Summary of Recent Air Sampling Results at a Radioactive Waste Management Site

Authors

K. W. Jacobson, C. F. Eberhart

Abstract

The Meteorology and Air Quality (MAQ) Group at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) maintains and operates a large network of environmental air samplers called AIRNET. Some of these samplers are placed in or near Area G, a radioactive waste management site in the semiarid environment of the Pajarito Plateau, near Los Alamos. Area G contains both active and inactive (capped) low-level radioactive waste pits and shafts. In addition, a significant amount of handling and storage of transuranic (TRU) and low-level mixed waste occurs at Area G, and activities at Area G have had impacts on the local air quality that have been detected by AIRNET. For example, one Area G location has had the highest measured concentration of tritium in the Los Alamos area because of tritium vapor released from nearby buried radioactive waste. This paper discusses the operation of the AIRNET program and presents recent air-sampling data taken in or near Area G.

Meeting

This abstract was presented at the 37th Annual Midyear Meeting, "Air Monitoring and Internal Dosimetry", Effluent and Environmental Monitoring Session, 2/8/2004 - 2/11/2004, held in Augusta, GA.

 
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