Fallout Monitoring and Documentation
1.
Deposition
The two important features of deposition are the total
accumulated fallout and the fallout rate.
The measurement of fallout
rate requires collection over relatively short periods, usually on
the order of one month, and radiochemical measurement for Sr?9,
The
stainless steel open vessel or pot,when exposed continuously, collects
both dry fallout and material carried down by precipitation.
The
material carried down by individual rainfalls is also monitored to
obtain meteorological information as to the probable atmospheric
source of fallout.
Such short term collections may also be analyzed
for shorter-lived isotopes to estimate the approximate age of the
radioactive debris.
The radiochemical analysis of soils allows direct measurement
of fallout accumulated since the start of testing.