Radioactivity contamination

These systems have been operated in extremely low quality (and radioactivity contaminated) industrial environments for the past several years without any major equipment or component failures. Utilizing specialized operating/warm-up procedures, they have operated in low grade, out-of-doors, dust ridden, rain-soaked, industrial environments at temperature ranges which greatly exceed the original equipment manufacturers (OEM) specified limits. The systems have been successfully operated at ambient temperatures of minus 10 to plus 103 degrees Fahrenheit without any pre-mature or un-anticipated equipment failures. 

For the naturally occurring elements, many new artificial isotopes have been made, and these are radioactive. Although these new isotopes can be measured in a mass spectrometer, this process could lead to unacceptable radioactive contamination of the instrument. This practical consideration needs to be considered carefully before using mass spectrometers for radioactive isotope analysis. 

Plant and animal life are monitored regularly at such faciHties. On the other hand, the potential, however small, of radioactive contamination of the environment in case of a reactor accident in which containment is breached does exist. 

Fig. 6. Impurity flow paths of BWR radioactive contamination (24). RWCU = reactor water cleanup system.

Low Level Waste Treatment. Methods of treatment for radioactive wastes produced in a nuclear power plant include (/) evaporation (qv) of cooling water to yield radioactive sludges, (2) filtration (qv) using ion-exchange (qv) resins, (J) incineration with the release of combustion gases through filters while retaining the radioactively contaminated ashes (see Incinerators), (4) compaction by presses, and (5) solidification in cement (qv) or asphalt (qv) within metal containers. 

The Shallow land Burial ofEow-Eevel Radioactively Contaminated Solid Waste, Committee on Radioactive Waste Management, National Academy of Sciences, Washiagton, D.C., 1976. 

The accident at the Three Mile Island (TMI) plant in Pennsylvania in 1979 led to many safety and environmental improvements (4—6). No harm from radiation resulted to TMI workers, to the pubHc, or to the environment (7,8), although the accident caused the loss of a 2 x 10 investment. The accident at the Chernobyl plant in the Ukraine in 1986, on the other hand, caused the deaths of 31 workers from high doses of radiation, increased the chance of cancer later in life for thousands of people, and led to radioactive contamination of large areas. This latter accident was unique to Soviet-sponsored nuclear power. The Soviet-designed Chemobyl-type reactors did not have the intrinsic protection against a mnaway power excursion that is requited in the test of the world, not was there a containment building (9—11). 

The primary issue is to prevent groundwater from becoming radioactively contaminated. Thus, the property of concern of the long-lived radioactive species is their solubility in water. The long-lived actinides such as plutonium are metallic and insoluble even if water were to penetrate into the repository. Certain fission-product isotopes such as iodine-129 and technicium-99 are soluble, however, and therefore represent the principal although very low level hazard. Studies of Yucca Mountain, Nevada, tentatively chosen as the site for the spent fuel and high level waste repository, are underway (44). 

Deactivation and D D actions can range from stabilization of multiple hazards at a single site or facilities containing chemical or radioactive contamination, or both, to routine asbestos and lead abatement in a nonindustrial structure. Strategies include programs that meet compliance objectives, protect workers, and make certain that productivity and cost-effectiveness are maintained. The content and extent of health and safety-related programs should be proportionate to the types and degrees of hazards and risks associated with specific operations. 

We do not attempt to discuss in depth decontamination methods for radiological wastes. A health physicist should be immediately available to assist with decontamination of radioactively contaminated personnel or equipment. 

Specialized usage - sterile conditions, radioactive contamination ... 

Biotic Transport Biotic transport can be defined as the actions of plants and animals that result in the transport of a radioactive material or other substance from a waste site to locations where it can enter pathways that may result in exposure to humans. Small mammals are ubiquitous and inhabit areas containing radioactive contamination or radioactive waste sites. Mammals inhabiting these areas may become contaminated with americium by consuming contaminated soil or plants and disturb americium-contaminated soil through their burrowing and excavating activities. These animals may therefore affect the distribution of americium within the waste site or transport americium to previously uncontaminated areas. In addition, small mammals may be consumed by animals higher in the food chain such as hawks and coyotes, which would add to the dispersal of americium from disposal areas. However, results of... 

FDA. 1998. Accidental radioactive contamination of human food and animal feed Recommendations for state and local agencies. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 

NRC. 1992. Residual radioactive contamination form decommissioning Technical basis for translating contamination levels to annual total effective dose equivalent. Washington, DC Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. NUREG/CR-5512. 

Hirano, S., Koyanagi, T. and Saiki, M. (1973). The physico-chemical behaviour of radioactive cerium in seawater, page 47 in Radioactive Contamination of the Marine Environment, IAEA Publication No. STI/PUB/313 (International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna). 

All the materials used to build the experiment (detectors, cryostat, shielding) are materials with a low radioactive contamination. 

Once machined, all the copper and teflon pieces will undergo a surface cleaning procedure that will guarantee the required low level of surface radioactive contamination for those parts that directly face the detectors. 

Radioactive contaminations of individual construction materials, as well as the laboratory environment, were measured and the impact on detector performance was determined by Monte Carlo computations [83], The background sources which were considered are ... 

Piro A, Bernhard M, Branica M, Verzi M (1972) Radioactive contamination of the marine environment. Symposium proceedings, Seattle, WA, USA. IAEA Edition, Vienna, pp 287-304... 

Van As, D., H.O. Fourie, and C.M. Vlegaar. 1973. Accumulation of certain trace elements in the marine organisms from the sea around the Cape of Good Hope. Pages 615-624 in Radioactive Contamination of the Marine Environment. Int. Atom. Ener. Agen. (Vienna). 

Bai, D.H. 1969. Radioactive contamination of the atmosphere, soils, and agricultural products in Korea, 1961-1966. Pages 587-596 in D.J. Nelson and F.C. Evans (eds.). Symposium on Radioecology. Proceedings of the Second National Symposium. Available as CONF-670503 from the Clearinghouse for Federal Scientific and Technical Information, National Bureau of Standards, Springfield, VA 22151. 

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