atomics international canoga park, california...sv-yc ventura blvd. at cornell corners (ag ;u_ a )...
TRANSCRIPT
ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING REPOR T
APRIL 1, 1960, to JUNE 30, 196 0
ATOMICS INTERNATIONAL
CANOGA PARK, CALIFORNIA
SE1 MARY
The e nvirons of Atomics International World Eeadauarters and
Nuclear Development Field Lab oratory near Los Angeles , California are
periodically surveyed to determine the radioactivity o ; typical surface
soil, vegetation , and water same .es . In addition , cc ntirucus air
samples taken at to above sites provide information concerning air-
borne particulate radioactivity . This report s~ rarizes the enviror_-
rvr. t al Bo tL ~ea= ring resultsc~ for the_ second quarter of l9aC' .
Soil and vegetation are sampled monthly at fcrty -two locations .
Ten of these are within the boundaries of Atomics International sites ;
the retta '_ning thirty-twc are within a ten mile radius of the sites .
The average soil and vegetation activities are shown in Tables I
and II .
Table I - Soil1959 Second Quarter 1960
Location Activity =Average Average
c .Sar les uuc rare No .Samcles uuc -ram
On Site o\ 107 0 .41 28 4.44
~BwX 107 15 . 28 22:
Off Site ae 377 0 .31 99 x.3 8
zr 380 14 . 96 16.
Table II - Vegetation
19 Second Quarter 1960Average Average
Location Activity {o .Sa~nles uuc/grarn(ash) No . Sartoles uuc/Xram(ash )
On Site c~ 96 C .24 20 .20
107 220 . 28 l0.
Off Site 286 o .18 78 " .18
380 170 . 95 40 .
Two water we lls at tre I .D .F .L . are sa-pled monthly . The average
water activity is shown in Table III .
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Table III - Well water
i959 Second Quarter - 1960_Location Activity
Average Averag e
No .Sam les uuc liter No .Sam les uuc lite r
N .D .F .L . ~8 0 .C76 1 : .3 8,~ ?( 16 2 .8 5 2 . 8
En_vir ; .. e_i,al air sav'p__«g is perfor~ ed ccntinucus'- t at the Head-
cuarters and N .D .F .L . sites . The average concentration of long lived
airborne beta e2itters is shown in Table IV .
Table IV - Air
1959 Second Quarter - l9 „
Average Average
Location Activity :dc .Samoles uuc t~' o .Samnles3
uuc
Head- -~ 215 2 .5 6 0 .63quarter
N . .i . ., . ,d-' 257 C .93 8 0 .21
rTable I indicates that the second quarter 196C soil radioactivity
is sliwht1v higher than the 1959 average . The difference between on-
site a.d cff-site levels is generally within the accuracy cf th er
measurement . Table II indicates that the second quarter 1960
vegetation alpha activity is virtually the same, whereas the beta-
gamma level is lower than the 195 9 average .
Since N .D .F .L . operations do not re lease significant levels or
quantities of radioactivity to the soil, the slight variation in well
water radioactivity, Table III, is attributed to natural causes .
Table IV indicates a ccrsiderab le decrease in airborne beta-
gamma activity from the 1959 averages for Headquarters and N .D .F .L .
The higher 1959 average is believed to have beer. caused by fallout .ti
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General Description of Program
Soil and vegetation santle collection ar_a analysis, initiated
in 1952 in the Downey , California area, was extended to the proposed
SL cite in May l95 i, and to the Canoga Park area in Decenber l95+ .
The Downey: area survey was stopped when ntonics International
relocated to Can oga Park . The p=rimary purpose of the environmental
monitoring program s to ensure that Atomics Internat±c__al ~ s orera-
tlons are n ot contributing meas ;rab = y to envircramen=al radioactivity
and, at the sane time, to provide a continuing check cn the integrity
of engineering safeguards for the containment of radioactivity . Due
to the effect of geographica l location on environmental radioactivity,
co^nariscn between widely spread sapling locations is difficult .
Useful information can be obtained , however , by observing the trend
of individual or closely spaced groups locations .
For this reason . samples are collected monthly in five survey
areas including Carc~a Park E2„ Santa Susana Mountains, Gin= Valle y
and Russell Valley . Forty-two sampling stations are currently establish-
ed within the indicated areas . The maximum sampling station distance
from the Nuclear Developmen t Field Laboratcry at Santa Susana is
approximately ten miles . Sampling station locations are indicated on
Figures 1, 2, and 3, and in Table VI .
During each calendar quarter, arpreximately 125 soil, '2 6 vegeta-
tion, 21 water and yC environmental air samples are obtained and
analyzed by the Health and Safety Laborat ory for gr oss alpha anal/or
beta-gamma activity .
Methods
SOIL
Surface soil types available for sampling r ange from decomposed
granite tc clay and s andy loam . Collected samples represen t the ton
one half inch layer of ground surface . The soil _s packed in small
plastic containers which are then taken th e laboratory for analysis .
Sample preparation consists of transferring the soil to pyrex beakers
and drying in a muffle furnace at 300° centigrade for ei_^ t hours .
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After cooing t= s --i1 is screened to ebtair. uniform Tsar ti . .e sizes
for ccunting . Cre gran alicuots cf the screened soil are then
transferred to stainl ess steel planch~ts and fixed with colicdion
acetone solution .
The pren~r ed samples ore tLen cou ted in a thin windo 'a, bas flow
proportional counter calibrat~c with pa D+E (with and wit_cut alpha
r-bscr er) and xC, The K40 in the fore cf crystalline Cl is use d
to cor rect for self absorctl on in the so li and veV-e :ation ssm:»cs .+
This cetncd affords the ninimuri dttectiora limits ~ncwr in Table V .
Whie better sensitivity and accuracy are possible, the additional
coucti : F- time required is not warranted for routine analysis .
Table V - Minimum Detection Limit s
Sam le Activity Minimum Detection Limi t
Soil 0 .25 + 0 .076 uuc/gram
+ 0 .018 uuc/gram
vegeta- r ~~G~0 .008 • 0 .005_ uuc/gram (ash )tion
1 .1 + c .06 , uuc/gray. : (ash )
:;ater 0 .016 + 0 .0099 uuc/liter
c .bc + c .ca2 uuc/liter
Vy~J~n11 ml--
Vegetation samples obtained in the field at each station are of
the sure plant type wherever possible, and are generally sun flower
or wi_d tobacco plant leaves . These plant types naintair_ an active
rate of growth during the dry season, a characteristic uncommon to
cost other =ant types indigenous to the area . Vegetation leaves
to be sampled are stripped frcn the plant an d placed in ice cream
cartons for transfer tc the hea=th and Safety Laboratory .
Freparatior. of samples for analysis includes rinsing in distilled
water to re c .•e foreign ratter and placing it porcelain crucibles for
reduction tc ash . The crucibles are placed in a n .iffle ftrnace at
500° centi_ra a fcr ac_ roxiaately° °_i4 ht hours . This asking time
is sufficient to produce a finely divided, completely oxidized ash
at 95% Confidence Level .
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of uniform density . Three hundred milligrar aliquots cr ash from each
crucible are then weighed and transferred to stainless steel plarchets
for analysis . Analytical methods are the same as for soil samnles .
Sensitivity and accuracy are shown in Table V .
WATER
Samples of well water are obtained at the Nuclear Development
Field Laboratory . The water is drawn into one liter polyethylene
bottles for transfer to the laboratory . The samples are measured into
500 milliliter volumetric flasks and then evaporated into crystallizing
dishes at approximately 90 0 centigrade . The residue salts are transfer-
red to stainless steel pla chets , wetted to produce an even deposition
in the planch et, re-dried and counted in the p, opcrtional system .
Sensitivity and accuracy are shown in Table V .
AIR
Environmental air samo'ing is conducted continuously at the Head-
quarters and ?NFL sites by automatic twenty four hour step cycle air
monitors . Airborne particulates are co llected on a fixed filter tape
which is move d, after each twenty-four hour period, to place the new
sample beneath a thin window G .M . detector . At pre - set intervals,
usually twenty minutes , the number of counts observed by the scaler
during the interval is recorded .
It has beer. determined that for this type of instrument twice the
counting rate after 18 . 6 hours decay minus the counting rate after 8
hours decay closely approximates the long-lived ccrtribution . This
counting rate can be converted easily to the average long-lived air-
borne activity ( uuc/n3 ) during the sampling period . The minimum
detection limit, which varies somewhat between irstruments, is on
the order of 0 .04 uuc/m3 .
When abnormally high activities are observed, to data i s plotted
to determine the presence of short-lived activities other than radon
and thoron daughters . If fallout is suspected , samples are removed
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to t::e laboratory w=ere their decay is observed for a period of
several days to several weeks , if the activity decays as a functicn
?cf the data i s ext_r a f_ _ ~ the date c rt ~ tsa~clated in order to ~ origin .
This :ate ~s thea cccared with the dates cf -ublicized nuclear detona-
tions n order to aeronstrate that the abnormal airborne activity was
nct caused by Ato ics International o~eratonS .
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Station
Table 1
Sale Station Locations
Location
SF -1 S2E Reactor
SV-2 SRS PeriTMeter Drainage Ditch
SV-3 Bui1n ng ib- 'aric1ng ict
57-4 West o; Dui? d_rg 02 :
7-5 Building 3~3
SV Rocketdyne Retention Reservoir, ?FL
57-7 Rocketdyne PFL
SV Rocketdyne PFL
57-9 Rocke;.a ne PFL-
SV-1C Sa_,ta Susana Site Access Road
57-il Santa Susana Site ccess Road
SV-12 KSWB Reactor
SV-13 Sodium Burning Fad
57-14 Canyon below Building 022
57-15 Reseda Blvd . and Ventura Blvd .
57-16 Topanga Canyon Blvd . and Ventura Blvd .
SV-17 Topanga Canyon Blvd , and Varcwen St .
57-18 Topanga Canyon Blvd . and Saticoy St .
SV-_A Santa Susana r acility Entranc e
57-20 Topanga Canyon Blvd . an Devonshire St .
51-21 Reseda Blvd. and Devonshire St .
57-22 Reseda Blvd, and ordhof f St .
57-23 Reseda Blvd . and 5her:an ;ray
57-24 Headquarters
57-25 DeSoto Ave . and Plummer St .
SV-26 Nordhoff St . and Mason Ave .
51-27 DeSoto Ave . and iarthenia St .
57-28 Canoga Ave . and Nordhoff St .
57-25 Santa Susa.a Knoll s
57-30 Los Angeles Ave . at Bridge
57-31 Los Angeles Ave . and Sycarr.or . Road
57-32 Tapo Canyon
57-33 Los Angeles Ave . and Sina ca . Road
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Station Ccn't Location Con' t
SV-34 c'eier Canyon
SV-3 Brandeis Carp entranc e
SV-3a rocr ark Road and Canar ;ilo Road
S` -3/ corzareC load at Ci Pumping Station
SV -35 Moorpark Road and Ventura Blvd .
SV-39 Ventura Blvd . at _ctrero 3cad
SV-YC Ventura Blvd . at Cornell Corners (Ag ;u_ a )
Ventura Blvd . at Calabasas
SV-42 Pion Radioactive Materials Disposal Area,Nuclear Development Field Laboratory
W 2 SRE Pe rime t er Drainage Ditch
W 6 Rccketdvne Retention Reservoir, P?L
W 7 .fell Jater from Engineering Test Building
W 11 el1 water from Building 363
~+ _[ .% . Run Off Collection Sump
W C .^ . disc n Cooling Tower
W R .E . SR= Retention Darn
SV - Soil and Vegetation
~r - Water
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SCALE1__ ._
V Figur. I
1 : 2 shoo
LEGUD
Q Boil and Vig tat ion
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1% ia•L•.
1000 f••t
LD
. V•ptati..
O Ya!•s
ligur. U
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Pc vnr,►riR
N
NORGNo6f
PAlrHEN/A
0Ht
sousS talk.. s 1 ail.
LID
Q soil aad ►s.tati.a
1
HiAOQUAR7Ef3
11
fir. III
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