Rapid radiochemical method for determination of actinides in emergency concrete and brick samples.

A new rapid method for the determination of actinides in emergency concrete and brick samples has been developed at the Savannah River Site Environmental Lab (Aiken, SC, USA) that can be used in emergency response situations or for routine analysis. If a radiological dispersive device (RDD), Improvised Nuclear Device (IND) or nuclear accident occurs, there will be a urgent need for rapid analyses of many different environmental matrices, including building materials such as concrete and brick, to support dose mitigation and environmental clean-up. The new method for actinides in concrete and brick method utilizes a rapid sodium hydroxide fusion method, a lanthanum fluoride matrix removal step, and a column separation process with stacked TEVA, TRU and DGA Resin cartridges.

Biological half-life and oxidative stress effects in mice with low-level, oral exposure to tritium.

Tritium ((3)H) may enter the environment from human activities, particularly at production, processing, or waste storage sites such as the Department of Energy's Savannah River Site, a former nuclear production facility in South Carolina. Understanding the dynamics and potential adverse effects of tritium in exposed organisms is critical to evaluating risks of tritium releases at such sites. Previous studies estimated the biological half-life of tritium in mice to be approximately 1.

Rodents as receptor species at a tritium disposal site.

New methods are being employed on the Department of Energy's Savannah River Site to deal with the disposal of tritium, including the irrigation of a hardwood/pine forest with tritiated water from an intercepted contaminant plume to reduce concentrations of tritium outcropping into Fourmile Branch, a tributary of the Savannah River. The use of this system has proven to be an effective means of tritium disposal. To evaluate the impact of this activity on terrestrial biota, rodent species were captured on the tritium disposal site and a control site during two trapping seasons in order to assess tritium exposure resulting from the forest irrigation.