Estimated Inventory of 239- 240py for Vegetation
in Activity Strata of Aged Fallout Areas ar NTS
(Romney et al. 1976). Higher numbered activity strata
are nearer ground zero.
Table 1.
~
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ny
a Olen
woman
Ssss|s
am old
moo elS
zine ole
easels
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Sess
Ssa|s
esses
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+i ti aif
+1 o4t 4il 44
+1 4b +1 tif at
+hoet aL al ot
a
WA Ol
°
oscoals
%
>
and Lloyd (1974, 1975} in the Rocky Flat area gave resuspension factors
~
a
ana
.
5
S
which are occasionally very strong and gusty.
Environmental surviellance
data strongly indicate that the movement of contaminated soil particles
by wind was a major force causing the original dispersion of plutonium
5
The initial source of most of the outlying contamination
at Rocky Flats
was from leakage of cutting oil containing plutonium.
Subsequent
Ta
te
5 >
ele
soa
m
A}-a
oe
mayen
we o/s
on
°
io
ed
aa
$6a/6
gx
see
> 4
e a
2 &
d
o
a
al
oss
uo
3 S 3
+
a3
AN ddale
into several ecosystem compartments within study plots.
a
some 96
to 98 percent
of
Data indicate
the plutontum fn the ecosystem is associated
OBR
x
ot
unit mass in the grasses (Whicker 1973; Little 1976).
rt tte ee a Se —_——— -—- “e
soo
3
i
2
Healy (1974) completed a noble task of synthesizing into a Stgnitican
ipnifi
t
eas
CLSR
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.
+OocOo
Oo -t
cA
O38 3
8 OFA
OOAR
oe
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ae
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ry
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a
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at
73
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ee
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3
*
f€nvironmental studies at Rocky Flats by the
group at Colorado State University have shown some movement of plutonium
°
"
“
a
®
NnNoo
ass a
Hh +l th 4
nn
a
ve at
and larger sot] grains.
+
&
Tf
a
c
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v
oe
can
sow
ttt dH
269g
a]
+
het
source to suspendable material led to the concept that the resuspendable
"hot" particles are agglomerates of small plutonium-containing particles
3
ge
5
studies by Nathans and Holland (1971) of the transformation from this
toy OD
aN
+1 ti 41 41
coef Pe na
e5
es
mi
=
aot
n S S8
|
~
.
The Rocky Flats area 1s subject to winds
from a barrel storage area (Krey and Hardy 1970; Whicker etal. 1973).
5
es
nea
Results from
Additional measurements by Sehmel and Orgiil (1973) and Sehmel
ranging from 10-9 to 1075 m-l.
@
a
iM
——
+vO
+H +1
a fa
ze
!
PS
8
a z
wWoetm [Mm
(Volchok 1971,
4
Om ~r
nee
aes
1972),
5 pm.
-
3
NORA|S
mean diameter of about 10 um
es
—_
="
po
*
.
Sonen
ST roy
Size distribution stu
cyclone and elutricator samples indicated median diameters of about
&
o
fine soil particles from the soil surface.
of all suspended particles containing plutonium indicated a geometric
eseage|s ~
“soy
"Teale
)
cm
x
vee
Waist
aren
+ th +h
6
wanes
HAN MO
asarse
Am Ol-s
FSIS
4
ta
aa
ot
Sars
vas
1S
sooty
RS SR
ope
~~
AatlR
on
5
stots
——
soy
+
aesa|s
eesss
a2aqce
Am
3/3
& td
0 8 Sin
14
.
2
—_
*
4}
aL
2 0 9 SIs
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ee
&
coe
assis
esooe
3
ls
HH
a AIS
a
r
Studies of airborne particulates around a contaminated area at the |
Rocky Flats Plant yielded an average resuspension factor of orn
during an 8-month sampling period. This factor was near 1079
m
for
particulate material collected upon sticky paper exposed to suspenea e
°.
*
n
tx 23
wos
~
Op
Esr
aa
“ed
~
~
#
+
aA
5
species,
Data
APS,
are piven and
literature cited which show resuspension factors
ranging from 10-10 to 10-4 ml for arid or semiarid environments,
The
higher values represent more unstable, cutdoor conditions,
Langham
(1969) used a value of 10-6 m-! in assessing limits for a weapons
accident of the type simulated by the safety tests in which plutonfum
was dispersed at NTS.
A continuing study of resuspension at NTS test
*
Bases Bag e ye — §
“| *
4 onanenal
4 aaee)
Ss
4 eee
6 9
mo RP
~ p
a
4
q
5
aT
an
os
%
ea
‘
name
& mass
aman a
Sl
asea
u
oa
%
w
“.
Hw
w
oe
WD
ae
=
nw
w
o
Oo &
o
o
eB
oe 2
Be 2
ela .o
290
the greater surface area per
treatise some of the early air sampling data obtained during the safety
es
Sd
mn
*nN
a oe
£
again probably as the result of
shots at NTS, where plutonium was dispersed by chemical explosives.
~
S5,. 5)
exa %
da
=
Eat
vegetation and small mammals are generally less than 1 percent.
Findings indicate that most of the plutonium present in vegetation
samples is superficial contamination resulting from the attachment
of particles to biological surfaces. There is also some indication
that grass species have higher concentration of plutonium than other
2
=
woo
About 1 to 3 percent appears to be
assoctfated with root and Litter samples, while the amounts in standing
tt
og
m
3
E
with the 0-3 em depth of soil.
a
ee
a
“Tt
440 41 41
mal
m
oo BE
fsi
a2
|
areas {s underway by elements of the Nevada Applied Ecology Group
(Anspaugh et_al. 1974, 1974a, 1974b, 1974c, 1975).
Resuspension
'
factor
values calculated from recent experiments now fa ll within the
range of 10-11 to 1079 m-l compared to values of 10-10 to 10-6 m-l
measured about 20 years apo at some NTS
T. sites.
Most oa f the total mass
of suspendable material is found between diameters of 0.7 ym and 1S um
(Bretthauer et al. 1974; Shinn and Anspaugh 1975}.
Sttrdies by Tamura
(1974, 1975, 1976), have shown that from 50 to 75 percent of the plutonium
in soil
samples
collected
from an aged fallout area at NTS is predominantly
.
291