Unaccounted for uncertainties in radioaerosol assays as used in plume reconstruction or treaty verification

Volume: 60, June 2020, pages 53-59,

Authors: Robert B. Hayes

_{North Carolina State University}

Abstract:The typical approach used in air sampling is to ascribe the radiological concentration of interest in an air sample to the ratio of filter activity to volume pulled. This attribution is reasonable provided the sample is representative, however, the uncertainties ascribed to this concentration are generally considered Poisson errors from the counting scheme used. This work will show how the actual dispersion can be one or two orders of magnitude larger in some cases even when the radioaerosol has constant specific activity due to the lognormal size distribution of the particulate sampled. Applications in plume monitoring and the actual release from the February 2014 event at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico USA will be considered and presented.

Keywords: air monitoring; uncertainty; dispersion; sampling

Reference guidline:

Hayes, R.B. (2020). Unaccounted for uncertainties in radioaerosol assays as used in plume reconstruction or treaty verification. ESARDA Bulletin - The International Journal of Nuclear Safeguards and Non-proliferation, 60, 53-59. https://doi.org/10.3011/ESARDA.IJNSNP.2020.5