1. Airborne radioactivity measurements from the chernobyl plume
- Author
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K. M. Busness, W. G. N. Slinn, J. F. Boatman, Walter K. Hensley, E. A. Lepel, W. E. Davis, and D.E. Robertson
- Subjects
Radionuclide ,Oceanography ,Nuclear Energy and Engineering ,Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ,Environmental science ,Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and imaging ,West coast ,Pollution ,Spectroscopy ,Analytical Chemistry ,Air filter ,Plume - Abstract
Airborne gamma-ray measurements were made aboard the Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) DC-3 and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) King Air research aircraft before and during the first passage of the Chernobyl radioactive cloud over the west coast of the North American continent. Measurements were made from Anchorage, Alaska south to Reno, Nevada. Calculated trajectories were used to estimate the location of the Chernobyl plume. The in-situ gamma-ray analysis systems first detected the cloud on May 8, 1986. Subsequent analysis of concurrently collected air filters indicated that the leading edge of the plume was just reaching the west coast of the United States on May 6, 1986. The ratios of the observed volatile radionuclides (131I and134Cs normalized to137Cs) agreed with the reported discharge ratio.
- Published
- 1988
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