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Overview of Monitoring Activities

 

Contact INL Oversight

Boise Office

1410 N. Hilton

Boise, ID 83706

ph: (208) 373-0498

fx: (208) 373-0429

Idaho Falls Office

900 N. Skyline Dr.

Idaho Falls, ID 83402

ph: (208) 528-2600

fx: (208) 528-2605

INL Oversight Staff List

INL Oversight Program Air Monitoring:
What Oversight Looks For in the Air We Breathe

Environmental Monitoring Locations
Results of Air Monitoring in the Second Quarter of 2006
Quarterly Reports Archive
 
The INL Oversight Environmental Surveillance Program (ESP) is conducted at locations on the INL, on the boundaries of the INL, and at distant locations to the INL in accordance with accepted monitoring procedures and management practices. This program is designed to provide the people of the state of Idaho with independently evaluated information about the impacts of the Department of Energy's (DOE) activities in Idaho.

 

Regular, frequent air monitoring at and near the INL can catch any contamination, should it occur, in time to take action to lessen the impacts. INL Oversight’s ESP is designed to provide the citizens of the state of Idaho with independently obtained environmental information about the impacts of the Department of Energy's activities in Idaho. Monitoring is conducted at locations on the INL, on the boundaries of the INL, and at background locations distant to the INL in accordance with accepted monitoring procedures and management practices.

 
 Environmental Monitoring Locations
Small radioactive particles are transported in air, so Oversight's ESP has established a network of air monitoring stations to measure radioactive emissions from INL activities. The program operates eight environmental monitoring stations on and near the INL as well as two monitoring stations distant from the INL. These stations employ air samplers for collecting total suspended particulate matter (TSP), gaseous radioiodine, and atmospheric water vapor to detect tritium. The ESP collects precipitation at six locations which is analyzed for both tritium and gamma radiation. The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes operate an environmental monitoring station located at Fort Hall. The Fort Hall station uses identical instrumentation and sampling protocol as the ten stations operated by the ESP. The DEQ-INL reports the Fort Hall station data as an additional background site.
 
 Results of Air Monitoring in the Second Quarter of 2006

Gross alpha and gross beta radioactivity concentrations reported from the particulate samples were well within EPA limits and were consistent with historical values.

The only reported gamma-emitting radionuclide was beryllium-7, a naturally occurring cosmogenic radionuclide.  No radioactive isotopes of iodine, specifically iodine-131, were detected on the weekly charcoal cartridges.

 

For a complete description of the most recent monitoring activities, see Oversight's Environmental Surveillance Program Quarterly Data Reports.
 
 Quarterly Reports Archive

Quarterly reports from 2004 and to the present can be accessed online from the Oversight library.

 



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