ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING REPOR T

APRIL 1, 1960, to JUNE 30, 196 0

ATOMICS INTERNATIONAL

CANOGA PARK, CALIFORNIA

SE1 MARY

The e nvirons of Atomics International World Eeadauarters and

Nuclear Development Field Lab oratory near Los Angeles , California are

periodically surveyed to determine the radioactivity o ; typical surface

soil, vegetation , and water same .es . In addition , cc ntirucus air

samples taken at to above sites provide information concerning air-

borne particulate radioactivity . This report s~ rarizes the enviror_-

rvr. t al Bo tL ~ea= ring resultsc~ for the_ second quarter of l9aC' .

Soil and vegetation are sampled monthly at fcrty -two locations .

Ten of these are within the boundaries of Atomics International sites ;

the retta '_ning thirty-twc are within a ten mile radius of the sites .

The average soil and vegetation activities are shown in Tables I

and II .

Table I - Soil1959 Second Quarter 1960

Location Activity =Average Average

c .Sar les uuc rare No .Samcles uuc -ram

On Site o\ 107 0 .41 28 4.44

~BwX 107 15 . 28 22:

Off Site ae 377 0 .31 99 x.3 8

zr 380 14 . 96 16.

Table II - Vegetation

19 Second Quarter 1960Average Average

Location Activity {o .Sa~nles uuc/grarn(ash) No . Sartoles uuc/Xram(ash )

On Site c~ 96 C .24 20 .20

107 220 . 28 l0.

Off Site 286 o .18 78 " .18

380 170 . 95 40 .

Two water we lls at tre I .D .F .L . are sa-pled monthly . The average

water activity is shown in Table III .

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Table III - Well water

i959 Second Quarter - 1960_Location Activity

Average Averag e

No .Sam les uuc liter No .Sam les uuc lite r

N .D .F .L . ~8 0 .C76 1 : .3 8,~ ?( 16 2 .8 5 2 . 8

En_vir ; .. e_i,al air sav'p__«g is perfor~ ed ccntinucus'- t at the Head-

cuarters and N .D .F .L . sites . The average concentration of long lived

airborne beta e2itters is shown in Table IV .

Table IV - Air

1959 Second Quarter - l9 „

Average Average

Location Activity :dc .Samoles uuc t~' o .Samnles3

uuc

Head- -~ 215 2 .5 6 0 .63quarter

N . .i . ., . ,d-' 257 C .93 8 0 .21

rTable I indicates that the second quarter 196C soil radioactivity

is sliwht1v higher than the 1959 average . The difference between on-

site a.d cff-site levels is generally within the accuracy cf th er

measurement . Table II indicates that the second quarter 1960

vegetation alpha activity is virtually the same, whereas the beta-

gamma level is lower than the 195 9 average .

Since N .D .F .L . operations do not re lease significant levels or

quantities of radioactivity to the soil, the slight variation in well

water radioactivity, Table III, is attributed to natural causes .

Table IV indicates a ccrsiderab le decrease in airborne beta-

gamma activity from the 1959 averages for Headquarters and N .D .F .L .

The higher 1959 average is believed to have beer. caused by fallout .ti

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General Description of Program

Soil and vegetation santle collection ar_a analysis, initiated

in 1952 in the Downey , California area, was extended to the proposed

SL cite in May l95 i, and to the Canoga Park area in Decenber l95+ .

The Downey: area survey was stopped when ntonics International

relocated to Can oga Park . The p=rimary purpose of the environmental

monitoring program s to ensure that Atomics Internat±c__al ~ s orera-

tlons are n ot contributing meas ;rab = y to envircramen=al radioactivity

and, at the sane time, to provide a continuing check cn the integrity

of engineering safeguards for the containment of radioactivity . Due

to the effect of geographica l location on environmental radioactivity,

co^nariscn between widely spread sapling locations is difficult .

Useful information can be obtained , however , by observing the trend

of individual or closely spaced groups locations .

For this reason . samples are collected monthly in five survey

areas including Carc~a Park E2„ Santa Susana Mountains, Gin= Valle y

and Russell Valley . Forty-two sampling stations are currently establish-

ed within the indicated areas . The maximum sampling station distance

from the Nuclear Developmen t Field Laboratcry at Santa Susana is

approximately ten miles . Sampling station locations are indicated on

Figures 1, 2, and 3, and in Table VI .

During each calendar quarter, arpreximately 125 soil, '2 6 vegeta-

tion, 21 water and yC environmental air samples are obtained and

analyzed by the Health and Safety Laborat ory for gr oss alpha anal/or

beta-gamma activity .

Methods

SOIL

Surface soil types available for sampling r ange from decomposed

granite tc clay and s andy loam . Collected samples represen t the ton

one half inch layer of ground surface . The soil _s packed in small

plastic containers which are then taken th e laboratory for analysis .

Sample preparation consists of transferring the soil to pyrex beakers

and drying in a muffle furnace at 300° centigrade for ei_^ t hours .

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After cooing t= s --i1 is screened to ebtair. uniform Tsar ti . .e sizes

for ccunting . Cre gran alicuots cf the screened soil are then

transferred to stainl ess steel planch~ts and fixed with colicdion

acetone solution .

The pren~r ed samples ore tLen cou ted in a thin windo 'a, bas flow

proportional counter calibrat~c with pa D+E (with and wit_cut alpha

r-bscr er) and xC, The K40 in the fore cf crystalline Cl is use d

to cor rect for self absorctl on in the so li and veV-e :ation ssm:»cs .+

This cetncd affords the ninimuri dttectiora limits ~ncwr in Table V .

Whie better sensitivity and accuracy are possible, the additional

coucti : F- time required is not warranted for routine analysis .

Table V - Minimum Detection Limit s

Sam le Activity Minimum Detection Limi t

Soil 0 .25 + 0 .076 uuc/gram

+ 0 .018 uuc/gram

vegeta- r ~~G~0 .008 • 0 .005_ uuc/gram (ash )tion

1 .1 + c .06 , uuc/gray. : (ash )

:;ater 0 .016 + 0 .0099 uuc/liter

c .bc + c .ca2 uuc/liter

Vy~J~n11 ml--

Vegetation samples obtained in the field at each station are of

the sure plant type wherever possible, and are generally sun flower

or wi_d tobacco plant leaves . These plant types naintair_ an active

rate of growth during the dry season, a characteristic uncommon to

cost other =ant types indigenous to the area . Vegetation leaves

to be sampled are stripped frcn the plant an d placed in ice cream

cartons for transfer tc the hea=th and Safety Laboratory .

Freparatior. of samples for analysis includes rinsing in distilled

water to re c .•e foreign ratter and placing it porcelain crucibles for

reduction tc ash . The crucibles are placed in a n .iffle ftrnace at

500° centi_ra a fcr ac_ roxiaately° °_i4 ht hours . This asking time

is sufficient to produce a finely divided, completely oxidized ash

at 95% Confidence Level .

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of uniform density . Three hundred milligrar aliquots cr ash from each

crucible are then weighed and transferred to stainless steel plarchets

for analysis . Analytical methods are the same as for soil samnles .

Sensitivity and accuracy are shown in Table V .

WATER

Samples of well water are obtained at the Nuclear Development

Field Laboratory . The water is drawn into one liter polyethylene

bottles for transfer to the laboratory . The samples are measured into

500 milliliter volumetric flasks and then evaporated into crystallizing

dishes at approximately 90 0 centigrade . The residue salts are transfer-

red to stainless steel pla chets , wetted to produce an even deposition

in the planch et, re-dried and counted in the p, opcrtional system .

Sensitivity and accuracy are shown in Table V .

AIR

Environmental air samo'ing is conducted continuously at the Head-

quarters and ?NFL sites by automatic twenty four hour step cycle air

monitors . Airborne particulates are co llected on a fixed filter tape

which is move d, after each twenty-four hour period, to place the new

sample beneath a thin window G .M . detector . At pre - set intervals,

usually twenty minutes , the number of counts observed by the scaler

during the interval is recorded .

It has beer. determined that for this type of instrument twice the

counting rate after 18 . 6 hours decay minus the counting rate after 8

hours decay closely approximates the long-lived ccrtribution . This

counting rate can be converted easily to the average long-lived air-

borne activity ( uuc/n3 ) during the sampling period . The minimum

detection limit, which varies somewhat between irstruments, is on

the order of 0 .04 uuc/m3 .

When abnormally high activities are observed, to data i s plotted

to determine the presence of short-lived activities other than radon

and thoron daughters . If fallout is suspected , samples are removed

HDMSE00507034

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to t::e laboratory w=ere their decay is observed for a period of

several days to several weeks , if the activity decays as a functicn

?cf the data i s ext_r a f_ _ ~ the date c rt ~ tsa~clated in order to ~ origin .

This :ate ~s thea cccared with the dates cf -ublicized nuclear detona-

tions n order to aeronstrate that the abnormal airborne activity was

nct caused by Ato ics International o~eratonS .

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Station

Table 1

Sale Station Locations

Location

SF -1 S2E Reactor

SV-2 SRS PeriTMeter Drainage Ditch

SV-3 Bui1n ng ib- 'aric1ng ict

57-4 West o; Dui? d_rg 02 :

7-5 Building 3~3

SV Rocketdyne Retention Reservoir, ?FL

57-7 Rocketdyne PFL

SV Rocketdyne PFL

57-9 Rocke;.a ne PFL-

SV-1C Sa_,ta Susana Site Access Road

57-il Santa Susana Site ccess Road

SV-12 KSWB Reactor

SV-13 Sodium Burning Fad

57-14 Canyon below Building 022

57-15 Reseda Blvd . and Ventura Blvd .

57-16 Topanga Canyon Blvd . and Ventura Blvd .

SV-17 Topanga Canyon Blvd , and Varcwen St .

57-18 Topanga Canyon Blvd . and Saticoy St .

SV-_A Santa Susana r acility Entranc e

57-20 Topanga Canyon Blvd . an Devonshire St .

51-21 Reseda Blvd. and Devonshire St .

57-22 Reseda Blvd, and ordhof f St .

57-23 Reseda Blvd . and 5her:an ;ray

57-24 Headquarters

57-25 DeSoto Ave . and Plummer St .

SV-26 Nordhoff St . and Mason Ave .

51-27 DeSoto Ave . and iarthenia St .

57-28 Canoga Ave . and Nordhoff St .

57-25 Santa Susa.a Knoll s

57-30 Los Angeles Ave . at Bridge

57-31 Los Angeles Ave . and Sycarr.or . Road

57-32 Tapo Canyon

57-33 Los Angeles Ave . and Sina ca . Road

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Station Ccn't Location Con' t

SV-34 c'eier Canyon

SV-3 Brandeis Carp entranc e

SV-3a rocr ark Road and Canar ;ilo Road

S` -3/ corzareC load at Ci Pumping Station

SV -35 Moorpark Road and Ventura Blvd .

SV-39 Ventura Blvd . at _ctrero 3cad

SV-YC Ventura Blvd . at Cornell Corners (Ag ;u_ a )

Ventura Blvd . at Calabasas

SV-42 Pion Radioactive Materials Disposal Area,Nuclear Development Field Laboratory

W 2 SRE Pe rime t er Drainage Ditch

W 6 Rccketdvne Retention Reservoir, P?L

W 7 .fell Jater from Engineering Test Building

W 11 el1 water from Building 363

~+ _[ .% . Run Off Collection Sump

W C .^ . disc n Cooling Tower

W R .E . SR= Retention Darn

SV - Soil and Vegetation

~r - Water

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SCALE1__ ._

V Figur. I

1 : 2 shoo

LEGUD

Q Boil and Vig tat ion

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ligur. U

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fir. III

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