An accident at a nuclear power plant has contaminated soil with strontium (Sr2+)

Question

An accident at a nuclear power plant has contaminated soil with strontium (Sr2+) which is a dangerous nucleotide. Health officials warn that food grown for livestock in this area should be removed and destroyed. There is concern that as the plants regrow, they will take up strontium which will end up in the livestock food. As a soil scientist on a risk assessment team, describe how you would identify the properties of soils in the area that could affect the risk of contaminating the milk supply.

Explanation / Answer

Accurate measurements of radioactivity in soils contaminated with Strontium-90 (Sr-90) or Uranium-238
(U-238) are essential for many DOE site remediation programs. These crucial measurements determine
if excavation and soil removal is necessary, where remediation efforts should be focused, and/or if a site
has reached closure. Measuring soil contamination by standard EPA laboratory methods typically takes
a week (accelerated analytical test turnaround) or a month (standard analytical test turnaround). The
time delay extends to operations involving heavy excavation equipment and associated personnel which
are the main costs of remediation. This report describes an application of the BetaScintTM fiber-optic
sensor that measures Sr-90 or U-238 contamination in soil samples on site in about 20 minutes, at a
much lower cost than time-consuming laboratory methods, to greatly facilitate remediation.
Figure 1A - At the LEHR site, samples were transferred to a nearby laboratory and placed in a
standardized holder for rapid characterization. The surface/soil monitor can also be deployed in a
dynamic conveyor configuration.
How it works
The BetaScintTM sensor shown in Figures 1A and 1B works as follows:

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