An inventory of long-lived radionuclides residual from underground nuclear testing at the Nevada test site, 1951–1992

Smith, David K.; Finnegan, David L.; Bowen, S.M.

doi:10.1016/s0265-931x(02)00146-7

Cited by 64 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…The Nevada Test Site and environs offer additional examples (Figure 1), most notably at the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, adjacent to NTS, as well as on the NTS proper, where approximately 2/3 of the 908 underground nuclear tests were conducted above the water table (USDOE, 1977). Many components of the residual radioactive inventory associated with these tests (e.g., Smith et al, 2003) can behave as mobile tracers indicative of water, gas phase, and particulate transport in the subsurface. Most of these tracers continue to be useful to this day, long after the testing program has ceased.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of Radionuclide Migration Through a 200-m Vadose Zone Following a 16-Year Infiltration Event

Tompson¹,

Smith²,

Hudson³

et al. 2002

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The CAMBRIC nuclear test was conducted beneath Frenchman Flat at the Nevada Test Site on May 14, 1965. The nuclear device was emplaced in heterogeneous alluvium, approximately 70 m beneath the ambient water table, which is itself 220 m beneath the ground surface. Approximately 10 years later, groundwater adjacent to the test was pumped steadily for 16 years to elicit information on the migration of residual radionuclide migration through the saturated zone. The pumping well effluent -containing mostly soluble radionuclides such as tritium, Ru -was monitored, discharged to an unlined ditch, and allowed to flow towards Frenchman Lake over one kilometer away. Discharged water and radionuclides infiltrated into the ground and created an unexpected second experiment in which the migration of the effluent through the unsaturated zone back to the water table could be studied. In this paper, the pumping and effluent data are being utilized in conjunction with a series of geologic data, new radionuclide measurements, isotopic age-dating estimates, and vadose zone flow and transport models to better understand the movement of radionuclides between the ditch and the water table. Measurements of radionuclide concentrations in water samples produced from a water table monitoring well 100 m away from the ditch indicate rising levels of tritium since 1993. The detection of tritium in the monitoring well occurs approximately 16 years after its initial discharge into the ditch. Modeling and tritium age dating have suggested 3 to 5 years of this 16-year transit time occurred solely in the vadose zone. They also suggest considerable recirculation of the pumping well discharge back into the original pumping well. Notably, there have been no observations of 14 C or 85 Kr at the water table, suggesting their preferential retention or volatilization during transit to the water table. Overall, the long term nature of the experiment, the variety of chemical measurements and isotopic interpretations, and their incorporation into a unified modeling analysis, have contributed to a unique perspective for interpreting radionuclide migration in a deep unsaturated system. 2

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of Radionuclide Migration Through a 200-m Vadose Zone Following a 16-Year Infiltration Event

Tompson¹,

Smith²,

Hudson³

et al. 2002

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show abstract

“…ICP-MS is a relatively powerful technique which has been extensively utilized to determine 99 Tc in environmental samples [18][19][20][21]75,88,[120][121][122]. Compared with β-counting, ICP-MS possesses evident advantages including short analytical time (usually several minutes per sample) and relatively high sensitivity.…”

Section: Inductively Coupled Plasma-mass Spectrometry (Icp-ms)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Determination of technetium-99 in environmental samples: A review

Shi

Hou

Roos

et al. 2012

Analytica Chimica Acta

107

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“…In general, RST data for individual tests are classified. With the exception of a few unclassified RST estimates at specific tests and related unclassified observations of radionuclides in water drawn from scattered wells at the NTS, the most complete unclassified source of radionuclide inventories for tests conducted at the NTS are the aggregate data tabulated in Bowen et al (2001) and Smith et al (2003). The Bowen report provides aggregate information on the abundance, or inventory, of 43 specific long-lived radioactive isotopes deemed pertinent to CAU studies (Table C.1).…”

Section: Rst Compositionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Appendix C: Hydrologic Source Term Screening and Distribution

Tompson¹,

Zavarin²

2012

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An inventory of long-lived radionuclides residual from underground nuclear testing at the Nevada test site, 1951–1992

Cited by 64 publications

References 9 publications

Analysis of Radionuclide Migration Through a 200-m Vadose Zone Following a 16-Year Infiltration Event

Analysis of Radionuclide Migration Through a 200-m Vadose Zone Following a 16-Year Infiltration Event

Determination of technetium-99 in environmental samples: A review

Appendix C: Hydrologic Source Term Screening and Distribution

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