THE STUDY OF THE BEHAVIOR AND SIGNIFICANCE OF CERTAIN RADIOACTIVE ISOTOPES FOUND IN THE SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANTS OF SELECTED CITIES Summary of Findings for 1960-1961 Part B: Study of Short-Term Variations and Behavior of Certain Gamma Activities in the Hyperion Treatment Plant (1960-1961)

摘要

This part of the report deseribes short-term characteristics of the Hyperion Treatment Plant that can be deduced from following the tags provided by aertain gamma-ray emitters In the sewage and sludges* Data is given indieating quantitatively the lag in the digesters and in other parts of the system, and further data is given on the partition of cesium between liquid and solid fractions. Examples of trial budgets of tagged flow are given in order to demonstrate the difficulty in following tags in a treatment plant during periods when input concentrations are ohanging. The possibil¬ity of stratification of oesium-137 concentration in sewage channels is investigated, also the possibility of redistribution of eesium-137 by the elutriators before disposal to sea. Measurements are given comparing the different results obtained when radioactivities are sampled hourly, daily, and weekly, A method is described for monitoring sewage essentially continuously, and the effectiveness of this as compared with methods for assaying samples, both wet and dry.