Johnston Atoll cleanup - accurate monitoring for actinides

A recent cleanup of actinide contamination was conducted at a site on Johnston Island in the Pacific Ocean. Extensive effort was necessary to quantify specific nuclide concentrations and to determine the total actinide levels as required for shipment to a burial site. Initial monitoring of site debris was made with a FIDLER probe connected to a log-linear rate meter to roughly determine the host spots. Counting was then done for quantitative actinide levels via a high intrinsic Germanium detector combined with a multichannel analyzer. Isotopic analysis and actinide levels were then determined by feeding MCA data into a computer. This report reviews the approaches to some of the unique challenges encountered in this cleanup effort