Characterization of an Aerosol Sample from Three Mile Island Reactor Auxiliary Building

摘要

The accident which occurred at the Three Mile Island Unit Two Nuclear Generating Plant on March 28, 1979 resulted in contamination of the containment and auxiliary buildings. Analyses were performed for: (1) radioisotopic composition and (2) dissolution characteristics of material collected on a filter during a week of continuous air sampling in the auxiliary building. This work was done to help characterize the environment in which cleanup operations are being performed. Gamma and alpha spectroscopy along with scanning electron microscopy were employed to determine the elemental and isotopic composition of the aerosol. The major radioisotopes found on the filter were exp 89 Sr, exp 90 Sr, exp 134 Cs and exp 137 Cs. Dissolution behavior of the aerosol in a synthetic serum ultrafiltrate containing DTPA was determined using both static and flow-through systems. (ERA citation 06:018616)