
WASHINGTON
ANIMAL FEEDS
ANIMALS
BARYONS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
DATA
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
FERMIONS
FOOD
HADRONS
INFORMATION
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
INTERNAL CONVERSION RADIOISOTOPES
IODINE ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
MAMMALS
MATERIALS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NORTH AMERICA
NUCLEI
NUCLEONS
NUMERICAL DATA
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
PACIFIC NORTHWEST REGION
PLANTS
RADIOISOTOPES
RUMINANTS
STABLE ISOTOPES
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
USA
VERTEBRATES
WASTES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
510302* - Environment
Terrestrial- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport- Terrestrial Ecosystems & Food Chains- (-1987)