[ RadSafe ] Fwd: WIPP awaits analysis of radiation

[Matthew Hall]

Hi Mr. Herren,

I am relatively new in the field and would like to learn more about air
sampling techniques, particularly for xenon and radon testing.  Do you have
any resources you could point me to?

Thanks in advance.

Matthew Hall
Chicago, IL


On Wed, Feb 19, 2014 at 2:24 PM, ROY HERREN <royherren2005 at yahoo.com> wrote:

>     Based on my years of experience doing air sampling, one has to
> initially assume that that the hot air sample is indeed a positive
> indication of a containment problem until proven otherwise.  With that
> having been said, it has been my personal experience that these "hot" air
> sample are always radon and their progeny, so if I were to give an odds on
> this situation I would default to it being in the high 99% probability of
> being radon and it's progeny.  So to answer your question I would
> guess-ta-mate that there is less than a 1% chance that the hot sample
> was*not* due to radon and/or its progeny
>
>     One of my favorite recollections of air sampling was when I pulled an
> air filter from a sample nozzle and I found that rather than being pristine
> white it was a dark charcoal color.  I immediately assumed that someone had
> left the air sampler running for a prolonged period of time, so I changed
> out the filter and carefully re-ran the air sampler for exactly 1 cubic
> meter of air.  Imagine my surprise when I pulled the filter and it had
> again been transformed from brilliant white to a dark charcoal color.  It
> turns out that the refueling enclosure that I was in was acting like a
> chimney as it sat on top of the submarine in the dry dock and that the
> fellows in the dry dock doing air arc cutting on the hull of the submarine
> were the source of the color on the air sample filter paper.  What I found
> particularly interesting about this experience was that the carbon and
> possible metal in the air was invisible to my naked eye, and I wouldn't have
>  known what I was breathing in had I not taken that air sample.
>
>
> Roy Herren
>
>
> ________________________________
>  From: Chris Alston <achris1999 at gmail.com>
> To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List <
> radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu>
> Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2014 6:47 AM
> Subject: [ RadSafe ] Fwd: WIPP awaits analysis of radiation
>
>
> Roy
>
> What odds do you offer that it was *not* down to radon and/or its progeny?
>
> Cheers
> cja
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: ROY HERREN <royherren2005 at yahoo.com>
> Date: Tue, Feb 18, 2014 at 9:52 PM
> Subject: [ RadSafe ] WIPP awaits analysis of radiation
> To: Radsafe <radsafe at agni.phys.iit.edu>
>
> http://www.currentargus.com/carlsbad-news/ci_25169117/wipp-awaits-analysis-radiation
> WIPP awaits analysis of radiation
> Sensors detected airborne radiation over the weekend at nuclear waste
> repository
> By Zack Ponce
> zponce at currentargus.com @zackponce12 on Twitter
> Posted:   02/18/2014 07:08:38 AM MST
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