Open AccessCesium-137 in K west basin canister water
Author(s) -
D.J. Trimble
Publication year - 1997
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/330742
Subject(s) - caesium , environmental science , structural basin , geology , physics , nuclear physics , geomorphology
Liquid and gas samples were taken from 50 K West Basin fuel storage canisters in 1996. The cesium-137 data from the liquid samples and an analysis of the data are presented. The analysis indicated that the cesium-137 data follow a lognormal distribution. Assuming that the total distribution of the K West canister water was predicted, the total K West Basin canister water was estimated to contain about 8,150 curies. The mean canister contains about 2.14 curies with as many as 5% or 190 of the canisters exceeding 19 curies. Opening ten canisters per shift could include a hot canister (cesium-137 > 25 curies) in one out of eight shifts