Radiological survey of the former uranium recovery pilot and process sites, Gardinier, Incorporated, Tampa, Florida. Final report

A radiological survey was conducted at a former uranium recovery plant near Tampa, Florida, operated as a part of a phosphoric acid plant. The uranium recovery operations were conducted from 1951 through 1960, the primary goal being the extraction of uranium from phosphoric acid. Pilot operations were first carried out at a small plant, and full-scale extraction was later carried out at a larger adjacent process plant. The survey included measurement of the followng: beta-gamma dose rates at 1 cm from surfaces and external gamma radiation levels at the surfaces and 1 m above the floor inside the pilot operations building and process building and outdoors in areas around these buildings; fixed and transferable alpha and beta-gamma contamination levels on the floor, walls, ceilings, and roof of the process building and on the floor, walls, and ceiling of the pilot plant offices; concentrations of /sup 226/Ra and /sup 238/U in soil samples taken at grid points around the buildings and in residue samples taken inside the process building; concentrations of /sup 226/Ra and /sup 238/U in water and sediment samples taken outdoors on the site and the concentration of these same nuclides in background samples collected off the site. Itmore » was found that beta-gamma and/or alpha contamination levels on surfaces exceed current guidelines for the release of property for unrestricted use at some points inside the process building and in the outdoor area near the process building and pilot operations building. Some samples of soil and residue taken from the floor and equipment on the second level of the process building contained natural uranium in excess of 0.05% by weight and contained natural radium in excess of 900 pCi/g.« less