Estimates of radioxenon released from Southern Hemisphere medical isotope production facilities using measured air concentrations and atmospheric transport modeling

Paul W Eslinger; Judah I Friese; Justin D Lowrey; Justin I McIntyre; Harry S Miley; Brian T Schrom

doi:10.1016/j.jenvrad.2014.04.006

Estimates of radioxenon released from Southern Hemisphere medical isotope production facilities using measured air concentrations and atmospheric transport modeling

J Environ Radioact. 2014 Sep:135:94-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2014.04.006. Epub 2014 May 5.

Authors

Paul W Eslinger¹, Judah I Friese², Justin D Lowrey³, Justin I McIntyre⁴, Harry S Miley⁵, Brian T Schrom⁶

Affiliations

¹ Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd., Richland, WA, USA. Electronic address: paul.w.eslinger@pnnl.gov.
² Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd., Richland, WA, USA. Electronic address: Judah.Friese@pnnl.gov.
³ Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd., Richland, WA, USA. Electronic address: Justin.Lowrey@pnnl.gov.
⁴ Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd., Richland, WA, USA. Electronic address: Justin.McIntyre@pnnl.gov.
⁵ Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd., Richland, WA, USA. Electronic address: harry.miley@pnnl.gov.
⁶ Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd., Richland, WA, USA. Electronic address: brian.schrom@pnnl.gov.

PMID: 24811887
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2014.04.006

Abstract

The International Monitoring System (IMS) of the Comprehensive-Nuclear-Test-Ban-Treaty monitors the atmosphere for radioactive xenon leaking from underground nuclear explosions. Emissions from medical isotope production represent a challenging background signal when determining whether measured radioxenon in the atmosphere is associated with a nuclear explosion prohibited by the treaty. The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) operates a reactor and medical isotope production facility in Lucas Heights, Australia. This study uses two years of release data from the ANSTO medical isotope production facility and (133)Xe data from three IMS sampling locations to estimate the annual releases of (133)Xe from medical isotope production facilities in Argentina, South Africa, and Indonesia. Atmospheric dilution factors derived from a global atmospheric transport model were used in an optimization scheme to estimate annual release values by facility. The annual releases of about 6.8 × 10(14) Bq from the ANSTO medical isotope production facility are in good agreement with the sampled concentrations at these three IMS sampling locations. Annual release estimates for the facility in South Africa vary from 2.2 × 10(16) to 2.4 × 10(16) Bq, estimates for the facility in Indonesia vary from 9.2 × 10(13) to 3.7 × 10(14) Bq and estimates for the facility in Argentina range from 4.5 × 10(12) to 9.5 × 10(12) Bq.

Keywords: (133)Xe; Atmospheric modeling; CTBTO; Medical isotope production; Source-term estimation.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Air Pollutants, Radioactive / analysis*
Australia
Radiation Monitoring / methods*
Xenon Radioisotopes / analysis*

Substances

Air Pollutants, Radioactive
Xenon Radioisotopes