Special EPA samples included:

1.

Collection of a 5- to 10-cm sample using the 10- by 10- by 5-~cm-deep
scoop to take a sample from the vertical wall of the hole. Since
these samples were being taken only to determine the relative
contamination below 5 cm for each site, five subsamples were not

taken at each site.

2.

3.

Five 15-subsample top l-cm samples were taken from Plot No. 21 of
Site I (i.e., I-21).
These samples were collected to obtain an
indication of the variation between the results of five samples
from a 2- by 2-m plot versus samples from the larger 12- by 14-m
site.
The five 10- by 10-cm subsamples for a single 5-cm composite sample

were kept separate for plots I-1 and III-14 (i.e., Site I, Plot 1,

etc.).
An aliquot from each of the subsamples was taken for analysis
prior to compositing the subsamples and taking the primary sample
aliquot.
This was done to obtain information on the variability of
single 10- by 10-cm subsamples versus composites based on five such
samples,

SAMPLE PREPARATION AND ANALYSIS

The samples were dried (24 hours or until constant weight) in an oven at

110° c. and then mixed and broken up by autogenous milling (on rollers
in a paint can without steel balls) for several hours in cans.

The

samples were then dry-sieved through a 10-mesh screen (2 mm). A 10-g
aliquot was then taken by coning and quartering for plutonium-239 anal-

ysis.
A 100-ml aliquot was taken from selected samples for cesium-137
analysis.

The samples were analyzed by the Environmental Monitoring and Support

Laboratory-Las Vegas, Methods Development and Analytical Support Laboratory.
All samples were analyzed for plutonium-239* by the acid dissolution technique, with plutonium separation by ion-exchange from a hydro-

chloric acid medium (Johns et al., in press). The cesium-137 results
were obtained by gamma spectroscopy on both sodium iodide and GeLi

systems.
Results are reported as less than an indicated value when the
2~sigma counting error was equal to or greater than the indicated value.
The less-than values have been assumed to be equal to the indicated
value for purposes of data evaluation.

*References to plutonium-239 include plutonium-240.

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