Dose assessment considerations for remedial action on plutonium‐contaminated soil

Abstract

This article describes some of the dose assessment issues that should be considered when planning and executing a soil remedial activity. What is the proper dose scenario/ model? What are the appropriate cleanup criteria? How is the data gathered and analyzed (both before and after) cleanup? By describing the features and aspects of how these issues and others were considered or not considered in planning for the remedial action underway at Maralinga, Australia (former site of the Nuclear Weapons Testing Program of the United Kingdom) when compared with historical international experience of this type, the author attempts to illustrate that it is almost nonsensical to preselect a single soil value for Pu in soil (for national or international use), particulariy when expressed as a soil concentration (pCi/g or bq/g). This is especially so when the problem is Pu on the surface or near the surface of the soil. This is the situation common at nuclear test sites where “one point safe tests” were conducted. At ...