AEC Research and Development Report: Hanford Radiological Sciences Research and Development Annual Report for 1963

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III IIII IA E C RESEARCH AND HANFORD RADIOLOGICAL SCIENCES RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT WIANNUAL REPORT FOR 1963 I COPY ISTAFF MEMBERS OF PHYSICS AND INSTRUMENTS LABORATORY JANUARY THROUGH DECEMBER 1963 HANFORD ATOMIC PRODUCTS OPERATION

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This report was prepared as an account of Government sponsored work. Neither the United States, nor the Commission, nor aqy person acting on behalf of the Commission: Makes any warranty or representation, expressed or implied, with respect to the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of the information contained in this report, or that the use of any information, apparatus, method, or process disclosed in this report may not infringe privately owned rights; or Assumes any liabilities with respect to the use of, or for damages resulting from the use of As used in the obove, "person acting on behalf of the Commission" includes any employee or contractor of the Commission, or employee of such contractor, to the extent that such employee or contractor of the Commission, or employee of such contractor prepares, disseminates, or provides access to, any information pursuant to his employment or contract with the Commission, or his employment with any information, apparatus, method, or process disctosed in this report.

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UC-48, Biology and Medicine HANFORD RADIOLOGICAL SCIENCES RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ANNUAL REPORT Staff Members of Physics and Instruments Laboratory HANFORD ATOMIC PRODUCTS OPERATION Work performed under Contract No. AT(45-11-1350 between the Atomic Energy Commission and General Electric Company Printed in USA. P r i c e $5. 00 Available from the Office of Technical Services Department of Commerce

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Prediction of Environment a1 Exposures from Sources Near the Ground, Based on Hanford Experimental Data - Comparison of Results of Atmospheric Diffusion Experiments with Calculations from Prediction Models - Radioactivity in Alaskan Eskimos in 1963 - Human Uptake of Cs137from Reindeer Meat - Determination of t h e Average Cs137 Body Burden of a A Scintillation Counter f o r --InVivo- Detection of Plutonium -

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TABLE OF CONTENTS (Contd. Pulse Shape Discrimination in Fast Neutron Dosimetry - Response of Paired Ion Chambers a s a Function of Precision Long Counter Intercomparisons - The Specific Power and the Half-Life of P m 1 4 7 - Application of Multidimensional Gamma Ray Bioassay Measurements by Direct Counting on a Multidimensional Gamma R a y Spectrometer -

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TABLE OF CONTENTS (Contd.) Background Reduction in Gamma Ray Uranium Ore Dust Inhalation Studies - Liquid Scintillation Counting of Pm' 47; Bioassay The Effect of Spokane River Salts on Hanford Reactor The Effect of Filter Flow Rate on Reactor Effluent The Effect of Deionized Water on Reactor Effluent Activities. I. New Tubes and New Fuel Charges - The Effect of Deionized Water on Reactor Effluent Activities. 11. Zirconium and Aluminum Clad Concentrations of Radionuclides in Reactor Film - Reduction of Radionuclides in Reactor Effluent Water: Final Report on the Effect of Chemical Additives and Coating Materials on the Adsorption of Radionuclide Parent Elements in Process Water on Aluminum Substitution of Polyelectrolytes for Alum in

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The Estimation of Aluminum Corrosion from Reactor The Effects of High Alum and Low pH on the Corrosion of Aluminum Reactor Surfaces - Physical and Chemical Forms of 113' from Fallout Investigation of the Nature of in the Atmosphere - Dual Tracers Utilizing the Fluorescence of Fluoresce in Evaluation of Field Gamma Ray Spec tro metric Preliminary Measurements of the Adsorption of Reactor Effluent Water Radionuclides by Columbia River Water Sediment Studies: Particle Size Separation of Bottom Sediments from the McNary Reservoir of the Columbia Sediment Studies: Isolation of Organic Material from \ , Columbia River Sediment and Transport Studies - Measurement of Uranium Ore Particle Inhalation b y

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TABLE OF CONTENTS (Contd.) Determination of Subterranean Water Flow Rates . by Measurement of the to Ratio - Spectroscopic Determination of Equilibrium \ Evidence f o r the Reaction of Atomic Chlorine Radicals in Neutral Irradiated Solutions - Reactions in Irradiated Aqueous Solutions - Postirradiation Effects in Aqueous Dye Solutions - Attempted Chemical Protection of Radish Seeds from Kinetic Studies of Orgailic Radicals Formed in Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Line Shape - An Effect of Polyelectrolytes on Hemolysis of Irradiated Alligator Red Blood Cells -

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CHEMICAL EFFLUENTS TECHNOLOGY . Soil Chemistry, Geochemistry . Synthesis of a Clinoptilolite- Like Zeolite - Some Zeolite Equilibria with Alkali Metal Kinetics of a Replacement Reaction - Some Zeolite Equilibria with Alkaline Earth Metal Electrical Analog Simulation of the Hanford GroundA Practicable Method for Measuring Fluid Potentials and Monitoring Ground Water Contamination in Investigation of the Disposition and Migration Of Gross Gamma Emitters Beneath Liquid Waste Soil Parameters Necessary for Solution of Partially Measurement of Soil Parameters for Partially Analytical Description of Soil Parameters for Partially

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In-Place Measurement o f Permeability in Extension and Simplification of Stream Functions for Flow in Heterogeneous Porous Media - River Water Bank Storage and Exchange at Geophysical Seismic Survey Study - Radioisotopes as Particulates and Volatiles . Subisokinetic Sampling of Particles in a n Deposition and Retention in Vertical Efficiency of Charcoal f o r Radioiodine Absorption - Particle Deposition in 90' Tube Bends - Ref e r enc es

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Automatic Monitoring and Recording Methods Detection of Air Concentrations of Fluorescent Material for Atmospheric Physics Studies - Automatic Data System for Atmospheric Physics Radiot ele metering System Improvements - An Automatic Entomological Species Counter - A Glove Box Air Balance Monitor - N. S. Porter. Instrumentation for Toxicity Studies of Inhaled Dos ime try Instrumentation. Experimental Method for Measurement of Neutron Contaminated Air Monitoring Techniques. 13 ef er en c es

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HANFORD RADIOLOGICAL SCIENCES RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ANNUAL REPORT FOR 1963 Prediction of Environmental Exposures from Sources N e a r the Ground, Based on Hanford Experimental Data - J. J. Fuquay, Values of peak exposure and standard deviations of exposure distributions downwind from a continuous point source are presented for 46 Hanford ground source diffusion experiments. Exposure data were found to order in terms of atmospheric stability when plotted as a function of the travel time. The crosswind variances of the exposure distributions w e r e expressed in terms of the travel t i m e and the product of the standard deviation of the wind direction distribution and t h e mean wind Prediction methods developed from these concepts permit extrapolation of the results obtained f r o m short releases to much longer release periods. Good agreement between predicted and observed exposure distributions were obtained from these models, using In the summer of 1959, the Green Glow Program was initiated at Hanford to obtain diffusion data out to 25.6 km f r o m a ground source in stable atmospheres. Details of the experimental design, method of zinc sulfide plume generation, supporting meteorological instrumentation, sampling techniques, and method of sample assay have been given by Barad and Fuquay. (' ') Diffusion and meteorological data obtained in the test s e r i e s have been summarized by Barad and Fuquay. ( 1 . 2 )

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F r o m 1960 through 1962, experimentation continued at Hanford extending the testing to periods in which the atmosphere was neutral and were conducted with essentially the same experimental techniques a s those of the Green Glow program. most distances was curtailed in the 30 Series program because of manpower These tests which collectively are called the Hanford 30 Series T h e collection of diffusion data at the outerThe data that were obtained afford the means for a comprehensive analysis directed toward relating diffusion parameters to the meteorological measurements which were made concurrently. At this time, several results have been obtained which suggest a profitable approach in the analysis and application of experimental diffusion data. The most significant departure from most of the other experimental studies is that atmospheric diffusion is viewed a s a time-dependent process. ordering of data, such as the peak exposure (time integrated concentration), is evidenced when these values are plotted asa function of a calculated travel time compared to results obtained by considering a r c distance a s the indeHanford data and has led to the development of a plume growth model in which the parameters depend only on meteorological variables. a r e pertinent to many of the applied problems of the day. objectives of this paper are : Significant improvement in the This concept has been the basis for further analysis of the to make the Hanford data available to other investigators to present pertinent diffusion concepts which have been developed at this time to demonstrate how these concepts a r e applied in predicting diffusion. Of the 66 field t e s t s that were successfully completed in the Green Glow and Hanford 30 Series programs, 4 6 were selected for the analysis. Twenty tests were rejected primarily because the lateral dimensions of the

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mean plume were not sufficiently contained within the sampling grid. Rejecting these tests eliminated the necessity for extrapolating data so that the final results are not affected by judgments of this kind. twenty tests w e r e set aside f o r later use as independent verification of preTen of the Tables 1.1, 1. 2, and 1.3summarize some of the meteorological and diffusion data of the 46 t e s t s that comprise the reliable data. Table 1.1 lists the test run number, data of the run and the times The Richardson'sdenoting the beginning and termination of the release. number calculated from wind and temperature measurements near the source is also given. These calculations were made by a method suggested by Lettau ( ' 0 3 ) using data collected at the 7 and 50 f t levels of the Hanford Meteorology Tower during the period of emission. The final columns contain the mean wind speed (mps), the computed standard deviation (deg) of the wind direction distribution for the emission period, and the product DOG (radm / sec). T h e speed and direction data which apply to the 7 f t level were taken from strip chart records. statistical definition using 2 0 sec direction averages over the emission period. The standard deviation, ue, was computed from its Table 1 . 2 gives the values of the peak exposure, E for each run Exposure is often defined as the timeand each arc on the Hanford grid. integrated concentration with units of gsec / m . The peak exposure is the largest exposure value on the arc and, therefore, defines the centerline of the mean plume. The total mass of zinc sulfide, Q(g), released f o r each test is also given. . T h e data presented in Table 1 . 3 are the standard deviation of the crosswind exposure distribution, 0 (m). This statistic, which is a measure of the lateral spread of the plume, has been calculated with the basic a r e exposure data and is summarized f o r each run and arc distance.

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RELEASE TIME, RICHARDSON NUMBER AND oeii FOR THE HANFORD GROUND SOURCE DIFFUSION TESTS

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VALUES OF PEAK EXPOSURE, E ~ Xlo3, FOR ARCS OF THE HANFORD GRID, AND Q~

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F o r this analysis, the diffusion was considered to depend on the time of plume travel. Values of the peak exposures and standard deviations of the observed distributions were plotted against time rather than distance. The travel time concept i s not new. spheric diffusion have led to models with time a s the independent variable. Sutton, ( l a 4 )in his book, reviewed the works of G . I . Taylor and 0. F. T. Roberts, which a r e examples of this approach. were derived from Lagrangian considerations. introduced in defining the travel time for experiments with measurements made in a fixed reference frame. dividing the distance at which the sample w a s obtained by the mean wind speed at the source at the height of release, xl:. Many of the classical studies of atmoThere is thus a problem In this study, twas determined simply by The dependence of diffusion on stability is more marked when the data a r e plotted against time than when the data a r e plotted against distance. Both time and distance relationships have been investigated. Peak exposure values which have been normalized for the wind speed and source strength stratify well in terms of meteorological parameters by using the time concept. plotted against travel distance making it difficult to evaluate the effects of meteorological variations. The differences that can result from these two approaches are emphasized with an example. Data from three of the runs a r e plotted against distance in Figure 1. 1 and against the calculated travel time in Figure 1. 2. is the stability of the atmosphere associated with them, it is essential that this effect be evident in the analysis if useful prediction models a r e to be derived. The relationships shown in Figure 1. 1 do not o r d e r with stability. Contrary to accepted fundamentals the exposure data for the very stable r u n are less at all distances than those for the slightly stable run. Furthermore, at 200 and 3200 m, the stable data lie below those associated with instability. Much of the order is lost when these data are Represented on the ordinates is the normalized peak

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In contrast, Figure 1.2 shows the same data plotted asa function of the travel time. F o r any given travel time, the very stable curve yields a higher exposure value than that of the slightly stable curve, which in turn is higher than that of the unstable curve. These data were selected from the sample to demonstrate as dramatically as possible the differences in the time and distance concepts. In most cases, the effects a r e not so pronounced as shown, but a r e still evident, and t h e r e is no doubt that the stability dependence can best be identified f o r all of the data when travel time is taken as the Versus Distance for Three Diffusion Tests with Differing Conditions of Atmospheric St ability Versus Time for Three Diffusion Tests with Differing Conditions of Atmospheric Stability

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T aylo r 5 , identified the mean turbulent eddy energy as the significant meteorological parameter determining dispersion in the atmosphere. Assuming that the autocorrelation of eddy motions decreased exponentially with time, Taylor showed that the variance of the diffusing matter w a s The distribution variance is o ',t is the travel time, and A and aare parameters that determine the shape of the autocorrelation function. F o r lateral growth, the ratio A l a -is equivalent to twice the mean eddy energy, 2 V I 2. The evaluation of V I 2 would thus-permit the solution of statistic whereas the meteorological measurements-were made at fixed locations. It thus w a s necessary to approximate v'2 with the wind data which were available. A problem arises, though, in that v12 is a Lagrangian The square of the product of mean wind speed and …