, 7125jl.h

I

H+l7C03

eratad for t he h t m i c Energy REPOSITORY

COLLECTION *-I

.-9n --..p.rn*,- - I i;

I i r; # L L < . L. c - L I

by the General ELectric C q a n y

und er AP9 29 1259

INVENTORY UNIT Contract # W-31-109-ang-52 BOX NQ, O \ R DOCUMENT AbDIT AND

.

DECLASSI Ff ED Technology - Hanford

This document consists

RADIOACTIYE CXINTAMEIATICX GI THE ENvIRo?1S

OF THE HANFORD WORKS FOR THE PERIOD Clrutllcsriun Cancelled (Chingo to

c;\ ,- . / - P OCT~DZB, N O ~ ~ ~ E F Z . DECWEil, 19t9 BEST AVAILABLE COPY

H. J. Paas and 14. Singlevich Development L v i s i o n

Health In st rument D i d siona

Merch 2, 1950

Il?f3ODUCT IOW :

This report summ;rrizes t'm mess==nts made f o r rodioactim! con-xtion i n the environs of the b n f o r d Vorks, The pr inc ipa l sources of the rndlooctifltg orig- i na t ing 8s a result of operations a t Hanford which affect the envFronannt i n this ciya m e the t w o mste stacks i n the separat ions area and t b i cooling n k r &or, the four pi lo meas. lkasurenents are also made on samples taken fron the F T O ~ nns te srstoris vhich are primarily confined n i t h i n the project p rop r . Nthowil C o R t U y :3i.u.m.viea of these da t a are reported i n Health I n s t m n t Divisions Enviror.3 mports, ;I sorevhat more de t a i l ed discussion of these data is covered i n tis a h L r l y report. 1.1 t h i s nte.nnert a t e t t e r evalurttion of possible trends can be detcck-d es n E a u l t L* the increased number of me=lsurenents mde available by conMning tha dsta f o r (I t r e e month p r i o d .

. - .. ..

During the quartcr , t h e wind d i rec t ions v i t h i n the sepcrations area p n i l o d from the n o r t h m s t n i t h var iable nind d i r ec t ions i n the v i c i d t y of tk& 1OG f m e s . %tal 8 isso lu t ion vas i n progress oighty-eiiht por cent of t k c tir3 nian th c d c u l - oted etnosphere d i l u t i o n r a t i o s mre peater than 1000 to 1. Coc2lcto c . . . t 3 end ~ o p h o sunr.iarizing the n in6 d i r ec t ions and veloci ty during this Tarisd are ificludod I ~ t h I reference t o t h e i r effect on the pa t t e rn of the 6 i s t r i h t i o n o f 1-731 on vet- c t z t i o n i n this mea.

Dissolving during t h i s period vas normal using 83 to 101 d z p coolirr~: ti= f c r the i r r d i a t e d uranium with tho exception of tho expe r imnta l d i s s o l h q ;;hen 16 day coolet! urmiun nas dissolved t i i th in a twenty-four Feriod on December 2 znd 3, 134?. P r i o r t o the e q e r i n e n t a l d i sso lv ing (green run), the levels of deccsited I-1,31 and non-volatile e p z t t e r s on vegetat ion did not d i f f e r s ign i f i can t ly f r o c t b ac t lvJ . t j levels measured during the previous quarter. Iso-act ivi ty naps i n 3Iiich the r,z;ni- tucie md e:&crt of the deposited 1-131 on vegetation arc i x l u d e d i n this d5curcnt. Just ef te r t!le green-run, nhen l a rge q m n t i t i e s of 1-131 ;;ore discharged i n t o the a t - nosphere due to the d i s so lv ing of t h e green metal, increases i n 2eFosited 1-131 con- cent rc t ions on vegetation over t he past month approached f ac to r s of 1GO t o 600 i n the r e s i d e r i t i d areas of Richlend, I:enneidck, and Benton City; incrcascs by f ac to r s as high as l O C 0 were experienced j u s t outSi.de the separctlons m u . Rx! FzixizUr~ concon- t r a t i o n of 1-131 on vegeta t icn j u s t after the green run ?as about 28 pc/kc zs c o q a r - ed v i t h a meScimw?l of 5 5 muc/kg maswed. before the green run. Tkc o.zerd.1 Fa t te rn of deposited 1-131 a f t e r tho p e n run extended i n m e l o n p t e d shcp zbcut 40 ~ 3 . h ~ a i d e 2nd 200 Fi les long 13ir_g northeast and southrest of t h e 200 Tost :.rea s k c k , 1-131 deposi t ion on the vegetation i n the &hl.&z SloFe s e a rim i n tks rzr.5-o of 0.2 to 0.5 p ~ / k g :.ith a s n n l l i ao l z t ed meas appronchd 1.0 pc I - l 3 l / k ~ vcgotct ion. S p of the Benton Gap of Ra t t l e smke pountnin indicitcd highest 1-131 6eFzsit ion on

' k h n 3t t h e 1900 f o o t level, L-rd after the F e e n run are sunnzrized i n t h c forn of t ab le s and ~ r ? : p h ~ .

T b !

Sur-

h e pLztcau port ion of the Cap tihere a c t i v i t y of 1.7 p / k g t!cs cezs-xed i.? ?. S?.nple i

,I de ta i l ed c c n p i k t i o n of ths data obtzirrd @Or to

1

I O 8 2 3 1 3 P

Atmospheric r a d i a t i o n levels as determined by fixed and detachable ioniza t ion c k m b r did not d i f f e r s i g n i f i c a n t l y fron those levels usual ly encountered i n this -eo, Lerosol bcta a c t i v i t y and 1-131 concentrations i n the atnosphere renained 89s- e n t i a l l y the a m as noted i n previous months except f o r the nonentary increases notcd during the green run period of Decemkr 2 and 3, 1949 ahen abnormally high con- ccnt ra t ions of rad ioac t ive stack effluent were discharged In to the atnosphere, !bas- twcmnts for a c t i v e p a r t i c l e s i n the atmosphere indicated 3 docrease fronthe sone- v i h t higher numbers detected during September; current es t imat ions indicate a re turn to normal conditions. S l igh t increases i n the number of ac t ive p a r t i c l e s inside so= of the opera t iom bui ldings i n tho sepzrat ions amaa were noted during this period a d the ccuses were a t t r i b u t e d t o l o c a l conditions.

Monitoring f o r radioact ive contanination i n the 100, 200, and 300 !me! m s t e systems d i d not d i f f e r s i g n i f i c a n t l y from nornal l eve l s previously observed; s ~ d l 6evict iona end f luc tua t ions such QS smll increases i n the level of a c t i v i t y of t h e I n u x ? ~ ~ nas t e s a r e discussed. It was estiruted, based on a one week s t u d 7 of laundry wste, tk.t 6.8 x lo8 c'.is/min of dp.hc a c t i v i t y pr imwily from uraniun vas d i s c h r g e d i n t o t.he l,?undry d i t c h and U Snmp i n a one meek p r i o d .

!AS ant ic ipa ted , c i t h the decroased flow of the Columbia River during this period, corresponding increeses i n t h e a c t i v i t y of the riwr r;ci.c observcd. Bsta enitters zpproac-hing 2425 u p c / l i b r vert3 m a s i r e d i n river sanples t c k e n n e m Harfard; 300- 500 gyc / l i t e r were nsasured i n sanples token from near Kennewick anc! Pesco, a c t i v i t y i s p r i imr i ly f r o n 34.8 hour sodium (Na-24). hkasurements f o r radioact ive contnnimt ion i n o ther n s t e r supplies using thc Columbia as the source of supply cre Ciscussei!!; nonc of these surveys indiceted s i g n i f i c a n t deviet ions from norm1 or ant- ic ipa ted ccntiiticns.

T h i s

SECTIOf' VI - EFT.'. f.CTIVTTY IN R X N LND SNm

Rcdioactivo con tadna t ion i n r a i n c?nd snow followed the norm1 patte-rns expected 1Tith the exception of the green run period vhen a c t i v i t y i n r a i n sarlples mere 8s high 1s 271 ii&c/litcr.

h v e l s of c l p h a c t i v i t y measured i n drinking nater did not deviate from the l a v e l s masure6 i n past surveys. cogtinued t o k found i n sa= Richlond drinking water supplies; an average value Of 21 ug U/l i te r aatcr w3s masured i n a Benton C i ty Tel l ; t h i s we11 is representat ive Of the highest level of urcniun i n the drinking ra tc r of this general erea. lata 02 a l l water -lyses rure prasentcd i r r the form of t ab le s and grcphs.

Urnniun, p r e s w b l y occurring i n m t u r a l q u n t i t i e s

Complete

-4-

.. - -

The atuarnaqj of the meteorological conditions presented f o r t he period October,

llovenbsi-, and December, 1949, includes only that data rrhich were recorded and ob-

served during the actual hours of n e t a l dissolut ion,

t!B Ikteorology Group of the Health Instrument Divisions for the d a i l y 24 hours per-

iods; the da t a which uere representat ive of the periods during which radioact ive

gosss nere emitted t o the atmosphere were extracted by the S i t e Survey Group.

The measurenents were -de by

F i , w e s 1 tliiough 4 summarize the observed and recorded wind conditions greph-

i c a l l y , Figuse 1 presents the three nonth average wind d i r ec t ion data as recorded

a t +,he 200 f o o t l e v e l a t the Keteorology Toner near the 200 Vest Area. T b meteoro-

l o g i c a l d a t a a t the 200 foo t l e v e l a c used 03 this height is most conparable n f t h

tire height of t he s t a c k emit t ing the re.dioactive gases.

the n o r t b e s t quadrant; the nort 'xest conponcnt contributed 23 per cen t d the uind

The preva i l ing mint! vas f rom

and the aest component coiitrlbuted 24 per cent of the rsind. A rcM..rnm of wind was

recorded from the easterly components; a l l souther ly d i rec t ions accounted for approx-

i m t e l y 25 Fer cent of t he uind. Agzin, t h e south and southriest d i r ec t ions accounted

for t he bigher ve loc i ty rjinds; the m a x i m u m vind ve loc i ty measured during the quarter

was 55 niles p r hour on liovember 27, 1949. The uind d i r ec t ion da ta presented i n

Figure 1 nay be favorably compared rrith the i so-ac t iv i ty pa t t e rn of deposited radio-

ac t ive ccntanination on vegetation (see Figure 6).

Figure 2 s u m a r i z e s the average monthly wind d i rec t ion a s observed a t t h e &teor-

o l o g j Tover. T ~ E O c t o k r and Novemhr d i r ec t ion data corresponded favorably with the

qua r t e r ly average a t this locat ion; ho*:!ever, an increasing amount oT nird nas noticed

from the s o u t h e s t d i r ec t ion during the nonth of Decernbcr. It is s ign i f i can t that thc

east ai.d northeast components again shormd a ninimm of vind, The month t o month flu-

c tua t ions i n prodominating wind d i r ec t ions d i r e c t l y influenced the t rend of deposited

rzdiozct ive ccntanination on vegetation, The occasional t race q u z n t i t i e s of 1-131

a c t i v i t y dotectcd on the vcgetation on the Fah lde S l o p vas a t t r i b u t e d t o the south-

erly

- 6 -

rind components and their corresponding higher ve loc i t i e s ,

Fi,.;ure 3 s w m r i x o s the :dnd d i r e c t i o n as recorded a t the 200 Y e s t &rec and the

100 , I r e s .

occur a t the 100 Lrces and at t he 200 West Meteorology Tov:er.

the 100 $.rea l o c o t i a r s represent

abcve ground; the 200 !Test da t a represent observations made a t 200 feet abo7.e ground

T h i s graph por t rays the differences in prevs i l ing nind d i rec t ions which

The da’k portrapd for

observations made a t e leva t ions less t h a 50 feet

level .

difforances noted; however, it luis been found tht z t th lloteorolsgy Tomr n5cz-e ob-

servat ions crc nado a t lemls f ron 50 fee t above ground t o 400 feet.rrbcve ground,

T h i s e l e m t i o n difference could possibly account f o r SOB of t he direc5ion

differences i n mind ve loc i ty may be encountered, but r a r o l y i n d i rec t ion .

I n the v i c i n i t y of the 100 Areas tb wind prevailed from the northvrest about 5

t o 10 per cent of t h e t ize and about 25 t o 35 p6r cent of t h tire i n the 200 “est

kreo.

observ2d from the northnest was nearly i don t i ca l t o t h h t amount observad from the

e a s t ahereas the e z s t - d i r e c t i c n accounted for the minimum amount of wind i n the 200

:?est Cres.

months of October and l?over.br; homver, the data for Dececter d i f f e r e d s i g n l f i c m t l y

from t h a t of the 100-E and 100-F Areas in th,t it shoved the p m v d l i a g d i r ec t ion t o

De south 32 p r cent o f tI.3 time.

Llso v:orthy of mention i s the fact t h c t I n the 100 firecs, the Wnomt of mind

&teorolcg ica l records nere not avai lable from the 100-D Area fc r the

The nort!icest, southwest, and northwest d i r ec t ions

o n l y eccomtsd f o r 2 Fer cent of the wind at lOO-D, whereas these d i r ec t ioas tended

t o prcvcil e t the o t b r noni tor ing l x e t i o n s .

Figure 4 is e graphic s u m c t i o n of the s tnospheric d i l u t i o n f a c t o r s as d e t e r d n e i

during the hours of mtil d i s so lu t ion i n the separation areas.

t o 1 d i l u t i o n r z t i o Frevnilcd 88 p r cent of thz fire nhen d i s s o l v h g :;as i n progressc

i’hc unc?esirsble Z i iu t i cn r a t i o of 1css than 500 t o 1 occurred 5 p r cent of the timi

during the q u r t e r .

t h e d i l b t i o n r a t i o of 500 t o 1 ;?as encountered 12 p r cent of tl.~ ti:=,

oter and. Dcccnter the

The desirable 1000

;lost of the low d i l u t i o n periods ex i s t ed durin& Nowmbcr Than

D?iring act-

500:l d i l u t i o n rt-.t,io ex is ted only 1 and 2 per cent of the time,

I !

. ..

r e spec t i v e l y.

The conplete absence of r a i n during the e m l y part of this quarter ma3 broken

when 1.47 inches of r z i n f e l l during November. The t o t a l prec ip i t a t ion during Nov-

ember exceeded t h a t during O c t o b r and December by a f a c t o r of almost f i f teen. A

complete tabula t ion of the rainfall data and the beta activlty measured i n r a i n sa.1-

ples, is presented in Sect ion VI of this report.

Tho f i rs t laeastwed snowfall occurred on December 15, hoqever a t r ace amount of

snoi; nz3 detected on O c t o b r 230 The t o t a l anovfall during the quarter was 0.65

inches.

SECTION I

(Please r e f e r t o Figures 1,2,3, end 4)

f3 P A G E - SUMMARY WIND DIRECTIONS

AT

METEOROLOGY TOWER - 2 0 0 - W AREA

DISSOLVING HOURS ONLY

OCTOBER - NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 1949

N

W (24%)

S

- 2 5 % -

FIGURE I

E

-

PER CENT TIME OBSERVED

111

I

a w m I w 0 W 0 I

W

z w > 0 z 1 a w a 0 b 0 0

a m

n

3 z -

C U

I 0 rc) C

Q 1 0

cu

I i

I t I 1 -

W

W

w 2

P

- 0 n 0 t

3 2

0 W > W u)

0

W 2 I-

I- 2 w 0

a

m

a a W

05

80

7 5

70

65

60

5 5

5 0

45

40

35

30

25

20

15

IO

5

WIND DlLU 622 BLDG.- 2 0 0 W AREA DISSOLVING HOURS ONLY

OCTOBER-NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 1949

-

FIGURE 4

n I-

:rz

yr g..

!!-

p

The following tabulat ion summarizes the anount of f3 day radio-iodine (1-131) E

;., and 5.4 day xenon (Xe-133) calculated t o have been re leased during d isso lu t ion of

+ brudin ted u-anium during October-~Iovember-December , 1949. The ca lcu la t ions are

1 based on the wi[;hts and cooling time of each batch of i r r ad ia t ed urzniun rrhich is Y

dissolved, but does not represent the ac tua l amounts of radioactive gases vthich -.:ore

1 i k r s t L d i n t o the etrcosphere. The calculat ion does not include corrections f o r t k e

retention of t h e radiotictive gases i n the dissolver and does iiot correct for tlae

c f i i c i e n c y 02 the s:d f i l t c r s and sc rubkr s .

A 7 4 7

Tota l Curies 1-171 Xe-132

200 %st .'mea 200 ye3t Crea - - bIont h Curies 1-171 Curies Xe-132 Curies 1-131 Curics Xo-132 - Oc to t e r 221.5 10.9 181.5 7 03 403.0 18.2

Kovc n k r 227.0 9.8 137.0 7.8 ~ L O 17.6

December 252.5 13 .O 52rc7.5+ 4752.7+ 550O.W 4.765.V

* These f igures include the radioact ive gases formed during the experimental c?isF solut ion of one ton of i r r ad ia t ed uranium cooled only 16 days. This e x p r i m n t a l grccn run w.s ~ ~ r f c r & d oil L c c c b c r 2, 19.47. data of t h i s e x p r i n e n t i s included i n a report issuod undor oepcrate cover.

ib dct-ilod <.iscussion 02 the complete

Figure 5 presents the calculated amount of 1-131 released i n the d isso lver un i te

during uranium dissolut ion for each day during the period. n i t h the exception of

the green run, t h e cooling tines f o r uranium dissolved during t h i s period ranged

from 83 t o 101 days,

Due t o the large anount of a c t i v i t y released a t the time of tire green run, it

fvm necessary t o present the results of the smpl ing program f o r this quar te r i n t W 0

d i s t inc t par t s i n order t o eliminate any d is tor t ing which would r e s u l t from corbin-

ing the data bcfore and a f t e r t he green run. For the main pa r t this sect ion dl1 Is

P r i w i l y directed t o covering that period bcfore the green rm. The hit2laii;hts Of

Of the dz ta gathered fo l lov ing the gree,:i run ore presented for puposes of COR- - - 12 - 1 0 8 2 3 1 0 Fwi. c Qn.

during this Feriod, about half of tkesa were obtained c f t e r the grcen run. 'i;e

0rit.y of the samples co l lec tcd a f t e r the p e n run mere only analyzed far ti*, bb

from the e i g h t day radio-icdine (I-l3l), w h i l e those co l lec ted prc-rfous to

t5c grecn run i7em analyzed f o r both I-131 act ivi ty and f o r the beta a c t i v i t j fro=

tire longer half l i v e d non-volatile f i s s i o n product elements. The E t h o d a of =lyse3 (1)

for 1-131 and non-volatile en i t te rs may lx re fer red t o i n a previous repor',,

Table I1 swmizcs the mnsured 1-131 a c t i v i t y i n vegetation sarrples : k k h :.-en:

collected from representat ive loca t ions on and adjacent t o the Hnnford Ycr!.s. TPE

1-131 cctivity detectzd aftsr the p p e n ntn is tabulated s e p r a t e l g from t k t *;:kith

rras masured during Octoter and Novenbr.

vegetation during Octaber 2nd Novcater did not d i f f e r s ign i f i can t ly from the wa=.nU.

zveragc during t h previous quar te r , e.lt>augh 'isolated arees such as Gable IIomtain

End Eenton c i t y indiczted sne.11 increases i ~ h i c h could have been due t o D sxd.1 ic-

creme i n the dissolving f o r the p r i o 2 .

iVi2ual and average 1-131 zct ivi ty ( 5 5 rnyc/kg and 21 muc/lcg, r c s p x t i v e l y ) v e x OECO

e&n found on vegetet ion cc l l ec t ed i n tia imed io to v i c i n i t y of thc 200 Test Gats-

house. The 1-131 ectivity found along Route 3 which passes the 200 Test Catshouse

confirms this higher deposi t ion which occurred i n this v i c i n i t y during Occlobr and

:1ovcdxr; i n d i v i d u d scqlss taken along Route 3 shoFed 1-131 activity opprocckkg

50 ~ c / k g a2 aver2gir.g E nyc/kg. An i so-ac t iv i ty nap f c r t!x p d o d I I T [ ? * ~ O * ~ to

Cecenkr 3, rihich s'-cns the loca l i zed deposit ion of 1-131 i n t h i s regian is ,pssc.nkd

i n Figure 6 .

Tho average 1-131 a c t i v i t y neesured 011 .

Previous t o the p e n run, the c t z d x irL-

A rcrierr of Figcre 6 shows tht rrith the exceFtion of the region t h a t 13 rit5.n

Ep~/kg was detected i n Richland,

Several off-arm surveys were corpleted during Octcbcr end Movenbcr, &sod .

09 smples co l lec ted a t five and ten mile intervals i n the region bounded b,y levis-

ton, Spokane, Ellensburg, and Elaryhill, the overa l l aversye 1-131 a c t i v i t y off tk

s i t e \:as less than 2 qc/kg. Figure 7 shorn the ex ten t of this survey, the ha_-

uzncg of s inp l ing and includes the 1-131 a c t i v i t y miiswed on the vegetztiion szqles

from each szmpling 1oc.Ztion. A s p e c i a l survey of the Yakim-Ellensbwg region 'nhich

;;as conplcted lstc i n September ahowed general 1.131 a c t i v i t y depos i t ion conpartble

u i t h t h a t found i n the l a t e r survey. (2)

A s i g n i f i c a n t increase i n the 1-131 a c t i v i t y on vegetat ion occurred ime&tely

Table I1 sunnarizcs the results

'

a f t e r the dissolving o f the green run on Decenbr 3.

of the vegetction s m p l i n g progran f o r tho period previous to , ~ n d the period icrxd-

i a t e l y a f te r the green ru?.

L_Oc_SKJJ

Inside 200 Zzst Lrea Inside 200 Test k e a Yort3 of 200 k e a Near the 200 t r e a s Route 3 200 !?est Gate - Mete or ol ogy T o m r 5outh o f 2G0 .'mas iiichland Pes co KO mevi c k Benton C i ty a ich lnnd "Yl* Hanford

LQ 140 112

15 9 8

138 4.6 34 32 27 8 17

44 7

42 50 55 18 13 11

5 7 7 1: 3

7 42

4 12 21 6

c2 <2 c 2 e 2 <2 ( 2 <2

- 40 35 6 1. 1

52 10 8 13 3 2 4

The 1-131 r e s u l t s tabulcted above, f o r t h s pcriod af ter t h e grcen run ere d s o

Presented i n Figu-e3 8 and 9 which show the estirmted c ' i s t r i5u t ion of deposited 1-13]

on vegetation on the pro jec t and the environs, rcspectivcly.

-15- w- The ex ten t of the 1-131 Sampling (Figure 9 ) was influenced by the h n d of the

initial 1-131 masurenents, rind i n general, a l l main thoroughfares i n ~ 1 1 m a bound-

ed by Klnmth Falls, EllcnsturV, Ket t le Falls, end Bakor,nere sampled,

The maxinun 1-131 a c t i v i t y measured after t h e green run vas found inside the

280 Vest Area nhere a scunple collected near the perimoter fence e i r e c t l y east of tha

stsck showd 2G.O pc/kg.1-131 a c t i v i t y exceeding 10 w/kg was comon inside the m-

zrat ion areas and elong nearby Route 3. The deposited 1-131 a c t i v i t y on vegetat ion

outside of the 200 Vest p e r i m t e r fence and Tdtllin a radius of four miles of the

stack, was betimen 3 a d 10 pc/kg. The pa t t e rn of the deposited 1-131 on vcgetntion

tcn6ed t o elongate i n a northensf, and southvest d i r e c t i o n from the s b c k , the gree te r

deFoSition predominating t o the south i n tho v i c i n i t y of tho abrupt rise of the iIorse

iieaven Hills where the everzge 1-131 on vegotztion was between 1 and 2 pc/kg, The

wimm 1-131 a c t i v i t y mesured i n this region *'as 4.3 pc/kg i n a snnple col lected

3bove Riom, ;,bout t a n riles nor th of the 200 r e s t s t a c k an abrupt deciease i n the

1-131 a c t i v i t y was noted. T& deposi t ion on the %hluko Slop vas i n t h e rage of

0.1 to 0.5 pc/kg ~ 4 t h the exception of tvo smll i so l a t ed areas i n nhfch the 1-131

a c t i v i t y vas 'betwen 0.5 2nd 1.0 Dc/kg.

sistently show the hig:bst 1-131 a c t i v i t y on the s l o p ,

These zre the i d e n t i c a l meas nhich con-

Seventy sanples vere o*cined from the Benton Gap of Rattlesnake Nount-' ,in over

2 six mile s t r i p which included e leva t ions from about 400 f e e t t o 3600 f e e t above 808

l eve l . The deposition vas highest on t h e plateau a t an e leva t ion of rbout 1900 feet

rrhere t h e 1-131 zvercged 1.7 pc/kg as compared w i t h un average of 0.5 and 0.3 p / k g

a t t h e base mC! sumi t , ro spc t iv r? ly .

ug8$t and includos ths e lovat ion and dis5rrnco sceles.

Figure 10 shovs t h e deposit ion p a t t e r n i i i the

The higher depos i t ion on thrr

3lateau compxos fwcmbly xith a sirLla- higher deposit ion t h n t vas noted a yezr

'Go, :;hen tkc rzxixm ZcSiVity nrs found a t the 1900 f o o t 1 ~ ~ 1 ,

HtY memxecl on the llgaptl <wing this Feriod rias 3.2 ,uc/kg i n a sonplo collected at

n (,levation of 1900 f o e t ,

3 ) x:-13743 RdiozctiVi! Contamination I n The Erwirons of

(3 1 TIE highest act-

- . _ . ._ .-___ .__--_ _ _ -_ --.-- -- --------- .-.----- ---I. -- -- --------- O c t o b r , Novenhr, Dec-

ez:rbsr~ 1942. To Fi l e by C.

1 0 8 2 3 1 3 --

I

southnest of the 200 Vest Area, the 1-131 a c t i v i t y on vegetat ion rsnged bt.;;rcen 0.1

and 0.5 uc/kg.

nouth, Valla Falla, Odessa, and Moses Lake,

run mre extended t o Mount Hood, Klamath Falls, jnd Baker, south of the s h & , epd

Kettle Falls t o the north,

wound t h s background level of the 1-131 analyses fa l l ing between 10-20 cp/'&.

. - .

This moa included the cornuni t ies of Coldcndde, ;'slingtan, pzy- 4

The vegetation surveys afhr t:% green

fbctivity from 1-131 a t these extreme locat ions fluctu:tcc'

During October and Noventer, t he some samples which were masured f o r 1-1 2ct-

i v i ty \;ere also emlyzed for t he act ivi ty f r o n the non-volatile emitters,

LGfirIOt? &g&e r

Near the 200 Lreas 115 Route 3 16 200 Ye3t Gzte 8 k t e o r o l o g y Tcrer 8 South of 200 k e a s 197 Ric hlnnd 45 PE.SC0 35 Kennewick 33 Eknton C i t y 27 R i c h l a d I f Ylf 8 Hanford 17 R a t t l c s m l e :.?F Post 65 Goose Egg -!Ell 49 Flymouth t o Kennewick t o Hover 12 P ~ S C O t o Ringcld 18 Pasco to E1tol;i.r 5

S a&e s North of 200 h e a s *-ug--

EF0it.E GFEENRUi? . ?&ximum --- CflXyJe

30 12 42 1 5 64 21 65 26 26 1s 25 1=! 26 10 24 10 40 4 10 30 11 20 < 10 23 10 23 12 57 16 30 u. 27 16 u 410

k surmry of the non-vol-t i le emittcrs measured on vegetotion samples during Octo

Figure U. 31~17s the e s t i m t e d dep- o h r and Novernter, 1949, is Fresented i n Table 111,

.'sition pat tern of this z c t i v i t y on the vegetation during the Feriod. The h i d e s t

f o r the non-volztilc emitters 1735 r .enxred d i r s c t l y outside the F c r i r e t e r

a t the 200 :est 1-0 Cctehousc uhere tiic overage fo r the two-months vas 26 W C /

t u o scnples were 2.s high as 65 2nd 64 mpc/kg i n this recion. It is i n t e re s t ing

! ?

! !

t

i

! !

.

3

Vegetation szrnples collected within the r e s i d e n t i d areas of Richland, Pzsco,

Kenncl:dck, Ijenton City, and the Richland W, shoved an avcrqp non-voletile a c t i v i t j

of n b u t 10 m.uc/ly, Tho reporting l eve l for t h i s nmlys i s i s set a t 10 mpc/lq which

is currently considered to be the background l eve l of non-volotile beta act iv i ty i n

vqetation i n this region due t o the naturally occurring isotopo of potassiun (K-40)

prosont i n the potnssittn s a l t s of the vegetation,

SECTION I1 (Please refer t o Figures 5,6,7,8,9,10, and 11,)

c

- 17 -

t- Z a a a

U W m z

n

a m z W > 0 2

W 0 w

I

W

I a m w 0 I- o 0

cr W m z w 0 w 0

-

a w L13 z w > 0

. I I

, ..

1 0 8 2 3 1 1

i I

1 i 1 I

I

:IG. . 6 i

I

. ___ _.... -.-.

1 c

1 0 8 2 3 1 9

f' CONTAMINAllON ON VEGETATION

I& L D ( Y C L O M l l 1 DlmION - WlS M V l T

. .-- . . --. I

m--

I ..

I

I

... ".I \

I

I

I

i // t

I

! i i i

I/

!

t i

I i I

1

i

It

?

I ! !

li I I

! ,

6

I

i I ! I I i !

i \

0

I \ ' b It

ftirods used f o r tilis measurement were f ixed ion iza t ion chanters, d e t a c h b l e i o d t s -

t i sn c h c c h r s , counting rate reters, air f i l t e r s , and a i r scrt;bhrs. The restilts and

t,rcn<s observed rnc! rscorded from each phaso of t h i s progran arc discussed s e p r z t e l y ,

Thc 2ir r a d i e t i o n levels as measured by t h e fixed Victorcen h t f 2 g r o n 3 ch ich cere

?omted along the rf i r inetcr fence of a l l oporating arms and i n t k e vFcinity of the

Zopulated r e s i d e n t i a l areas adjacant t o the €hnford I7orks shored very l i t t l a trend

Juring the period O c t o ~ r - ~ o v e m ~ e r - D e c c l a ~ r , 1949.

t h c c nonth pcriod (Table I) shovl3 t h a t d o s a p rztes were consis tont f r o = nczth t o

Tonth, 2nd i n general T-ere corparsbla \;.ith t h e backpour2 mzsrrrcrcnts of srall det-

i c b a k l . ~ ion iza t ion c h r h r s ; thcsc backgrounds vary ketvicen 0.2 2nd 0.5 IXXF/Z+ hows.

A rcvicr-r of t'his d i t = fcr t h

Although thc! cversge dosage r a t e s 12enaured at Pasco and Eivcrlxid appear t o

ke g r w t c r than tho lackground of the intcgrons used, sora doubt is nssigrfid t c tkcc

.J=lues as thGsr: h o loca t ions a re considcrably renoved from the a e n i c s meas,

W n chzc!ting at meHy i n t e r v a l s severc l suspected cases of l e a h g e riere noted. Tho

b h e r averzges f o r t h s o l oca t ions a rc migh ted by tho high values obtained K h a n t k i

ipstrum€;nts aere not funct ioning p r o p r l y .

f r ~ t h e werage , dosage rates cornprtrablo u i t h t k norm1 e x p c t e 6 r2ngc t:ould be ob-

tained,

If thcse doubtful high vclues YieI'e o e t t d

-25-

- LCC.~,TION

100-B Area 100-D Area 100-F Area 1OO-il Area 200 ?est t ree 200 East Ixea Riverland 300 /.rea 700 Area Pasco k n t o n City

3000 Area (S Hanford

N u m k r of u n i t s

3 3 3 3 2 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

- AV3X.GE DO.S:.CE ,IS mrap/24 Hours October Novcmbcr D e ce dx r

0. 5 0.5 0.5 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.6 0 03 0.5

0.3 0.4 0.1 0.3- 0.4 0.2 0.1 2.0 1.6 1.0 1 e 1 1.5 0 04 0.3 0.4 0.1 0.7 1.2 0 e 3 0.4 0.2 0.1 0.4 0.8 1.1 0.1 0 03 0.1 0.7 0,5 0 e 4

Radiation levels i n a i r r:ere also measured by means of detachable ionizat ior ,

chambers (Hsnford T y p s n W , lISll, and W " ) . These ion iza t ion chambers were supported

f ive f e e t off t he ground and locntad at randcn on and adjacent t o the sit2. The fE-

quency of reeding the detachsble chanlxrs vere based on the t rcnd of previous results

2nd on the capec i ty of the c.kznbr a t a given locat ion.

t h e e observations pzr rreek.

Nornally t h i s frequency was

i. revie.! of the current "detachable chamber" doscge rates in2icated no s ign i f i -

cent c h n g e s o r t rends observed during the quarter .

served a t loce t ions necr t o , and d i r e c t l y doanuind from the separation area stacks,

h general , the e x i s t i n g dosage rate vritNn a rad ius of five miles of the seTciration.

~ c e s vas about 1.0 mep/24 hours; t S s f igure Included the natural background rrhich

The highcr dosage rntcs w r e ob-

var ies k t r m e n 0.3 ar\,d 0.5 clrep per 24 hours. Average dosege rates of 1.0 mep/24

hours uere observed a t 2 fen locat ions nez r ly t e n miles from the separat icn areast

each of these loca t icns >:as d i r e c t l y dornrrind from the prevniling xind d i rec t ion

( s e e Figura 1, Section I).

Tllc atmospheric r ad ia t ion l eve l bcrely exceeded the average background i n the

v tc in i ty of the 100 Izeas, a l tkough the average dos?ge r a t e computed fron e i g h t 1 0 C -

1 9 4 9 (mrep per 24 hours)*

-_.__-_.-__- ----- --- --- CC3 CH!--!E3 ILEADIXGS ~lj!P.rnLY

X t n i n 100-B 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 Cithin 100-D 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.2

Wthin 200-Y 0.4 0.1 0.2 0.2 Ilithin 200-E 0. 4 0.2 ..0.1 0.2 'Ytiiin 300 Area 1.1 1.5 0.4 1.0

LE AT I Ol? OCTOBER N C I E I S E R DEcc':E2 a m x c z

X t h i n 100-F 0 -6 0-3 0.5 0.5

100 Area and Emlrons Route 1, Mile 8 Route 2N, I5le 10 Route 215, I.Xle 5 At Yhite B l u f f s Route l l A y hale 1 At Hanford 614 A t Hanford 101 A t 100-3 .kea +x+

Fi th in 5 Niles 200 East k e a Route AS, i s l e 6 Route lUy Kile 6 Route 3 , Mile 1 Elle t e o r o l o g 2 0 1

Fi th in 10 IIiles 200-Zast Ares Route ,!$, Mile 10 Route l C , Mile 1 Route 10, ?ale 3 Route 2S, !lile 4

Route 4S, Mile 16 Route 4 S , Mile 22

?!ear 300 Are2

Oitiyinrz ZoFe Richland Eenton City Rive r land

0.6 0.5 0.4 0.6 0.8 0.4 0.5

0.9 0.9

0.9 1.4

0.7 0.6 0.6 0.8

0.6 0.7

0.4 0.4 *

* * . 0.6 0.6 0.8 0.4 0.6 0.5

1.5 1.1 * *

1.7 1.5 0.4 1.8

0.6 1.1;

0.5 0.L *

0.5 0.7 0.6 0.6

0.4

0.5

* *

1.6 1.3 * *

0.6 0.7 0.7 *

0.9 0.9

0.4 0.7 *

0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 c.4 0.6 0. 5

1.3 1.1 1.4 0.9

LO 0 -9 0.6 1.3

0.7 1.0

0.4 0.5 *

0.55

1.19

1.01

0.35

0.L7

* Char,bers found t o be leaking and data voided. *+ The dosage rrtes tabulated inc l ide the background of the chamkrs used FlhiCh m S from abaut"O.3 t o 0.5 mrep Fer 24 hours.

*** Ne!.-! l oca t ion es tab l i shed during t h e qur te r .

200-&st, SZ Corner 200J!c~t To,:er 94 G-.ble l!oun t c i n ai c hl.md F3sco 300 k e n 200 E x i t , Tomr #16 Ecnton City Hidord 614 Cuil6ing % i t s mufrs 3000 .ken North 200 !7cst Tower #15 200 ?!ut Gate

i t Includes o n l y that p r iod ,

u n i t s .nc / l i t e r

1.5 10-9 2.0 x 10-10 3.5 x 10-10

c l . 0 x 10-10

2.2 x 10-10

1.4 x 10-10

1.0 x 10-10

2.1 x 10-10

6.6 x 10-11

1.1 x 10-9

1.4 x 10- l -O

1.5 x 1.3 x

9.2 x

6.4 x 5.0 x 1.5 x 10-11 1.8 x 10-10

1.5 x 1.9 x

3.3 x 10-10

3.5 x 10-10

2.1 x 10-10 1.4 x 10-10 3.7 x 10-10 3.4 x 10-10

DECEIZER .'.vGL=G3 * 3.1 x lo4 1.2 x 10-9 9-7 x 10-10 iIs x 10-10 3.0 x io-= l a 1 x 10-10 6.4 x 10-10 2.8 x 10-10 6.6 x 101~o 4.6 x 10-10 3.0 x

1.9 x 1 0 4 2.2 x 10-10

d a t e ohtoine.6 af ter Decenhr 3 , which includes the " p e n ml'

i. revein oi" the da t a i n the above t a b l e ind ica t e s t h Q t the incrcase i n f i l t e r -

able h t a a c t i v i t y approached c. f a c t o r of t e n a t the 200 ?'!est To1.7er 84 cat! the 200

@est Gatc during the nonth of December.

nhich vrere north end ncr theas t of the separat ion arezs including such l o c e t i m s as

h n f o r d , White B l u f f s , cr.d 3OcO !,rea. The radioact ive e f f luen t discharged to the

ztttmosphce on Dscerrbr 3 d id not show a s ign i f i cnc t increase i n the amount of f i l t e r -

able lxtz a c t i v i t y detected i n tile r e s i d e n t i a l comnunitias of Pasco, Elenton City, and

aichlcnd.

a i r throughout the q w r t e r and tho smll f luc tua t ion notsd on a nionth t o month basis

::ere vel1 -.tithin the expected e r r o r of Eeasurement.

Smaller increases were observed a t l o e t i a n s

The cverages at these loca t ions were i n t he order of 10-lO,uc/liter of

I n conjunction :-rith the a i r f i l t e r monitors, c t u s t i c scrubbers wsre also run i n

series w i t h thc a i r f i l ters.

iodine (1-131) f ron! the eir s t r enn sample.

Various locz t ion3 during the qua r t e r inZicated a s ign i f i can t increase i n the average

a c t i v i t y during the nonth of December.

Ccntration m s i n good a c e e m n t v i t h a s i r i lm t r e d observcd i n the f i l t e r i l b l e

Thcse ccust ic scrlibbors s e l e c t i v e l y e x t r a c t the 84ny

I. rev isn of the 1-131 detected e t the

The increase i n the atmospheric 1-131 con-

'6 L

3 :, 3

scrubbers 7.723 observed a t the 200-7est Lrea Cote locat ion nhare the overage g c t i v i t y

3 3 ~ 1.2 x 104pc/liter during December 3

a s compared with the 0ctober-TJovc;mber QW-

_- ': r a p cf cbout 1.0 x lo9 pc/litcr, T h i s increase by about a f a c t o r of t en ~ a s n e ~ 1 7

i & n t i c r l to t he nagnitude of increase 'noted chen 'copparing the average of the f i l t e r -

:>le k z t a n c t i v i t y detected during December n i t h t h a t e v e r a 9 found during Octohr-

I h v d x r .

y ~ d ilichlnnd bj scrubber szmples, nhercns the f i l t e r a b l e beta act ivi ty masurcmnts

It is i n t e r e s t i n g to note tkt 1-131 a c t i v i t y r a s detected a t Eenton City

did not rcflcct an increase a t these locat ions i n DecomDcr. Table I V presents tIu,

r c s d t s 02 thc scrubker nonitoring progrnn f o r those locat ions rh ich q c r s t c d t!roy:>.

out the quarter. T L B B I V

19L9 units y c A i t e r

LCC AT I O:! CC T O Z R i,EiC.GE NOWF'EEI! AW".GE D E C ~ ! ' E L .',vE;X-a

200 "est ,kea Gcte 9.0 x 10-l' 1.6 10-9 1.2 x 10-8 Bcnton C i t y 5.0 x 4.4 x 10-11 4.1 x 10-10 200 E 2 s t - S 6.1 x 1O-lo 4.2 x 1 O - l o 4.6 x 10-9 300 :.rea 1.0 x 10-10 5.2 x 10-11 9.0 x 10-10 Richland 2.5 x 10-10 1.5 x 10-11 3.0 x 10-10 100-11 Area * - - - - 3.0 x 10-11 9.7 x 10-10

* This u n i t pleced i n service Novemkr 1, 1949.

41 rosune' of the e n t i r e zir filter and caus t i c scrubber data for tho qua r t e r ly

p r i o d shons tk.t the a c t i v i t y tht vas airborne did not show any t rend or departure

from previous rasu1t.s during October-IJovernhr c.nd also shorrs t h a t a l l increases ob-

&med during the quar tc r nere confincd t o the nonth of Decen'Ecr end a r c d i r e c t l y

bt t r ibuted t o the a c t i v i t y l i k r c t e d t o the atnosphere on the n ight of Deccnber 3,

1949

I n ac?dition t o the r c u t i n c l y o p r z t o d scrubbers, many units !:ere i n s t d l e d t o

Qec i f i cd ly monitor t he 1-131 tht 32s discharged t o t h e atrcosphcra du r ing t!ie l r p e n

I%?'*. Thesc scrubbers mrc cperated indcpendent of air filters thus the e k vo lme

'brs F ~ S e s s e n t i a l l y a l l 1-131.

tion, 2nd tho r e s u l t s of the sFecia1 monitoring rere Frasented i n

t o t h i s operation.

7crt.

'::st Lreo a t tho 2701 and 2704 Buildings where the avcrcge 1-131 activity over n pr-

!r3 cf e igh t hours vas 2.4 x and 3.0 x ,uc/ l i ter of Z i r , rcspctivcly. F o u -

tcm spcc ia l scrcbbcr co l lec t ions w r e made within the separation meas ard t!m nve-

2. de ta i l ed descr ip t ion of t he equiFc,ent, i ts 10~3-

r e p o r t confined

Sow highl ights of these measuremnts tire included in this re-

The Mglieat 1-131 a c t i v i t y measured i n caus t ic scrubbers ncs found i n th 200

h t nearly a l l locatioiis; the respec t ive co l lec t ion periods inclxded various i n t c r v d s

h t w e n December 2, at 2000 and December 8 , a t 1400.

Thirteen (;f these a p c i a l s c r u b k r snnples r e re col lected f r o c loce t iocs rri thin

the v i c i n i t y of the 100 i zeas. The laucir,um a c t i v i t y m s found a t 190-D h r acd 100-

d ,ire2 yihere the 1-131 a c t i v i t y averaged 6.6 x loo8 and 6.4 x 10-8 & l i t o r , rospect-

i v ~ l y , f o r the period b t v e e n Decemkr 2, a t 2000 and Deccmbar 3, a t 1130.

-25 mgnitude of the 1-131 ac t iv i ty detected cfter Decenkr 3, i n the v i c i c i t y of tk

103 Crccs m i s i n the order of x 10-9 pc/libr of cir.

The am-

Caustic scrubbers were operated during the "green run1f at R i v e r l a d , Eenton City,

'.iclllnnt!, Boise, Spokme, end I[lamath Falls, and with the exception of onc co l l ec t ion

.'rm Benton C i t y tb overcge 1-131 detected i n these Ear.qAcs 32s less then 6.0 x 10-9

x / l i t e r ,

:840, and December 7, a t 1310, shoved 1-131 a c t i v i t y of 3.4 x 10-8 .uc/litor.

ScrubSers t h c t uere located a t E:iscr, Spokane, and Klamth F a l l s , Fiere o p r z t e d t h o -

'3h Dscenbcr 7, and on the Sasis cf continual sonpling, the average 1-131 act ivi ty \;as

less then 3.0 x

The one s m p l e froa Benton C i t y &ich vie3 collzctzd betvieen Decenber 3,

Tbr!

p c / l i t c r n t each location.

The one and cne-hdf inch dismeter f i l t e r p n p r s t h z t mre used i n m n s u r i ~ g the

f i l t e r a b l e kctc a c t i v i t y (Tsble 111) mre rcdionutopEphGd by exposing t:.lc srzU fil-

ter p r p r s to K t;p X-najr f i l m for 168 hours. The r m k r of pn r t i c los Gas V i G U l l Y

ds t imtod by comiting tho n u m h r of i n d i v i d u l dcrkencd spots on the d e v e l o p 3 f i k

i 0 8 2 3 2 8 A-

-32-

~h nmbcr of p r t i c l e s detected on the f i l t e r s from the sz! l oca t ions l i s t e d

in Table I11 ranged from zero t o five p a r t i c l e s Fer f i l t e r , per wek, throughout the

qmrter . The avenge number of p a r t i c l e s detected throughout the e n t i r e qwter was

norm11 l e ~ l usmlly found i n the random co l l ec t ion previous t o September 6 , 1949

2rd the smll f luc tun t ion observed i n the number 03 act ive p r r t i c l e s es t imated f o r

,zch loca t ion nos well n i t h i n the ran? of the usuzl number of p a r t i c l e s randomly I

: d l c ctod

Thc nunbcr of ac t ive p a r t i c l e s detected a t a l l locat ions during this quarter

E p e s e n t 3 s i g n i f i c a n t decrersc frcm t he abnormally high lcvels detected during tho

;mek exding periods of Soptambr 13 and 20, 1949, rrhcn it mas s s t ab l i shod t b k tha

incrcnse of tkt tice 17es due t o e fore ign source rather than t o s p c i f i c &do&

qera t ions . (1)

I n acldition t o the 614 Sui lding a i r filters, spec ia l f i l t e r s i n s t a l l e d a t nu?-

moils locntior?s on and off the Hanford Rorks wre e l s o radioautographed i n an e f f o r t

t c s p c i f i c a l l y estimate the nunlxr of ac t ive p a r t i c l e s detected on f i l t e r paprs,

Those i n s t e l l a t i o n s consisted of f i i t e r i n g e i t h e r 2 or 10 cubic f e e t of a i r p r minub

through LL CFS 4% t n e f i l t e r paper which h2s an ef fec t ivc co l l ec t ion area of about

25 squzre inches.

removed and exposed t o T n e K, X-IZay f i l m f o r CL period of 168 holxs.

Eech unit operated f o r a p r i o Z of one week; the f i l t e r WQS then

Table V inclu6es a smmry of t he calculated ac t ive p a r t i c l e s per cubic neter of

tir sampled rt th l i s t e d l x 3 t i o n s .

1 0 8 2 3 2 9 .

I Y (.

I;

I:

LX ATTON-

21)O -- B a s t & V i c i n i t y

2704 (Outside) ! 11. I. Garden i yl..= J 3Y-16

B. Gate 2224 (Outside 1 2701 (Outside ) 2X1, ( Ins ide) 221-B (Outside Gallery) 2224 Hall 2224 h b o r a t o r y 2701 ( Inside )

200 Fes t & ViciFi ty

27@1 (Outside ) 2722 'f Gate

?3 1 Sa. Guard Toaer U-C,3te W. Guard Toner 2701 ( Ins ide) ,

272 ( Ins ide) 222 -T (I nside )

, * ).,.2..'1' (Outside)

3 ' Lave1 SO' hvc1

l G O 1 Level 150' Level 2CO' Level 250' Level 3001 Level 350' Level 400' Level

0m7 1.2 0-7

3.5 3 0.5 0.9 6.9 503

53 .7 0.3

0.9

. The p a r t i c l e deposi t ion rates i n the v i c i n i t y Of the 200 Areas for C ; O ~ ~ I S .

Octo~r-Novenber-December, 1949, conpare favorably with sinilar da ta obtaipsd Fre-

vious t o Septemker 6,

of p o r t i c l c s detected between S e p t e n k r 6 and September 23 shons a def in i te c!.ecn?ase

occurring during this quar te r ; however, t h i s t y p of conparison would be Wased 8s

tb nunber of p e r t i c l e s found during early September were a t t r ibu ted t o a o u t s u e

A conparison of the current deposit ion r a t e s 94th t i nunter

smrce a . d their nonentory occurrence at Hanford bare ly covered a t a o week plriod.

The p a r t i c l e depos i t ion da ta sham that only a fern particles wore detected out-

side of th2 271-T and 271-B exclusion areas; no loca t ion outside of t h i s region shon-

ed an average deposi t ion g rea t e r than 4.3 x 10-3 psr t ic les /cublc meter of eir during

the quar te r , Witilin t h e exclusion areas, the g r e a t e s t deposi t ion was four!! inside

the labora tory buildings nhere the qua r t e r ly averages were 54 x 10.3 and L,6 x loo3

particles/cubic meter a t the 2224 and 222-T Laboratories, respectively, Tha n u n b r

of p e r t i d e s found n t ozch of thsse loca t ions was about e igh t tires greater than t k

numbm of p e r t i c l e s f0ur.d a t any other locat ion, It is worthy of m n t i o n to cote

t h z t the next highest pr?rticle concentration was also found a t an ins ide locations

the un i t oFerzting innedia te ly outside the gallery i n the 221-B Building shored an

overage of 6.9 x 10-3 pert ic les /cubic neter.

Active p s t i c l e ncni tor ing a t 50' i n t e rva l s a t ths Meteorology Tower showo". 3

questionable difference i n t h e concentrations a t the vmious levels.

the number of p e r t i c l e a detected mas very smll,

the 150' l e v e l vhcre en averzgc of 1.5 x

out t h e q u r t z r .

the inclamont neether,

I n a l l cases

The m o ~ h u n deposi t ion 1x23 found 0%

particles/cubic netor vas founc? th'ough

Very l i t t l e d s t e uere obtained during the nonth of Decenhr t o

Several p z r t i c l e nonitoring units mere i n operation a t various locat ions crowd

the k n f o r d Forks primctcr, i n the nearby r e s iden t in l conmunties,'cnd e t f2r Off-

m a loca t ions i n the states of Wshington, Montana, Oregon,ond Ichho. A locat ion

pd:P i s presented i n F F ~ c z e 12:;hich S!I.CJ~;'S t ] ~ ~ <ist.?nce .nd low.ticns of the off m a

I

1 0 8 2 3 3 1

tions is prcscnted i n Tcble V I ,

TABU3 VI

Lccn t i o n

knforrl Arec Locations 100-8 :ma 100-0 ,‘ire3 3hite B l u f f s 100-F Lrez

3ff drca Loczt ims 3enton City, :!as:ington PES co , ras hingt on Aichlmd, Tkskington Ecise Ideho Klamnth F a l l s , Oregon S t m p d e Pass , %skington Crezt F a l l s , I b n t z m %lla ’hllc, r d d n g t o n i ;E x h m , Wasllingt on Leniston, Iclaho Spoknne, Uzshingtcn

O c t o b r i.veraae

3.5 e0.2 e0.1 40.3 0.2 0.3 0.5

4 0.3 40.3 e0.3 .0.3

Novcmbr i.Vc rare

0.2 4.0.1 0.1

40.1.

c 0.2 ‘0.2 e 0.1

0.5 0.2 0.3

< 1.0 4 0.3 c0.3

003 ‘0.4

Decenber 3uzr tc r l v live race ,‘.verzce

c 0.1 < 0.1 0.1 - -

4 0.2 (2.2 4.0.2 0.1

0.3 4 1.3 0 ,* 0.2 0.5 <0*2

40.1 ~0.3 < 0.1 60.2 (0.1 z0.2 - o* *002 60.1 a0.2 coo1 ‘0.2 <0.1 = 0.2 0.5 0.4

* Thc notors were out of service a t these loc3tions.

The nmker of pzrticles detected a t 011 t’he o f f are2 locnt ions n3s negl ig ib le

The deposit ion r . t u s during these two rzonths nzs i n

The p a r t i c l e

?.wing h’ovenber and Decenber,

good agreement with those observed $wing t h e s m c r mC: e x l y f d l .

deposi t im m t e s for the month of O c t o k r seemd t o I n a c a t e a s rd l resick1 collect-

ion which appzrnntly renaincd froin the higher ntnosptieric tic t i ve p r t i c l e concentrat-

ion observed 2uring the ni?-dle of SepteRber.

SECTION IIr (Please refer t o Figure 12)

\

I I I I I I I I I

c I Y

I z I I I 1 I

I

A I f l - 1

0 9-

E Y

-J--------

FIG. 12

Bbout three times Fer week throughout the period Octohr-December 1919.

of thcse sanples was 500 ml.,

thosc samples nhich were radio-assayed less than twelve hours ef ter t b s sccpls ccs

;a!:en from t h e basin t o minimize tho exorbi tant correct ion f cc to r s CFplicd. f o r decay

of l4.g hour sodium (Na-24).

T h volume

The r c s u l t s discussed i n this report include o.Qy

The average beta a c t i v i t y detected i n these sanFles varied f r o n a b u t 350 t o 1+5C

npc/liter; t he Gverage beta a c t i v i t y 2 c t s c t c d i n the 107 samples during tt.2 qurter

vas 448, 375, 422, and 268 myc/liter a t the 100-B, 100-0, 100-F, end 1004 *em, res

p c t i v e l y . The average a c t i v i t y l e v e l at 100-H was s l i g h t l y 1oY;er then the other 1 O C

Areas a s t h i s area did not s t a r t un t i l 0c tok . r 20, 1949; this ares q c r c t e d at 3

pover l e v e l below 150 i.V during the r eminde r of Oc tokr , The amrage activity v31-

ues i n the 107 waste na te r s i n the 100 Areas showed o s l i g h t increasa during the qua>

t e r , t h i s increase b i n g r s s l l n i t h i n t h e range of f l u c t u t i o n c q e c t a d ir. tk efflu-

ent ua t e r activity.

wre normal; the p o i x r level a t 100-B and 100-F vas 275 1.H a t ecch erea czd nt 100-D

The oFerating conditions of the 100-B, lCO-D, 3r.d 1CO-F Areas

Trcs 3C5 !.?I,

Tho =inurn a c t i v i t y detected i n 107 waste e f f luent Y J ~ S 850 n j u / l i t e r a t the

100-B Area during Novenker.

aid 500 mpc/litcr, but also ncs i n agreement n i t h i! s imi la r me3surerwt mde i n this

L x J . during Apri l 1949, It ;:as suspected t h 3 t those t c o smple3 could. have contniried

Some so l id o r organic material nhich hod nccumulctcd basin a c t i v i t y &fore be ing d i s -

This :7as higher thcn tk expected m i n u n of I x t m e n 400

.

t 0 8 2 3 3 1 1

t d o s i n t o account the rmste fron 1004 h a after Octobcr 20. :.ppoxie;ntely

50 t o 75 cu r i e s of this a c t i v i t y m s from the longer h l f - l i v c d e l e z n t s nhich nould

include Fe-59, P-32, Cr-51, Ca-45, etc. and the remaining e c t i v i t y muld be Frb?Kdb*

from 14.8 hour sodium (Na-24). It was asswed t h a t the cctivitjr fron the shcrt hdf-

l ived (2.6 hours) Ih-56 had decayed.

octive contzrrimtion monitoring of the 107 basins.

the 1~04 sp i l laays ; the a c t i v i t y in these smplcs m s ccfiparcble zi th tbt i n tl-a

107 basin e f f l u e n t samples.

Figure 13 sumnarizcs the restllts of the rzdio-

Spot sccplea mere obtained fron

The averago alpha a c t i v i t y from plutoniun and uraniun i n tla 107 ansta smpbs

averaged less than 10 d i s /n in / l i t e r i n all the 100 Arccs. '

Analyses of the rtaste szmples f o r d F h a Zc t iv i ty fron plutonicn (T.T.A. extrsc-

t i o n nethod) indicated the overage elpha c c t l v i t j t o bo less thm 6 c l i s/ntn/Uter in

samples from a l l areas , There nero no sonples annlyzcd s p c i f l c d l y for ~oloniun o r

sulphui- (3-35) during this period.

Six snnples vere obtained from the lC1t Ditch i n thc 100-F Lrcn. T h bta act-

i v i t y i n thc nater amr2.ged 50 puc/li'cer n i t h t h e morc conccntrztcd a c t i v i t y dctcctcd

at i n l e t .

the b t n a c t i v i t y &s 195 mycp~g.

detectod i n these samples.

The m i n m beta cct ivi ty i n the mud r.23 also found e.t the i r J e t , rrhere

No alpha a c t i v i t y greater th3a 6 cli3/1A.q/gm was

Twenty-five s m p l c s cere taken f ron the 200 East .'.res Retention %sin; tke aver-

age b t a a c t i v i t y i n these samples was 750 ppc/li ter.

these r e s u l t s was indicated i n both the day t o dag fluctuations 3rd t b a diffcrcnco

found by taking s icul taneous sznples f r o n e?.ch of the f o c r b s i n co r~e r s . T k mx-

h u m measured beta z c t i v i t y i n thc 200 East Retention &sin 77s 9603 ,u;ic/litcr; re-

sults betueen 100 ppc/ l i ter And 400 u)rc/liter were not uncom,on.

a p p n r s t o be s i g n i f i c a n t l y high !Then it is compared r d t h th? 200 %st hTc i k t cn t ion

%sin ac t iv i ty .

Considerable va r i a t ion i n

This beta r c t i v i t y

Sixteen sa:.iples teken from the 200 V'est &sin shomd the averago

Very l i t t l e d i f fe rence nas noted i n t h o day t o day r e s u l t s and no d i f f e m n e was ob-

served i n the d i s t r i b u t i o n of the a c t i v i t y i n the 200 Rest basin,

Teble I swmarizes the results of radio-chemical analyses of smn$.ea kkcn froc

the 200 Lrea Vcste S p t e n s :

B?Es AlDha dis/min/kq Beta & Location SerJ:le M a x i m u m . Average ~',zuincn A-rimae

T Srronp Water T Swamp Mud u snamp Rater Laundry Ditch ( I n l e t ) Water Launiby Ditch 600' Water

231 Ditch Ea t a r 200-E "B" Ditch Kud 234-235 Ditch b i t e r 234-23 5 Ditch Nud 2004 I I B I I Ditch Water Lcun6ry LLqt Sol id

Laundry Ditch r.m

35

236 6510 1500 1.1 x 105

24 3.s x lo4

73 5.2 x lod

41 6 l , o x 10,

7.3 x 105

' 1.

13 2.0 x 105

30 792 200

. 6.3 x lod 16

7.0 x 103 25

2.0 x lot

2.2 9 105 r. 6

1.1 190 0.2 0.5 0-3 U O

CO.1 3 W O eO.1 18 1.1 325.

c0.1 55

4 O S 0.2 0.1 75

<0.1 f33 0

b 0.1 11

0.3 ,30

The above r e s u l t s i nd ica t e seveG.1 instonccs of lncreesed r.ctl-d.ty, ~ 0 3 t notably

the a l p b n c t i v i t y detected i n the laundry d i t c h and the WJ" C072n3, T k a p p r e n t

source of this clct ivl ty i s the waste from the processed contaminztod c l o t h s i n tho

Vest Croa Lcurdry,

i n the rrzste l i n e nhich ''-2s col lec ted on the ground i n the d .c i rAt7 of the 200 ??est

Laundry.

iv l ty nnd 6.8 x 108 dis /c in of clphz a c t i v i t y mrc dischrgc t ! i n t o th,o 1r.undrjr e i t c h

during the one week period of study, T h i s cstirration VI-s bescd on t b i co l lec t ion of

ThAs f a c t nns f u r t h e r es tab l i shed by the o l p k a c t i v i t y detected

Continuous sa rp l ing 05' thc lcundry e f f luen t shoved tkt 434 pc of beta ect-

*

I i ! I

I

I

i i I I

i

: 8

1

! i

! i I

!

i

!

! !

i t I f

1, i

i

i I

i I

I I I !

i ?

t #

'.-

ion of the survey i w d i a t e l y after the "green runtt the gener3.l r sd i c t io r , level on

ti= ground did not exceed bcckground. L p i l e of burned ashes, eppmen t ly f ron the

WES burning of weeds along the 200 East "Bit Ditch sho;-red the higkest Fortcblc i m -

trunoiit reading i n tlle 200 Arecs, t h i s reading ves 16,000 counts Fcr rLxite (V.G.2 . ) .

Dscoy and a l d n u n nbsorpticn s tud ios of sarnples of these ashes cre i n sracsss.

. Portable i n s t r u r - n t surveys along the ns s t e d i tches i n t h 200 Hort:?;,rca, shov-

ed t h a t tho avcri.ge r ad ia t ion levels were about 2500, 20,000, and 50,000 c c m t s F r

minute above the i n s t r m e n t background a t the N, P, and 3 D i t c k s , msFoctivoly.

300 m r ; T.#~=

L sunm1-3- of the radio-active contaninztion detected i n sxFlcs k+.xn frm thc

300 Area mstc ponds duri.ng October-Novenker-Decenbr, 194.9 LV.S:

1 0 8 2 3 3 1 -

i

I

t 0 8 2 3 3 8

SECTION IV (Please refer to Figure 13)

- A1 - DEE WSB WED

0' w 0

5 0 z

I I I I H I

I I I I

I H

j-@

F?E I3

The beta

a t i o n s donns t rem frorn the 100 Areas showed e s i g n i f i c c n t b c r e z s e i n a c t i v i t y dUrL

ing t h i s quarter. ? h i s increase i s i n ggod ag raemnt with that observed during the

s m e period i n o the r years, and is d i r e c t l y e t t r lSu tod t o the decreesing flom r a t e

of t!a Columbia River, The source of the rndioect ive cortomination founr! i n the C o j

umbie Rivsr is the p i l e e r f l c e n t which i s 2ischarged i n t o the rivcr efter 2 shor t

hold up i n t-he 107 basins.

The average flon rete of the Columbia River, os measured by the Poi-zer Division

e t R id l lmd , during Octo~r-IJoovfnbcr-De~em~r 1949, vas approxirxttely 455,000 gallo=

p r secogd. The maxinun masured flow during the quc r t e r xes 630,000 gallons per

secGnd as nezsured e a r l y i n Decenkr.

360,000 ~ ~ 1 l O i ; s pzr seccnd noted ecrly i:i Noveaber.

s i g n i f i c a n t l y frorr! thcse recorded i n 1948; the averige f o r the s m e period i n 194.8

mas 413,000 g c l l m s per secmd. Figure 14 sura:-izss th t rend cjf the measured flon

rate of the Columbia during the quer te r ; the de t a for the pre-rlous three montbs cre

The dninur- f l o n dur ing this period vas

These flow r t e s do r o t d i f f e r

Included f o r Q better e v a l u t i o n of the decreasing trend, mentioned above+

ri llie n c r r z l frequency of r i v e r s m p l i n g i s once a week at t h e key locat ions, T k

volwe of t k i e s s sanples i s 500 ILL,

port include on ly t!iose smples rihich were radio-assayed less than t v e l v e hours

e f t c r the senple ne9 t&!cr! from the r i v e r t o rr.inimize tke exorb i tcn t cor rec t ion fac-

tors appIie2 f o r deczy of 74.8 hour s o d i m (.Nn-24.). Tcble 1 s w m r i z e s the r e s u l t s

of t h e radio-chezicsl a r d y s i s f o r the ?.1pa!u and t e t 2 cnit ters in tk riTEr samples:

The r e s u l t s discussed ancl tebulated i n t h i s re- ..i f : i

. I

I

I

1.

1 I I I I ' I

I ' i! I

.. .

. . ' . '1

Vi113 Ranch Above 1@O-B fcsa 1fi1-B Arec 161-D :.reo 181-H Ares 1614 c;Co,a Foster %inch (Eelorr 1GOF) 10 7 4 . 6 915 @O lianj-ord South Bsnk 7 * 6 c 6 3475 2425 Hsnfor?. tYddle 8 t6 46 3775 2225 Ha-dorc! North Bank 9 R 46 3315 1075 300 Arc3 8 7 ' 6 630 4bo Ri c N 3nd 13 7 a 6 1500 900 Pasco Bi-idgc (Kennecrick 3ide)7 46 46 690 345 . Pasco Bridge (Pesco Side) 7 46 < 6 940 4c0

- . . - - -. . . . - -- _---.------- _- ____-._ _------- ..- -.. --.-- -- * Results not confirmed bf subsequent sa~ip les , wt The repor t ing l e v e l for individual sculples is c*a-reRtly establ ished a t ~O,UJIC/

l i t e r ; for an average including 4 or more sclcples report ing l e v e l of 10 ppc/ l i t e r i s used.

Tne bec3lcgrou17d beta a c t i v i t y i n the Colmbia River c m be apprzdscd frm the s m =

ples t a h n E t Rills Sench and above 100-B; of these locat ions e re zbow the H m -

f o r d ops rc t ing piles.

i n d i v i d - x l sz:qle exceedcc? 10 ppc/li ter .

a t t r i b u t e d t o a probable "bnc1caterft e f f e c t caused by t h e lon f l a 7 r?.te of the Col-

umbiz during t h i s q m r t z r . T h i s scrnple locz t ion i s upstre0.n f r o n the 107 C-sckcrrge

The avei-cge activity i n t h s c smples ? x s about 3 Nic/Ubr; no

Tracer h t s cc t iv i t j - Cetected st 131-8 m s

Line end averaged 40 .u;x/liter,

The addi t ion of t k i 1 0 7 4 u s s k r e f l e c t s an avcr.cge bcta cc t iV i t7 of 690 ppc/

l i t e r a t the 100-D s e q l i n g l o c ~ t i o n ,

crease e s the sampling prcgresscs doviistrezln, the contributing 130 !Lma ~ a s t e s cms-

ing a v e r s p bets a c t i v i t y of 800 and 750,upc/litcr i n the r imr r&er a t 181-2' an8

181-H, r e q e c t i v e l y .

a t the sane locat ions, during tlz s8r.e Fcriod i n 1948.

fac tor 02 newly trro . a t 181-l?, and a t the Hnnford South Bonk,

Arec, and i t 3 continua3 opcrstion t r t n powr level of 275 IT! sicce e a l y 3mcnkr, is

4 n ~ of t!lc c m t r i b u t i n g f ac to r s which clay influence t l~is increase.

Beta a c t i v i t y i n the riwr cDntinues tc in-

Each of t!icse averr..gcs was considcrsbly MChzr t k n t b s a v e r z i p

This increcse c2prorrches a

The startiup of 100-K

i i !

!

i I

j 1 I

I

I

I

I

1

i l

'I

i-- !

he d i s p r s i o n of the a c t i v i t y across the v id th of the rivcr cgain shons 0 mi-

formity i n the anount of e c t i v i t y car r ied b t m e n the southbznlc end the niddle a t

Hanford, The act ivi ty on tho surface necr the north bank cas about one-Elf t b t

detected i n s m p l e s klcen from the middle and necr the south bank.

pat tc rn s e e m t o change each par, the only f c c t o r which can b knoningly assoc ia ted

r i t h this chznge is the high aster stage occurring around Ihy and June, nkxich my

s h i f t t!m pA.n channel of the r i v e r and a f f e c t t h d i s p r s i o r . of the a&ni.ttcd 100

!,rea rzdioact ive c s s t e s .

t he I x t E a c t i v i t y masurcd by toldng cmss-scc t icn river ssnplzs a t -knIord; dn ta

f o r 1947 2nd 1948 are i n c l d o d f o r coryparison.

river a c t i v i t y as cor2pzred n i t h thr: opcrst ion of trro pi le a r c s i n 1947, three p i l e

meas i n 1948, and four p i l e areas in 1949.

This disFersion

Figure 15 portrays the cross river d ispers ion p s t t c r n of

T h i s graph also shom t h e increase i n

The beta a c t i v i t y masured i n rivcr sanples a t downstream loca t ions did not re-

f l e c t the cagnitude of difference noted near Hsnford. T h i s fact m y tC accounted f o r

i n p a r t by the decreasec! r i v c r flow r a t e vhich is more pronounced a t dormstreem loca-

t i ons md reduces the speed of the r i v c r ol loving for add i t iona l decry of the Ne-24;

the added d i l u t i o n effect of tho Yokiric River, shculd also be included as a contr ib-

ut ing fector . The averqe bts act ivi ty i n r i v e r szmples token nee3 Pnsco, m s about

400 ppc/ l i te r i n 1949 as conpared n i t h an overage of 260 uyc / l i t e r during the s x i ~

_period i n 1948, ! (1)

I S n p l e s taken on aech s ide of the r i v e r a t Pnsco indicated that t h e clctivity on !

I

I

the south s ide of the r i v c r cas egcin socenhat lover thm that mcswed on the nor th

side; cvcragcs during tbe qurtcr were 345 and 480 y y c / l i t c r on the sou th 2nd north

s ides , respectively. I

This diffcrence m y ke due t o the Y-kina River, vhich e n t e r s

the Colunbiz R i v e r on the south bank cnd thus probably shifts thc o c t i v i t y i n dorm-

stream Colunbia Eater to the north bank. (1)

E t h c r - e x t r x t i o n f o r uranium and f o r plutoniun ~70re mde on all rivcr sanplos and

(1) IlF-13743 (Sccret D o c w n t ) L d i w . c t i v e Contnninntion I n Thc Environs O f The Han- ford Yorks For The Period Octotcr. Hovenlxr, Dececkr , 19L8. To f i l e f ron Y . Singlcvich end E. J. Pass. - 45 - - \ i j g 2 3 t r 2

- 46 - shoved the avereges t o be less than the detcctcble

i .

loczt ions. Table I inclucles the m i n u n results Of the d p h u mcsurerents; a fen

sacples which indica ted s l i g h t l y g rea t e r than 6 d i s /n in / l i t o r were eo t confirmd by

thc subsequent neekly samples

Fee!cly river samples were obtnined from the Y & i m River a t t h o nouth End a t

the Horn,

cnd ne:r the sliore a t the Horn, sho;red alpha and hta a c t i v i t y bclot7 the detect ion

linits crf t h e amlyses . The measurer!ents f o r the background a c t i v i t y vere conpar-

rb l e w i t h those nnde i n the Columbia River water above the 100-B h a .

Smples taken near the shore, and i n the niddle of the river at the nouth,

S e w r d sanples were obtoincd frm neerby rivers and streams; each of these s m -

ples showed biclcgrcunc2 alphn a c t i v i t y conpcrablo with the bsckground masurenents i n

the upper Colunbia and Y d c i m a Rivers.

a c t i v i t y mere the Etlhuer, Deschutcs, V i l l i nzkon , and Grznde Ronde Rivers. i r l l these

rivers 2.ro located south 2nd sou thms t of the Hanford iorks and have t h e i r headvaters

i n the riounteinous rcgfons i n &CGOQ.

R i v J e r sanples analyzed f o r kackground raclio-

Supplsrsnting ths d i r e c t smpl ing of the Columbia River w.ter, one hunlrcd and

fifty-six nud s m p l e s cere obtained from nine shore locations.

ed frm locz t ions on shore, c s well as five f e e t out f ron the shore l ine ,

i od of rcccZing r i v e r f lov, it noulc! ?x c x p c t e d tht the on-shore smples should 'De

s l i g h t l y higher i f the a c t i v i t y i n the r i v e r deposited along the b, -nLs as the water

receded.

r e l a t j v s l y constant througho5t quzrter .

Smples =re obtnin-

In a per-

! ! T h i s trend FT?S not observed during this quarter QS the r iwr flow remined I

I

Table I1 s w m i z e s the bc-ttl c c t i v i t y ms ;u rcd i n saEples tsken f ron represer.t-

otive locat ions.

,: -1 *-'

Near Sills Ranch 9 22 t l l a r d Pump S t a t i o n 9 22 ,It 100-iI Area 6 35 Below 100-F Area 9 38 Richland Dock . 10 42 A t 300 Lrea 9 156 Pasco Bridge (Pasco Side) 9 39 Pasco Ericlgc (Xenncrdck Si?.e)9 27 Hxifor? Fer ry 8 32 .- --- -. - I - ---.

u 20 12 14 18 17 22 39 18 73 50 171 15 22 15 33

4 4 17 .-___ - -- .

12 11 13 25 22 34 15 16 QQ

I These ciud sanples were a l s o analyzed for alpha a c t i v i t y from plutonium e n d l o r

uranium b3 t h e e ther -ex t rac t ion mthod, snd s p e c i f i c a l l y f o r uraniun by tf?e fluoro-

photor-etcr method.

f o r one senplc fron thc 300 !.re3 i;!lich contained 25 dis/nin/gran. T h i s snnple d o n g

with the occurrence of higher t .hn norm1 b t a a c t i v i t y along the 300 k e a shorel ine

i 1 I t

T h i s ac t iv i ty vm less t h n 2 dis/nin/grcln i n a l l cases except

prompted a spc iz t l survey of the nu3 i n this v ic in i ty .

varying d is tances from thc shorel ine, along approxi r i to ly 200 yards of shorcline.

The results of the nmlysas of tl-ese samples shored t h a t a vide v a r i a t i o n i n b t h the

k t a and alpha o c t i v i t y ex i s t ed i n t h i s rcgion. The k t a a c t i v i t y rangor? f r o n 5 !yc/

kg t o 60 mpc/lig r d t h a predodnmcc of r e s u l t s around the l o r e r f igure . The alpha

ac t iv i ty i n the s x e s x p l e s vcr ied from less t h i n 2 dis/nin/gran t o 2300 dis/nin/

g r m ; the ur.niu! vzried f ro r , less thsn 1 ug U/gram t o 12 tig U/grcm.

Sanples were obtained a t

This wide var-

i a t i o n shows t!Bt i t d i f f i c u l t t o evzluate a t rue averege contaninat ion p i c tum

a t t h i s locet ion,

veys ail1 be mte i n an e f f o r t t o resolve t h i s problen,

?eather ccnclitions permitting, add i t iona l an2 nore thorough sur-

The a l p h and t e tz x t i v i t y mecsurcd a t the other 1ocZ.tions along the r i v e r . h S

i n very good agreement l i i t h the pas t data.

Raw r iver mater i n the Colunbia River export liiic vhich is subsequently used for

dr ink ing purposes i n t h e arexi was scmpled a t the 183 buildifigs i n t he 100 fzess end -

HIS-17003-

233 buil2ings i n the 200 Lress, The alpha a c t i v i t y

from plutonium cnd /o r urmiun an2 f o r t he ?xtc c c i t t c r s .

emi t te rs indicated lcss than 6 dis/min/li tcr i n all smFlzs; the beta-gYme activity

[Analyses f o r the alpha

measured i s tabuloted i n Toblc I11 .

Lac;? t im Numker Samples .

183 Building 1004 f ~ o a 11 183 Ruilding 1004 / see 11 183 Euilding 100-F CJea 11 183 Building 100-H !sea 11 283 Ijuilding 2004 iima 19 283 Building 200-7 iAmn 19

25 305

1170 517 121 146

10 165 355 290 45 45 __--- _-.- -__.-_..-__ - - - -_-I---.-- - .-.-. . - -----.--. - ----

The keto act ivi ty detocted i n the rm mater was s l i g h t l y highor during this

quarter , this i n c r e a s o a s a d i r a c t e f f e c t of the increased r:.dioactivc contcn imt ion

i n the Columbia Rivcr w t e r Lrhich is the source of t he a c t i v i t y detected. Tho keta

a c t i v i t y detected i n the r m m t c r i s t h e sarie a c t i v i t y vhich suboequently is found

i n the s s n i t z r y wter supply of the crea drinking nator. Thc differenco i n activity

noted when co;.iparing tk 100 !.ma da ta w i t h the 200 Lrea ikta con bo a t t r i b u t e d t o

the dcccy o f t h 113-24, tb decay period being dependent on the lcngth o f time taken

t o t r m s p c r t thLs n2.tt.r t o the 200 Lre2.s.

95 Fer cent of t t a zict ivi ty i n the ne t e r was Ncl-24,

!ister i s contributed bj d e p s i t i o n of s tack e f f luen t on the r e t e n t i o n basin -:.-.-.ter

i n the s e p e n t i o n ereas is not ye t known with any degrec of confidence.

Deczy s tud ie s indicntod t h n t slpproxiwtoly

Fhether any a c t i v i t y i n this

The incr6;sed l x t a cc t iv i t j r found. i n the raw c a t e r during t h i s quar te r prompted

T h i s FrOgrln the d i r e c t s?.nplinii; of the ran nstor re ten t ion ponc3 i n the 200 Zrcas.

!'as s t a r t s d i n Decerdxr,

'tveragc b t z c c t i v i t y t o ke 300 u]ic/l i ter i n thc 200 East ires.

ed i n the 200 Yest bnsin nos lcss thcn 50 ppc/ l i tcr .

The i n i t i a l r e s u l t s fror. f i v e of thcse sai~ples shoved the

The a c t i v i t y detect-

These r e s u l t s inrl icrted the

nagnitcde of a c t i v i t y tkt debt te e x p c t c d i n the basin; the vide va r i a t ion found

1 0 8 2 3 4 5

I

The ran water and r s t e n t i o n pond samples tabulated a b m . also w t l p - e d fcr

The alpha 6ctiqity d o b c b d r;as l o s s . alpha activity by the e ther -ex t rac t ion method.

than 6 dis/nin/liter i n all saEples.

Figuro 16 is a graphic p resen ta t ion of the beta act ivi ty dotccbd in tb ran

natcr supp,ios and includes the quarterly avorage and mxinun, as z ~ n 3 m d zt cac!i

urea.

of siriler beta ac t iv i ty masurenents i n the sanit-xry su?plics of th ~3-ccc t i rz

areas.

This Graph may be cornparod n i t h Figure 20 in Section V which s h m 3 the results

SECTION V (Pleas2 refer to FS-pros 14,15, and 16)

I

I

i j

I

I

i ! ! !

i I

I

2 I

a W m 0 I- 0 0

I I

0 d C 0 0 C o I- 0 cu <

c

0 0 (0

< C II

0

n G. 14

ill . ...

I ESTIMATED DISPERSION OF AVERAGE BETA ACTIVITY

IN THE C O L U M B I A RIVER AT THE HANFORD FERRY

OCTO6 ER = NOVEMBER - DECEMBER

n

1947'

3 AREAS OPERATING

. . . . . 1 0 0 - 5 0 0 y y c / I i t e r - - -- .. - 500-1000 4yc I l i te r - . - . - 1000-l500 w&c/titer

m F iG. 15

- x z

a

a a w >

cn I I i a w a a w I

I - 1 I

S 8 0 Q

t- 1 I I I I o

0 I L

I

. I I 0 0 d d 0 d

0 0 (3 0

I !

0 0 0 0 In * m (u

-3 1

. - t - ! . .

1

1

One hundred end forty-four r a i n samples were co l lec ted fron th i r ty- four l acs -

t i o m on and adjacent t o t h e site. The n m k r of samples from eRch location var ied

from three t o scveii 83GIph3, deFen2ing on the amount of p r e c i p i t z t i o n mezsured at t k

wide-sprecd aarrc@ing locations.

Teble 1 summrizes the rainfP.11 da ta f o r the quar te r ; the f igures presented

represent the t o t a l p rec ip i t a t ion end include measured r a i r f e l l as well P.S the m e a -

ured Re1ter-i snoF;, The l%@ dzta is included for comparison.

units of 0.01 inches

1948 0.45 0.95 1.U 2.51 1949 0.10 1 .47 0.16 1.73

The ell time 35 year avsrage ra infal l f o r this qua r t e r ::as 2.3 inches; the cur-

r e n t quarts? 52s extreEaly d ry nhen cospared with this aveyage, The f a r mjority of

rain samples w r e co l iec ted r2-ming Noventer as this month accounted f o r 85 p r ccnt

of the t o t 2 1 rainr'aU. s'

A view of the De ta -cc t iv i ty measured i n ra i l i fa l l samples shovied tbt the res-

ults iTbich T m - 2 obtained im.ediatoly after the " p e e n runn on Decemter 3, were cog-

siderably higher tkzn an2 r e s u l t s obtained during Octobcr and Noventer, The highest

e c t i v i t y :r&s detezte? i n a sanr9.e taken within thr: 200 East Area nhich contdned 271

mpc/litcr. This e.ct ivi ty m s cmsidcrcbly higher than t h a t found z t the o thm three

locat inns i i i the 200 East A x a where nexirnum results were 88, 33, and 47 nuc/liter,

r e s p o c t h l y .

"green runn vas Csmd ins ide the 20C Tiest h e c .

i n the 200 :Jest ?ireas as corrpared crith tl qacz ter ly t ~ v e m g c of 25 mpc/liter i n the

200 Enst .Ar~z.

I n general, thc. bulk of the txta ac t iv i t j r cc l lec tcd in r a i n dtcr the

3etn a c t t v i t y avcreged 4 l npc/liter

The maximum beta a c t i v i t y detected i n rein i n the 200 Pest k e a M ~ S

167 wic/ i i lxr , three o ther l ocs t ions ins ide the 200 Test Ilrez. shoiied

\Ofj2350 - 53 -

-inurn act ivi ty of 161, 159, and 63 m c / l i t e r , The mexinun Z c t i v i t i e s Ent iorEd

me 1 5 t o 25 times higher thm the m;ixiinuns t h a t were measured previous t o the

"green runu.

The m c x i m u m bta a c t i v i t y mensured i n r c i n co l lec ted on the pro jec t outside of

the s e p s r i t i o n ereas HES 112 muc/liter.

Towar and corqzres fi?w::Cbly with a m3xbum r e s u l t of 105 m!ic/liter detected i n e

s m p l e col lected a t the Betch Plant , The maxinun b ts a c t i v i t y masured in r r i n i n

the i n t e m e d i a t e zone kefore the "green runtt was 10 mjic/liter i n n s m p l e collected

a t the Ekteorology Tower.

T h i s sample T ~ S col lected at the Meteorology

Trventy-eight samples were col lected i n the v i c i n i t y of the 100 Areas. Very

l i t t l e d i f fe rence w2.s otsemed i n the b t n a c t i v i t y measured t e fore and after th

l tgmen run". The c jar te r ly averclge kt3 a c t i v i t y i n rein i n tilis region m s 0.A mpc/

l i t e r , wi th - i n n results cf 1.7 mc! 2.7 Cuc/li ter before and ef ter the "green run1',

re spe c t ive ly,

Nineteen sa rp le s vere obtained from l o cc t icns outside the Ferirceter k r i c a d e .

Tho highest svero,,oe be t s a c t i v i t y i n r a i n MS found a t Pcsco where seven m p l e s ave-

raged 10.5 ~ y c / l i t s r . T h i s everage 17x3 influenced by one sample collected inrzdiate$

sfter the tlgresn runtt ~ h i c h cantained 69 r!!vc/liter.

side 1ocntior.s .%fter the Itgreen runBt nere Riverland 18 m,uc/litar; Bentcn City U.7

npc/ l i ter ; and iiic:hlxd 2.0 nuc / l i t e r ,

Other m a x i m u m r e s u l t s from out-

Figure 17 is a gr?.phic Fortr2yd. of the r e s u l t s obt?ined from the ra in saEpling

T h i s gr iph includes the qua r t e r ly average bet:! activity program during the q u x t e r .

detected i n szzples f r o n eo-sh cf' thc f ive zones estnblished, and shoim the naxinum act

i v i t y detected previous t c end 2ftrr the " p e e n run11.

Three of the saeples col lected lrmediately z f t e r the 11gmcn runn r e th in five

Ldlcs of the 200

p e r minute.

tng t h n t tile bLSt3 emitter i n these r z i n s m p l e s viis 8 d3y iodine (1-131)-

!sea 3hor;~d h i x i 2 1 courhing rates of 15, U.6, cnc! 291 CoU!tS

Deczy s tud ie s shoved the h d f l i f e t o be essenti:lly e igh t ili%.Ys i d c o t -

1 0 8 2 3 5 1

ticles were detecteZ on these s m p l c s , h o m w r , the radiorutogxphs icdicatcd on

~ ~ n 3 . y d i s t r i b u t e d activity, nhich m s b l i e v e d t o be 1-131 on th basis of the decay

studies abovc. !

SZCTION V I (Phase refer to Figure 17 )

H W-1700:

IC

9

8

7

6

St

4(

ai

Zt

IC

C

Six hundred and forty-three drinking Tiater sonples were enalyzed during the per-

iod Octobr-December, 1949,

liter sacples end the remainder were 500 ml. samples.

One hundred and thir ty- three of these somplea were 12

The 500 nl, samples were analyzed for beta and alphz a c t i v i t j ; the 12 l i t e r am-

Fles were analyzed p r l n a r i l y f o r the alpha emit ters .

sruniiles were analyzed spec i f i ca l ly f o r uraniun by the fluorophotoneter athod, Thoso

Representative d r i n t i n g water

sanples i n which addi t iona l alpha a c t i v i t y was indicated, were analyzed f o r plutoniun

by the TTA ex t r ac t ion process.

The frequency of sampling the various loca t ions varied from daily t o monthly; t

this frequency depnd ing on the locat ion, the probabi l i ty of contanination, and the

t rend of the current e c t i v i t y detected.

during the nonth of Deccebr , as the e f f o r t s of t he f i e l d progran were tenporar i ly

devoted t o s p c i o l studies.

The overall smpl ing frequency decreased

A t race quant i ty of c l p k a c t i v i t y continued t o bc detected i n the vel1 systems

of Richlznd and b n t o n City, these measurcmnts confirm similar observations i n the

past, The alpha c c t i v i t y found i n these systems was confirmed t o be f r o n uraniun,

which is believed t o occur naturally i n these arees.

v i t y of 21 ug/ l i te r nzs found i n the Benton City Dater Company well; t h i s l oca t ion

also shoned the moxi~u~~ iArdivi&ul r e s u l t of 45 ug U/litcr.

underground Richland q - s t s m i s about one-fourth of the a c t i v i t y i n Benton City.

maximum averzge a t a Richland locetion was 8 ug U/li tcr n i t h e ncvimum of 1s ug U/

l i t e r .

eanples token f rom the Richlznc! and k n t o n C i t y creas, respectively,

F.birnm average uranium acti-

Uranium a c t i v i t y in the

T h

Figures 18 2nd 19 portrcy the results of the s l p h a c t i v i t y measured i n

Table I i s i: s \ u . w ~ ~ y of t h o a l p k a c t i v i t y masurcd in drinking rioter at loca-

t i o n s which cont inual ly show posi t ive alpha a c t i v i t y ,

- 57 -

!

2ichlrnd #2 16 Richlnnd Ye11 //4 1 5 Richl.nnd fie11 E5 11 Bichlmd ?e l l #v 19 Richlond R l l #15 13 Richlcnd ?ell ,"ls 11 Scnton C i t y Store 33 Bettor. C i t y Ycter C0.40 CobIutr: CCorrrcr 25

9 9 7 12 9 7 12 29 7

I2 6 5 9 10 9 20 20 4

5 18 4 8 3 7 7 8 9 10 4 8 7 13 9 45 3 8

8 6 3 6 6 5 3

21 2

*Thc nurcbcr of semples from each locotioil above var ied ketueon 5 and 10,

I n rdd i t ion t o t h e loca t ions s u m r i z e d above, pos i t ive c l p h act ivi ty nz.s occ-

as iona l ly detacted i n i n c l i v i d u l sacples f r o n sever2.1 othcr loce t ions , but i n no CBSQ

do the subsequent scnples conf i rn theso z c t i v i t y cencurezients. Tables If and IE , swmr?rize the results of the alphe. and. bctz. ' a c t iv i ty m a s u r e m n t s i n dr inking m t e r

samples frsn 2.11 loczt ions; t h i s ta51c includes the t rcce a c t i v i t i e s cent iored above.

Ektc a c t i v i t y mcs-ured i n the 500 nl. s m p l e s shorled t h s t with the except ion of

The those locc t i cns nezr the r i v e r , the overa l l avcr:.ge 1.~3.~ less than 10 pp,c/l i tcr .

loczt ions which verc Eecr t he Colunbia River, o r nhose r::n rvator n2.s tcken d i r e c t l y

from the Colunbia River indiczted t race anounts of b-ts trctivity i n tho rlzter.

ples of ti?;., lc t tc r czse include Pcsco, knncvick, and those snn i to ry vc t c r supp1ic.s

i n the zl'e2.s ct If;rdcrc! Vorks. h x i m u n e c t i v i t y o f 215, 160, end 145 ppc/ l i te r w a s

detected 25 kr,?ealck, k.nns:.rick Highlands, nnc? Pcsco, r c s p c t i v e l y .

k t a Ccti-dty c z s L!.:, 85, an;! 85 !ipc/litcr et these locat ions, rcsFect ively,

average be tc nct ivi t j r i n the m e a s.?.ni+.ary suppl ies m s about 20 ppc/litcr with occ-

asional r e su lc s rpp rnxh ing 100 jqc / l izer .

PRSCO an2 Kenretirick s q p l i e s ciscussed above, t h i s c p y r e n t l y i s d w t o the ZZditioncl?

n t e n t i o n p r i o d m d the durat ion of the t ransport Feriod of tho c,rc.n, raw nztor. In

sorcpnring thc: e c t i v i t y of the arcn rw mtcr vdth the arc3 s c n i t s r y r:etor, it 173s

l'nund that tho bctn a c t i v i t y i n the rw nater m s ahaut six tirncs as high 2s th2.t

h m -

Tho everage

The

These r c s u l t s are soncrthat l o m r thcn the

masured i n the arc?. s a n i t a r y mtix-. from the 100

1 uEia.355 i

LO2 ,'.TI ON

Foster's Rench

Colmbia Cmp

HeadEate

Scnitary H 0 k-rlford #7

3000 .'sea re11 L 2

3000 hrcs l e 1 1 c 3000 k e a ?ell I!

3000 l z e n ?ell E

RicXLccd #15

Richland $16

RicbJ?.nd #I8

Tract House K-748

3

2

2

4

cc 5

3

4

4

2

2

5

a

6

2

2

3

4

1

6

1

3

4

3

5

5

10

2

4

3

2

4 2

4

s 12

6

5

9

10

L 2

9

4

2

2

2

2

3

4

2

2

2

2

4 2

4 2

3

5

6

3

7

9

4 2

4

4

(Cont'd.)

L E .'.T I OX

Tract House 5-685 '2

Benton City Store 6

Benton City & t e r Compgny C e l l 6

20

20

7

9

Cobb's Ccrner 5 4

2

3

Kennccick Highlands 5 L 2

Konncvick Standard Station 5 2 4

Enterpr ise

Rivc r 1 2nd

6

5

3 '. 2 3 4 2

Prlidi72y 5 - L 2 ' 4 .

6 mills Ra.r.ch 5

Pas co 5 4 2

Scgerson's Rench 5

T i s t o l h n g e 5

300 Lree Sanitery 3

T!hitc Gluffs Ice House 5

3 L 2

4 3

4 .c2

5 2

L E AT1 ON Foster's Ranch Vel1 Colmbia Camp He ad ga t e Hanford Vel1 #1 Sanitary H20 Hanford #7 Raw H 0 Hanford #7 3000 &ea Well C 3000 Area F e l l B 3000 ,kea !?e11 C 3000 Area Fell D Richland '7e11 #l.3 Richland F e l l #2 Richlnnd V e l 1 #4 Richland Y e l l $5 Richland p e l 1 #l4 Richland ?ell if15 Richland Pe l1 #18 Tract House J-685 Eenton C i t j S tore Benton C i t y H20 Co. Cobb' s Corner Enterpr i se Ke m e v i c k €ii ghl snds

Nunher Sarnule s -

9 10 10 6

30 13

5 6 6 4

45 7 7 4 8 5 8

10 10 9

10 l o 9

bnnewick Stgndard S te t ion 9 Fasco 9 P i s t o l Range 10 300 Ama Saiii tary 40 lYhite Bluffs 9

100-F 10 100-H 27 100-B 10 23043 16 200-7 18

Sani ta ry H20 100-D 10

14 19 6 10 8 8 6 11 7 6

16 16 1 5 11 19 13 11 8

33 40 25 c 2

1 5 5 6 7

43 3 5 3 7 5 6 6

4 2 5 2 5 3 3 4 5 3 4 6 9 9 7 12 9 7 3

12 29 7

6 2 4 2 2 5 6

4 2 2 2 2 2 4

4 2

A 10 ' 10 4.10 15 18 135

24 11

c 10 c 10 18 16 77 29 58

L10 39 16 32 15 16 14

160 2 17 146 16 76

177 30 85

113 16 4-4 52

4.10 < l o 4 0 610 410 15

c 10 4 10 4 10 L10 *lo d 0 15 I2

4 10 e 10 4 10 4 10 e 10 410 c 10 a10 85 u4

85 10 - 10 56 16 56 34

610 16 11

- 6;c " Lh-wQJl 1 L;U ~:-l,~wm - k e a t o the 200 .',reas wss astimcted t o be about 10 to 11 horns by the Pmer Division,

This t rcnspor t t i m e is s u f f i c i e n t t o account f o r the decay of the l4.8 hour sodium

(Na-24) i n the rev river export lines such tkt the a c t i v i t y i n the 200 Are& sani tary

m t c r should Ce about one half tht of the 100 Area s;mitc.ry wter.

ve l1 subs tan t ia ted by evidence obtnincd i n necsuring ac tunl radioect ive c o n t d n a t i o n

?n the vmious mater sources.

3-0, I t!ie l @ C .Ire& s a n i t a r y azter was 16, 56, and 34 ,uyc/l i ter at 100.9, 100-E', and

LC3-E drezs , resycc t ive ly , The a c t i v i t y i n samples fron tho 200 Psecs Everaged 16

*;nd 10 puc/ l i te r i n 200 E a s t and 200 West Areas, respect ively,

.

This f e c t is

For example, the avorage a c t i v i t y detected i n sanpfes

Figure 20 reviorvs the r e s u l t s of thc beta a c t i v i t y naerrsured i n the a rea scnitzry

vater supplies during the quarter . These my te compared with D s i n i l a r review of

+he beta a c t i v i t y r ~ a s u r z d i n tb raw vater suppl ies which appear i n Sect ion V of

b h i s repor t ,

One hundred ond ninety samples riere obtcined from the t e s t vells on and nrljacent

b,o ';he s i t e ,

i i t e r omples ,

I n the 300 &rea,

ruprly f o r 300 Aree San i t a ry water,

:'ined t o ?%L #2, as it nas found t h a t of the four 300 Aree sells t h a t V!ell #2 con-

t a h e c ! the leest mount of uranium contanination, The t o t a l v o l w tnlcen from t h i s

xtll. during the q w t e r m s 998JCO gcllons.

One h u d r e d and sixtj-tvo of these samples were 500 d.. and 28 =re 12

The only wells rrhich shorred m y detectable a c t i v i t y were those locate3

Soce of these 300 h e z ce l l s are occasionally used as Q .:ource of

The pumping i n t o the san i t a ry system vas con-

O f t h i s volwne none srcs pumpd in Oct-

i t e r ; 286,100 ge.lLns i n Novezhr; and, 712,000 &lons i n December, Forty-nine, 500

(-1. YLnplea fron '?ell #2> shomd an cverage alpha a c t i v i t y of 75 dis /n in / l i t e r ; the

?~(iaun a c t i v i t y 172s 1800 c?is/r&liter.

this n e l l ; the average t7as 30 ug U/litar and the maxinun 197 ug U/litcr,

Urmiun vas detected i n a l l samples fron

Considerable Jay tc, day v z r i s t l o n i n esch of the c c t i v i t y rrenstrenents was observed and it is

p?urcnt tkt cor2irming r e s u l t s are 2 i f f i c u l t t o obtain, Table N surrmrizes the

" ~ P v ~ L P obtained from the measurement of t h e alphrr z c t i v i t y i n thc 300 Area Fell SYS-

c 311.

23 00 315 55 5 5 1770 75 8 5 33 5 20 16 11 730 110 0 - - -

70 2co 50 9L

55 30 15 5 0 - -- _ - _ . ----- - ..-._---- - -.--

* Result represent only tno samples from each location.

Figure 21 portrays the results of the day t o day a l p h activity m g u r e d in

300 Area '?e11 #2, and a l so indicates those dates on which water was &Acted to the

sanitary system, S E C T I O N V I 1

(Please refer to Figures 18,19,20, and 21)

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