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Air Monitoring -
Onsite Radiological Monitoring
The NTS radiological air monitoring program is designed to
demonstrate compliance with radiological air emission standards both off
and on the NTS. It is also designed to provide data needed to calculate
the potential radiological dose to the public from man-made
radionuclides present on the NTS as a result of past and present NTS
operations. Onsite air monitoring provides data needed to calculate an
annual potential radiological dose
to a hypothetical member of the public if they inhale radionuclides from
the NTS, are exposed to direct radiation from the NTS through the air,
or if they ingest foods that have been contaminated with airborne
radionuclides from the NTS.
A network of
air sampling stations
[
PDF, 15 MB] on the NTS are located at or near historic or current operation
sites which have the potential to release airborne
radioactivity. The stations monitor gross alpha and beta radioactivity,
americium-241, cesium-137, tritium, several isotopes of plutonium and
uranium, and penetrating gamma radiation.
Man-made radionuclides are detected in air samples on the NTS and
represent the resuspension of contamination in surface soils from
historic contaminated sites (legacy
sites) and the evaporation and transpiration of tritium from the soil,
plants, and containment ponds at legacy sites. The highest average
concentrations of man-made radionuclides in air samples are well
below regulatory limits.
A discussion of radiological air monitoring methods, public dose
calculation methods, and the summarized results of the last calendar
year’s monitoring efforts can be found in Sections 3 and 8 of the most currently published
Nevada Test Site Environmental Report [
PDF, 15 MB].
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