RELATED PROJECTS
Basin Studies
Soil from a drainage basin located approximately 11 km southeast of
Frenchman Flat,
NTS,
an area of known plutonium contamination, was
sampled as a preliminary phase of a project tc investigate movement of
plutonium with surface water drainage.
are shown in Fig.
2.
The sampling pattern and results
These results do not show movement or concentra-
tion of plutonium within the basin.
Fortymile Canyon Study
The Fortymile Canyon Study was initiated to investigate the possibility
that radioactivity deposited on the NTS might be carried to the offsite area by surface runoff.
Two water and sediment collectors have
been emplaced in the wash of Fortymile Canyon, which drains a large
portion of the western NTS.
Due to the lack of sufficient rainfall, no
water or sediment samples have been collected.
completed in October,
March,
1975.
Soil sampling was
1974, and sample analyses were completed in
Results from these samples show no definitive patterns of
radionuclide movement or concentration as a result of hydraulic transport.
All samples were analyzed by NaI(Tl) gamma counting and selected
samples were analyzed by Ge(Li) counting.
Neither method detected
gamma emitters other than background levels of 1376 and 40,
sampling array and plutonium results are shown in Fig. 3.
The
The sediment
collectors will remain in place until samples can be collected and
analyzed.
Vegetable and Fruit Sampling Study
Concurrently with the above studies,
the radionuclide content of
fruits and vegetables grown in home orchards and gardens near the NTS
was investigated.
No detectable quantities of plutonium were found in
vegetable material collected near the NTS;
however,
239 Pu concentrations
possibly as great as 24 pCi/kg wet weight were detected in some samples
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