Monitoring Particulates in Process-Water Effluent from an Industrial Nuclear Installation

摘要

Examination of particulate radioactivity in nuclear industrial effluents has apparently received little attention. However, many nuclides of interest have a high affinity for particulate matter. Such particles may be poorly dispersed in the environment. Therefore this aspect of effluent monitoring was of interest. We built and tested a system for on-line continuous sediment recovery from a process water effluent. Work was initiated following discovery of particulate radioactivity in the sediments of the Ottawa River near the Chalk River Laboratories of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd (AECL). Some of the particulates were nuclear fue.l and corrosion debris. We have found that the system is a novel and useful addition to routine liquid effluent monitoring.