Engineering topics

Burke, Lawrence L

Publications and source records attributed to Burke, Lawrence L.

5 records

DOE OSTI2024

Radiological Mapping of Nuclear Facilities

Identifying radiological abnormalities is critical during emergencies at nuclear facilities. This facilitates a necessity for the Emergency Management (EM) to map baseline radiation levels at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The INL uses scintillation detectors to measure radioactivity and gamma spectrums; but, because they are heavy and costly, these detectors can be impractical for mapping radiological areas. This presentation will establish initial radiological heat maps for emergencies and test the Radiacode-103G — a handheld scintillator with GPS and Bluetooth capability with a Gadolinium Aluminum Gallium Garnet (GAGG) crystal.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗

DOE OSTI2024

INL Alpha Background Radiation Study

Radiological emergencies that result in the dispersion of radioactive materials to the environment require the deployment of field monitoring teams to determine the quantity and location of the dispersed radioactive material. This information is utilized by the emergency operations center to aid in determining the appropriate protective action recommendations. The background alpha emission rates from normal environmental surfaces of soil, concrete and asphalt as measured by portable instrumentation used by field monitoring teams are not well documented. Idaho National Laboratory conducted a study of the alpha radiation background levels of the environmental surfaces in eastern Idaho to determine the normal background rates. Results for normal dry surfaces and those wetted by precipitation were measured and reported.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗

DOE OSTI2023

INL Alpha Radiation Background Study

During a radiological emergency, swift determination of the extent and intensity of the radiological materials that have been released to the environment are important for decision makers to correctly assess the hazards and recommend protective actions. In a radiological emergency, natural background counts need to be subtracted from the total activity for the actual amount of activity present to be assessed. This study provides documented survey results of the soils in and around the INL using instrumentation utilized by field monitoring teams that support the INL. Over three hundred alpha background counts were taken. The average alpha background count rate on portable instruments in use by field monitoring teams is 5 counts per minute and the decision level for activity that should be considered as having activity greater than background is 10 counts per minute. It was also shown that rain or snow can increase the background and its effects are difficult to quantify.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗

DOE OSTI2023

INL Soil Contamination Areas - Wildland Fire Radiological Hazards

The largest wildland fire on the INL occurred in 2019 and initiated a reassessment of the hazard of wildfires burning through soil contamination areas. In 2020 during the COVID shutdown, the INL Emergency Management Group and the Radiological Control Group worked together to re-evaluate the hazards from these soil contamination areas that were last evaluated in 2001. The new soil sample data was examined, and the areas were mapped for radiation intensity. A new evaluation of the radiological hazards due to wildfire was completed and issued because of this work. This presentation will describe the work and the methodologies used to complete this re-evaluation.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗

DOE OSTI2022

Regional Response Assets, DOE’s Radiological Assistance Program – Believe it or not? INL isn’t the region’s most likely threat

The Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration's (NNSA) Region 6 Radiological Assistance Program (RAP) personnel respond out of Idaho National Laboratory (INL) based in Idaho Falls, Idaho. An overview of the RAP is presented describing the capabilities and related radiological response capabilities. Several recent radiological responses will be discussed to illustrate the capabilities of this national resource.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗