Characterization of an aerosol sample from Three Mile Island Reactor auxiliary building

The accident which occurred at the Three Mile Island Unit Two Nuclear Generating Plant on March 28, 1979 resulted in contamination of the containment and auxiliary buildings. Analyses were performed for: (1) radioisotopic composition and (2) dissolution characteristics of material collected on a filter during a week of continuous air sampling in the auxiliary building. This work was done to help characterize the environment in which cleanup operations are being performed. Gamma and alpha spectroscopy along with scanning electron microscopy were employed to determine the elemental and isotopic composition of the aerosol. The major radioisotopes found on the filter were 89Sr, 90Sr, 134Cs and 137Cs. Dissolution behavior of the aerosol in a synthetic serum ultrafiltrate containing DTPA was determined using both static and flow-through systems