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Daniels, J.I.; Andricevic, R.; Jacobson, R.L.
Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States). Funding organisation: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)1993
Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States). Funding organisation: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)1993
AbstractAbstract
[en] The Nevada Test Site (NTS) is located in southwestern Nevada, about 105 km (65 mi) northwest of the city of Las Vegas. A series of tests was conducted in the late 1950s and early 1960s at or near the NTS to study issues involving plutonium-bearing devices. These tests resulted in the dispersal of about 5 TBq of 239,24OPu on the surficial soils at the test locations. Additionally, underground tests of nuclear weapons devices have been conducted at the NTS since late 1962; ground water beneath the NTS has been contaminated with radionuclides produced by these tests. These two important problems have been selected for assessment. Regarding the plutonium contamination, because the residual 239Pu decays slowly (half-life of 24,110 y), these sites could represent a long-term hazard if they are not remediated and if institutional controls are lost. To investigate the magnitude of the potential health risks for this no-remediation case, three basic exposure scenarios were defined that could bring individuals in contact with 239,24OPu at the sites: (1) a resident living in a subdivision, (2) a resident farmer, and (3) a worker at a commercial facility -- all located at a test site. The predicted cancer risks for the resident farmer were more than a factor of three times higher than the suburban resident at the median risk level, and about a factor of ten greater than the reference worker at a commercial facility. At 100 y from the present, the 5, 50, and 95th percentile risks for the resident farmer at the most contaminated site were 4 x 10-6, 6 x 10-5, and 5 x 10-4, respectively. For the assessment of Pu in surface soil, the principal sources of uncertainty in the estimated risks were population mobility, the relationship between indoor and outdoor contaminant levels, and the dose and risk factors for bone, liver, and lung
Primary Subject
Source
Jun 1993; 104 p; CONTRACT W-7405-ENG-48; OSTI as DE93016333; NTIS; INIS; US Govt. Printing Office Dep.
Record Type
Report
Report Number
Country of publication
ACTINIDES, BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES, BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES, ELEMENTS, ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT, EXPLOSIONS, HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS, HYDROGEN ISOTOPES, ISOTOPES, LIGHT NUCLEI, MASS TRANSFER, MEDICINE, METALS, NUCLEI, ODD-EVEN NUCLEI, OXYGEN COMPOUNDS, PATHOGENESIS, POPULATIONS, PREVENTIVE MEDICINE, RADIOISOTOPES, TRANSURANIUM ELEMENTS, WATER, YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
Reference NumberReference Number
INIS VolumeINIS Volume
INIS IssueINIS Issue