Ultra-Sensitive Environmental Monitoring of Emissions from a Radioisotope Production Facility

Abstract

The United States and Canada have jointly established an experimental radio-aerosol monitoring station in Vancouver, British Columbia as part of the International Monitoring System for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. The purpose of this station is to monitor the atmosphere for the presence of anthropogenic radio-aerosols that could be indicative of nuclear explosion debris. The station has been engineered to achieve detection sensitivities that are approximately three orders of magnitude higher than conventional environmental and emergency preparedness monitors. Due to its ultra-sensitive measurement capability, the station has regularly detected micro quantities of radioisotope emissions from a nearby commercial production facility that would otherwise have gone unnoticed. The major isotope, 123I, was identified by spectroscopic analysis and correlated to the facility through source emission data. These measurements demonstrate the multiple uses of the monitoring stations for other areas including environmental, public health, and safety applications.