least two pathways from

238

U,via production from

‘-ourity in 2398p device materials.

235

U, or as an unburned

It is also produced as a decay product

.
eg
5
25
2
24
of short-lived transamericium isotopes, 254 NG 250e, Fm, $46c¢,
cf een,
The isotcpic compe-ftian of some plutonium fuels can be found in Keller
(op.cit.), and Poet and Martel] (1972).

are commonly reported together (e.g.

The concentrations of 239 Pu and 240 Pu

2394240

Pu) since alpha spectroscopy

measurements cannot distinguish between their energies.

Plutonium-238 is the

next most commonly reported alpha-emitting plutonium isotope in fallout.
2394240,

The

238
.
Pu:"~"
Pu activity ratio measured in samples which have accumulated the

isotioe from fallout is about 20:1 (Noshkin, 1972).
3.2

Introduction of Radioactivity in Fallout
The composition, structures and origins of radioactive fallout

particles produced in the nuclear testing program at the Pacific proving

ground were investigated by Schell (1959) and Adams, Fairlow and Schell (1960).
The formation of fallout particles were then, and have since been, shown to
be governed by the interactions of the condensing vaporized device and soil
materials in the cooling fireball and by entrainment and/or impaction pro-

cesses with non-vaporized materials swept into the fireball at later times.
Because of their extreme dilution, the individual radioactive
elements are never concentrated sufficiently to condense as
individual metal or oxide particles but only condense on to
the particles which are being formed by the major vaporized

constituents and by the soil materials (Adams et al.,op.cit.).
A sianificant effort has been directed toward describing the fractionation
of radionuclides following nuclear explosions.

Quantitatively, fractiona-

tion of volatile and refractory radioelements was first demonstrated by

Freiling (1962).

Heft (1970) reported:

For land Surface and subsurface detonations, the (particle
size] distribution functions may be expressed as linear

combinations of two or three log-normal distribution
functions.

Each component corresponds to a particle group

Select target paragraph3