EVALUATION OF THE GROUND WATER CONTAMINATION HAZARD FROM UNDERGROUND NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS

摘要

Radioactivities in ground water collected at Nevada Test Site since the underground nuclear explosions in Operations Plumbbob and Hardtack Phase II have not been significantly above background. This is due to the formation of silica glass by the explosion, and the ion-exchange properties of fission products in normal earth minerals and water. The glass formed by the high shock pressures releases less than ten percent of its radioactivity when leached with water, and the rock minerals crushed by the explosive forces adsorb several tens of milliequivalents of fission products per hundred grams. The distribution coefficients for adsorption range from 50 to 500, 000 depending on the particular fission product and mineral. A theory pertaining to the flow of activity in an ion-exchange medium is developed, and equations for application of laboratory data to field experiments are included. Some of the available distribution coefficients are tabulated from the literature on waste disposal. It is concluded from existing information that hazards aris¬ing from underground explosions in other media will not give rise to serious contamination problems.