Offsite environmental monitoring report. Radiation monitoring around United States nuclear test areas, calendar year 1983

This report covers the routine radiation monitoring activities conducted by the Environmental Monitoring Systems Laboratory-Las Vegas in areas which may be affected by nuclear testing programs of the Department of Energy. This monitoring is conducted to document compliance with standards, to identify trends in environmental radiation, and to provide such information to the public. It summarizes these activities for calendar year 1983. No radioactivity attributable to NTS activities was detectable offsite by the monitoring networks. Using recorded wind data and Pasquill stability categories, atmospheric dispersion calculations based on reported radionuclide releases yield an estimated dose of 5 x 10-5 man-rem to the population within 80 km of the Nevada Test Site during 1983. World-wide fallout of Kr-85, Sr-90, Cs-137, and Pu-239 detected by the monitoring networks would cause maximum exposure to an individual of less than 0.2 mrem per year. Plutonium and krypton in air were similar to 1982 levels while cesium and strontium in other samples were near the detection limits. An occasional net exposure to offsite residents has been detected by the TLD network. On investigation, the cause of such net exposures has been due to personal habits or occupational activities, not to NTS activities. 29 references, 35 figures, 30 tables