Environmental Contamination from a Nuclear Reactor at the Nevada Test Site

Abstract

After the test of the Kiwi-A reactor on 1 July 1959, the environmental contamination from the effluent was assessed. The fallout pattern was very narrow and extended on an approximate bearing of 350 degrees from the test cell, Area 400, NTS. The maximum level of contamination (16.2 micronc/ft to the 2 at H + 12 hrs) was measured at approximately 1.5 miles. The total activity associated with the smaller Size fractions increased significantly, and there was a corresponding decrease in the activity of the larger size fractions with increase in distance from the test cell. The beta radiation decay slopes deviated appreciably more from the T to the -l.2 decay expression than previously observed slopes of fallout materials collected from weapons test activities. This variability indicated fractionation.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 1966
Accession Number
ADA383723

Entities

People

  • Firmin J. Berta
  • Harold M. Mork

Organizations

  • UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Contamination
  • Fission Product Activity
  • Fission Products
  • Fractionation
  • Gamma Decay
  • Gamma Rays
  • Materials
  • Measurement
  • Millipore Filters
  • Nuclear Medicine
  • Nuclear Reactors
  • Particle Size
  • Particles
  • Radiation
  • Radioactive Materials
  • Radioactivity
  • Solubility

Readers

  • Environmental Remediation and Restoration.
  • Mathematics or Statistics
  • Nuclear and Radiation Engineering.