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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 379 records · Page 21

Detailed abundances of planet-hosting wide binaries. I. Did planet formation imprint chemical signatures in the atmospheres of HD 20782/81?

Using high-resolution, high signal-to-noise echelle spectra obtained with Magellan/MIKE, we present a detailed chemical abundance analysis of both stars in the planet-hosting wide binary system HD 20782 + HD 20781. Both stars are G dwarfs, and presumably coeval, forming in the same molecular cloud. Therefore we expect that they should possess the same bulk metallicities. Furthermore, both stars also host giant planets on eccentric orbits with pericenters ≲0.2 AU. Here, we investigate if planets with such orbits could lead to the host stars ingesting material, which in turn may leave similar chemical imprints in their atmospheric abundances. We derived abundances of 15 elements spanning a range of condensation temperature, T {sub C} ≈ 40-1660 K. The two stars are found to have a mean element-to-element abundance difference of 0.04 ± 0.07 dex, which is consistent with both stars having identical bulk metallicities. In addition, for both stars, the refractory elements (T {sub C} >900 K) exhibit a positive correlation between abundance (relative to solar) and T {sub C}, with similar slopes of ≈1×10{sup –4} dex K{sup –1}. The measured positive correlations are not perfect; both stars exhibit a scatter of ≈5×10{sup –5} dex K{sup –1} about the mean trend, and certain elements (Na, Al, Sc) are similarly deviant in both stars. These findings are discussed in the context of models for giant planet migration that predict the accretion of H-depleted rocky material by the host star. We show that a simple simulation of a solar-type star accreting material with Earth-like composition predicts a positive—but imperfect—correlation between refractory elemental abundances and T {sub C}. Our measured slopes are consistent with what is predicted for the ingestion of 10-20 Earths by each star in the system. In addition, the specific element-by-element scatter might be used to distinguish between planetary accretion and Galactic chemical evolution scenarios.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Derivation of Authorized Limits for Land Transfer at Los Alamos National Laboratory

This report documents the calculation of Authorized Limits for radionuclides in soil to be used in the transfer of property by the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The Authorized Limits support the evaluation process to clear land for release under different uses even though the soil contains small residual amounts of radioactivity. The Authorized Limits are developed for four exposure scenarios: residential, commercial/industrial, construction worker, and recreational. Exposure to radionuclides in soil under these scenarios is assessed for exposure routes that include incidental ingestion of soil; inhalation of soil particulates; ingestion of homegrown produce (residential only); and external irradiation from soil. Inhalation and dermal absorption of tritiated water vapor in air are also assessed.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Aircraft System Noise of the NASA D8 Subsonic Transport Concept

A vehicle-level noise assessment has been performed for the NASA D8 (ND8) concept aircraft in the NASA Advanced Air Transport Technology Project portfolio. The NASA research-level Aircraft Noise Prediction Program was used to predict the noise from each source component on the ND8 to build up a noise estimate for the full aircraft. The propulsion airframe aeroacoustic effects of the ND8 (namely, boundary-layer ingestion, with its influence on fan noise; and the noise shielding, reflection, and diffraction mechanisms of the unconventional airframe) were empirically modeled using experimental data. Far-term noise reduction technology concepts were modeled and added to the noise prediction to evaluate the low-noise potential of the ND8 in the far-term timeframe. Results indicate that the increase in fan noise due to boundary-layer ingestion, as well as the lack of aft shielding, prevents the aircraft from approaching NASA’s noise goals for either the midterm or far term. The aircraft achieves margins to Stage 4 of only 9.4 and 17.3 effective perceived noise in decibels (EPNdB) in the midterm and far-term configurations, respectively, compared with goals of 32–42 EPNdB in the midterm and 42-52 EPNdB in the far term.

aircraft system noise↗

An Evaluation of Long-Term Performance of Liner Systems for Low-Level Waste Disposal Facilities

Traditional liner systems consisting of a geosynthetic membrane underlying a waste disposal facility coupled with a leachate collection system have been proposed as a means of containing releases of low-level radioactive waste within the confines of the disposal facility and thereby eliminating migration of radionuclides into the vadose zone and groundwater. However, this type of hydraulic containment liner system is only effective as long as the leachate collection system remains functional or an overlying cover limits the total infiltration to the volumetric pore space of the disposal system. If either the leachate collection system fails, or the overlying cover becomes less effective during the 1,000’s of years of facility lifetime, the liner may fill with water and release contaminated water in a preferential or focused manner. If the height of the liner extends above the waste, the waste will become submerged which could increase the release rate and concentration of the leachate. If the liner extends near land surface, there is the potential for contamination reaching land surface creating a direct exposure pathway. Alternative protective liner systems can be engineered that eliminate radionuclide releases to the vadose zone during operations and minimizing long term migration of radionuclides from the disposal facility into the vadose zone and aquifer. Non-traditional systems include waste containerization in steel or composite materials. This type of system would promote drainage of clean infiltrating water through the facility without contacting the waste. Other alternatives include geochemical barriers designed to transmit water while adsorbing radionuclides beneath the facility. Facility performance for a hypothetical disposal facility has been compared for the hydraulic and steel containerization liner alternatives. Results were compared in terms of meeting the DOE Order 435.1 low-level waste performance objective of 25 mrem/yr all-pathways dose during the 1) institutional control period (0-100 years), compliance period (0-1000 years) and post-compliance period (>1000 years). Evaluation of the all pathway dose included the dose from ingestion and irrigation of contaminated groundwater extracted from a well 100 meters downgradient, in addition to the dose received from direct contact of radionuclides deposited near the surface resulting from facility overflow. Depending on the disposal facility radionuclide inventory, facility design, cover performance, and the location and environment where the facility is situated, the dose from exposure via direct contact of near surface deposited radionuclides can be much greater than the dose received via transport to the groundwater and subsequent ingestion.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Radiological Impact Assessment (RIA) following a postulated accident in PHWRS

Radiological Impact Assessment (RIA) following postulated accident i.e Loss of Coolant Accident (LOCA) with failed Emergency Core Cooling System (ECCS), performed as part of the reactor safety analysis of a typical 700 MWe Indian Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor(PHWR). The rationale behind the assessment is that the public needs to be protected in the event that the postulated accident results in radionuclide release outside containment. Radionuclides deliver dose to the human body through various pathways namely, plume submersion, exposure due to ground deposition, inhalation and ingestion. The total exposure dose measured in terms of total effective dose equivalent (TEDE) is the sum of doses to a hypothetical adult human at exclusion zone boundary by all the exposure pathways. The analysis provides the important inputs to decide upon the type of emergency counter measures to be adopted during the postulated accident. The importance of the various pathways in terms of contribution to the total effective dose equivalent(TEDE) is also assessed with respect to time of exposure. Inhalation and plume gamma dose are the major contributors towards TEDE during initial period of accident whereas ingestion and ground shine dose start dominating in TEDE in the extended period of exposure. Moreover, TEDE is initially dominated by I-131, Kr-88, Te-132, I-133 and Sr-89, whereas, as time progresses, Xe-133,I-131 and Te-132 become the main contributors. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Exposure Assumptions Underlying Cleanups to Industrial Versus Unrestricted Uses: Comparison of State and Federal Approaches - 17228

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and various states have designated a variety of cleanup levels ranging from restricted (too much residual contamination to allow any use) to unrestricted or residential. Although there are many potential exposure scenarios, the States of Washington and New Jersey identify only two levels for cleanup of chemical contaminants in soil: 'unrestricted' and 'industrial' (Washington) and 'residential' vs 'non-residential' (New Jersey). Other agencies such as EPA and DOE recognize several levels of recreational use, between unrestricted and industrial, and likewise there are several levels of residential use as well. Cleanup criteria may allow or preclude the use of ground water for drinking, swimming pools, gardens, or lawns. Tribal unrestricted scenarios include the use of water (probably surface water in most scenarios) for sweat lodges, and have calculated high level exposure pathways for both dermal and inhalation pathways as well as ingestion. For residential scenarios, inadvertent ingestion of soil, drinking of ground water, and consumption of local foods represent the highest exposure pathways. Intermediate, recreational pathways may be non-consumptive (hiking, bird watching, photography) or consumptive (hunting, fishing, harvesting plants and medicines), the latter entailing much higher potential exposures. For each land-use there is a corresponding exposure scenario, with different assumptions about the maximally exposed individual, their age, and the amounts of air, water, soil, and foods they consume. For each exposure pathway one can compute the ratio between the exposure assumptions for any two scenarios. The product of the ratios comprises a Vulnerability Index. The index is higher for children than adults. For Washington this Index is reflected in the 'industrial' vs 'unrestricted' soil cleanup levels, which are 43.7 times lower for 'unrestricted'. This paper explores the similarities and differences in the exposure scenarios and vulnerability of the maximally exposed individuals and the consequences of a mismatch between current cleanup levels and possible future land uses. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Ra-226: An Inter-Method Comparison - 15447

Radium is an element which can be found naturally at low levels in the environment (water, rock, soil) as well as due to impact from man. It is known to cause cancer, primarily through ingestion and inhalation, and is considered one of the main radioactive environmental concerns. Sources of ingestion include food and drinking water, while sources of inhalation include emissions from the burning of coal or other fuels as well as dust generated from the uranium or phosphate mining industries. Radium is generally present in relatively low levels in the environment, but certain geographic formations containing elevated concentrations of radium exist throughout the world. In addition, there are sites which are considered contaminated by prior industrial activity. Radium's most prevalent isotopes are Ra-224, Ra-226, and Ra-228. Ra-226, a member of the U-238 decay series with a half-life of 1600 years, is the most common radium isotope. Several methods exist for analysis of this isotope, some targeting measurement of this radionuclide's alpha emission (or those of its decay progeny), others focused on the accompanying gamma-ray emissions. The choice of analytical method to utilize is dependent upon various factors. The purpose of this discussion is to identify various methods, highlighting strengths and weaknesses of each to assist in determining the most advantageous method to utilize, and to compare results obtained from each method. (authors)

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Maxine Onsite: Estimating Dose from Chronic Atmospheric Radioactive Releases

Maxine Onsite: Developed to estimate dose to individuals who are working onsite but are not site employees. Follows the methodologies discussed in US NRC Regulatory Guides 1.109 and 1.111 to determine dose from a chronic atmospheric release. Determines the dose given relative air concentrations and deposition concentrations as input. We look at four locations onsite that may be accessed by members of the public. To show compliance with the EPA and DOE public dose limit of 10 mrem/yr, determining who is a member of the public or a worker onsite is necessary. SRS has defined a member of the public for NESHAPS and DOE O 458.1. Maxine Onsite runs on Microsoft Windows Operating System through a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. Input from the user includes parameters that are variable such as air concentrations, and fixed, such as distance to the receptor and elemental iodine fraction. Maxine Onsite was developed from Maxine which is a program meant to calculate dose to the MEI via three pathways, external, inhalation, and ingestion. Maxine Onsite is meant for looking at the exposure through the external and inhalation pathways only, no local food production onsite. The ways that Maxine Onsite is used to calculate the dose to the MEI includes the following: - Determining the respective air concentration values at each location using distances from the release stack; - Breathing rates for the MEI; - Determining the amount of time the MEI is outside; - Determining the plume travel time. The following relative air and ground deposition values for proper execution of the spreadsheet come from MAXDOSE-SR and are needed to accurately determine the dose to the MEI: relative air concentration, relative air concentration decayed by 2.26 days, relative air concentration decayed and depleted for 8 days, and relative deposition. Test cases were designed, developed, and executed to determine the accuracy of Maxine Onsite, which were verified additionally through hand calculations. Several changes were made for testing, including varying air concentrations, distances, breathing rates, and shielding factors. Each test case was then verified through hand calculations to assure the accuracy of the calculated doses. The results from the test cases, as well as the default parameters, can be used for benchmarking Maxine Onsite in the future. Maxine Onsite performs as expected and produces correct and accurate results at each of the different locations onsite (TRL, B-Area Barracks, SRELCC, and Gunsite 51) for varying test cases. The input required by the user is minimal and includes the results of the dose to the MEI on the first page for ease of access. Future plans for Maxine Onsite include adding in the ingestion pathway and adding in atmospheric dispersion estimates to the spreadsheet.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Estimates of Internal Dose Resulting from I-131 Patients in Hotels - Paper 147

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Regulatory Guide 8.39 provides the following estimate to the maximum internal committed effective dose, CED{sub i}, to an individual from a released patient having received radionuclide therapy: CED{sub i} = 10{sup -5} Q{sub adm} DCF where Q{sub adm} = activity administered to the patient (Bq), DCF = ingestion dose coefficient (Sv/Bq). Since many released patients stay in a hotel for a day or two after administration of the I-131, an effort was made to provide reasonable estimates of internal committed effective dose to a housekeeper at a hotel. Reasonable exposure scenarios are presented herein with the resulting doses. The value 10{sup -6} from a health physics 'rule of thumb' for intake in workplace environments, and explored by Brodsky, was multiplied by a factor of 10 to account for the most highly exposed individual and to add a degree of conservatism to the evaluation. The ingestion dose coefficient was used since it was felt that the maximum internal intake would either be via the skin or mouth. The scenarios investigated to date and presented herein show rather low potential doses of hotel housekeepers due to internal contamination. The internal doses are conservative since they assume the immediate release and placement of the patient in the hotel or household. The existing Reg. Guide 8.39 internal dose estimate appears to be very conservative and are very low in comparison to external gamma ray dose due to released patients. (authors)

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗

Use of the ERD for administrative monitoring of Theta

Monitoring the state of an HPC cluster in a timely and accurate fashion is critical to most system administration functions. For many Cray users, the first step in monitoring is ingestion of log files. Unfortunately, log parsing is an inherently inefficient process, requiring multiple software components to read and write from files on disk. Cray's own utilities use a message bus, the Event Router Daemon (ERD), for a wide variety of purposes. At the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF), we have begun to use this message bus for monitoring via a client library written in Go, allowing us to read in structured data directly from Cray's services and, in many instances, bypass log files entirely. In this paper, we will examine the implementation and utilization of this approach on our 4392 node XC40, Theta, as well as the overall benefits and drawbacks to using the ERD for real-time monitoring.

Cray↗

Impact of Aerosols on Tropical Cyclones: An Investigation Using Convection-permitting Model Simulation

The role of aerosols effect on two tropical cyclones over Bay of Bengal are investigated using a convection permitting model with two-moment mixed-phase bulk cloud microphysics scheme. The simulation results show the role of aerosol on the microphysical and dynamical properties of cloud and bring out the change in efficiency of the clouds in producing precipitation. The tracks of the TCs are hardly affected by the changing aerosol types, but the intensity exhibits significant sensitivity due to the change in aerosol contribution. It is also clearly seen from the analyses that higher heating in the middle troposphere within the cyclone center is in response to latent heat release as a consequence of greater graupel formation. Greater heating in the middle level is particularly noticeable for the clean aerosol regime which causes enhanced divergence in the upper level which, in turn, forces the lower level convergence. As a result, the cleaner aerosol perturbation is more unstable within the cyclone core and produces a more intense cyclone as compared to other two perturbations of aerosol. All these studies show the robustness of the concept of TC weakening by storm ingestion of high concentrations of CCN. The consistency of these model results gives us confidence in stating there is a high probability that ingestion of high CCN concentrations in a TC will lead to weakening of the storm but has little impact on storm direction. Moreover, as pollution is increasing over the Indian sub-continent, this study suggests pollution may be weakening TCs over the Bay of Bengal.

aerosols↗

Performance Analysis Tool for HPC and Big Data Applications on Scientific Clusters

Big data is prevalent in HPC computing. Many HPC projects rely on complex workflows to analyze terabytes or petabytes of data. These workflows often require running over thousands of CPU cores and performing simultaneous data accesses, data movements, and computation. It is challenging to analyze the performance involving terabytes or petabytes of workflow data or measurement data of the executions, from complex workflows over a large number of nodes and multiple parallel task executions. To help identify performance bottlenecks or debug the performance issues in large-scale scientific applications and scientific clusters, we have developed a performance analysis framework, using state-ofthe- art open-source big data processing tools. Our tool can ingest system logs and application performance measurements to extract key performance features, and apply the most sophisticated statistical tools and data mining methods on the performance data. It utilizes an efficient data processing engine to allow users to interactively analyze a large amount of different types of logs and measurements. To illustrate the functionality of the big data analysis framework, we conduct case studies on the workflows from an astronomy project known as the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) and the job logs from the genome analysis scientific cluster. Our study processed many terabytes of system logs and application performance measurements collected on the HPC systems at NERSC. The implementation of our tool is generic enough to be used for analyzing the performance of other HPC systems and Big Data workows.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Using advanced data structures to enable responsive security monitoring

Write-optimized data structures (WODS), offer the potential to keep up with cyberstream event rates and give sub-second query response for key items like IP addresses. These data structures organize logs as the events are observed. To work in a real-world environment and not fill up the disk, WODS must efficiently expire older events. As the basis for our research into organizing security monitoring data, we implemented a tool, called Diventi, to index IP addresses in connection logs using RocksDB (a write-optimized LSM tree). In this work, we extended Diventi to automatically expire data as part of the data structures’ normal operations. We guarantee that Diventi always tracks the N most recent events and tracks no more than N + k events for a parameter k < N, while ensuring the index is opportunistically pruned. To test Diventi at scale in a controlled environment, we used anonymized traces of IP communications collected at SuperComputing 2019. We synthetically extended the 2.4 billion connection events to 100 billion events. We tested Diventi vs. Elasticsearch, a common log indexing tool. In our test environment, Elasticsearch saw an ingestion rate of at best 37,000 events/s while Diventi sustained ingestion rates greater than 171,000 events/s. Our query response times were as much as 100 times faster, typically answering queries in under 80 ms. Furthermore, we saw no noticeable degradation in Diventi from expiration. We have deployed Diventi for many months where it has performed well and supported new security analysis capabilities.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

dCache: The Storage System of Choice for Data-Intensive Applications

The ever-increasing volumes of data produced by modern scientific facilities like EuXFEL and LHC put significant stress on data management infrastructure operated by laboratories and research centers. The challenges to be addressed span the entire data life cycle, from ingest and efficient data analysis to long-term preservation, typically involving large tape libraries. dCache, a storage system developed in collaboration between the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, and Nordic e-Infrastructure Collaboration (NeIC), is designed to manage a large number of disk servers and to facilitate transparent data migration to and from archival storage. Its multifaceted approach offers a unified method to support a variety of scientific use cases with the same storage infrastructure, including high-throughput data ingest, data sharing over wide area networks, efficient access from HPC clusters, and long-term data preservation on tertiary storage. Initially developed for high energy physics (HEP) experiments, dCache is now used by various scientific communities, including astrophysics, biomedical research, and life sciences, each having specific requirements. This paper presents architecture, deployment strategies, performance and scalability enhancements, and recent advancements in dCache addressing the needs of scientific communities. Finally, we touch on the development and release process, ensuring the software’s high quality.

DCache↗

Cortical bone resorption rate in elderly persons: Estimates from long-term in vivo measurements of 90Sr in the skeleton

The rate of cortical bone resorption was assessed from long-term in vivo measurements of 90Sr content in the skeleton for men aged 50-80 years and for women 0-30 years after menopause. Measurements of 90Sr were conducted with a whole body counter for residents of the Techa Riverside communities (Southern Urals, Russia), who ingested large amounts of 90Sr as a result of releases of liquid radioactive wastes into the river from the Mayak plutonium facility in early 1950s. The results of this study showed an increase in the rate of cortical bone resorption in both men and women, as based on the use of accidentally ingested 90Sr as a tracer for bone metabolism. In men there was a continuous gradual increase in the rate of cortical bone resorption after 55 years from 2.8 to 4.5%/year by the age of 75 years. In women, there was a doubled increase in the rate of cortical bone resorption after menopause of up to 6%/year; then the rate remained unchanged for 10-12 years with a subsequent gradual decline down to 5-5.5%/year. Comparison of the rate of cortical bone resorption in men and women older than 55 years showed that women expressed significantly higher levels of cortical bone resorption.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Polluting of Winter Convective Clouds upon Transition from Ocean Inland Over Central California: Contrasting Case Studies

In-situ aircraft measurements of aerosol chemical and cloud microphysical properties were conducted during the CalWater campaign in February and March 2011 over the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the coastal waters of central California. The main objective was to elucidate the impacts of aerosol properties on clouds and precipitation forming processes. In order to accomplish this, we compared contrasting cases of clouds that ingested aerosols from different sources. The results showed that clouds containing pristine oceanic air had low cloud drop concentrations and started to develop rain 500 m above their base. This occurred both over the ocean and over the Sierra Nevada, mainly in the early morning when the radiatively cooled stable continental boundary layer was decoupled from the cloud base. Supercooled rain dominated the precipitation that formed in growing convective clouds in the pristine air, up to the -21°C isotherm level. A contrasting situation was documented in the afternoon over the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, when the clouds ingested high pollution aerosol concentrations produced in the Central Valley. This led to slow growth of the cloud drop effective radius with height and suppressed and even prevented the initiation of warm rain while contributing to the development of ice hydrometeors in the form of graupel. Our results show that cloud condensation and ice nuclei were the limiting factors that controlled warm rain and ice processes, respectively, while the unpolluted clouds in the same air mass produced precipitation quite efficiently. These findings provide the motivation for deeper investigations into the nature of the aerosols seeding clouds.

central California↗

Unexpected role of the IMD pathway in Drosophila gut defense against Staphylococcus aureus

Highlights: • Drosocrystallin (Dcy) is involved in resistance against oral infection with S. aureus in adult Drosophila. • The presence of S. aureus does not trigger reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in the gut. • The IMD pathway is required for the clearance of ingested S. aureus. In this study, fruit fly of the genus Drosophila is utilized as a suitable model animal to investigate the molecular mechanisms of innate immunity. To combat orally transmitted pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria, the Drosophila gut is armed with the peritrophic matrix, which is a physical barrier composed of chitin and glycoproteins: the Duox system that produces reactive oxygen species (ROS), which in turn sterilize infected microbes, and the IMD pathway that regulates the expression of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), which in turn control ROS-resistant pathogens. However, little is known about the defense mechanisms against Gram-positive bacteria in the fly gut. Here, we show that the peritrophic matrix protects Drosophila against Gram-positive bacteria S. aureus. We also define the few roles of ROS in response to the infection and show that the IMD pathway is required for the clearance of ingested microbes, possibly independently from AMP expression. These findings provide a new aspect of the gut defense system of Drosophila, and helps to elucidate the processes of gut-microbe symbiosis and pathogenesis.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Environmental evaluation of radioactivity levels and associated radiation hazards in groundwater around the WIPP site

Groundwater may contain radioactive substances which can be dangerous to human health. Concentrations of natural radionuclides polonium (Po), thorium (Th), uranium (U), and radium (Ra) isotopes were measured in groundwater samples collected from different locations in the vicinity of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) site in Carlsbad, New Mexico. The average values of gross activity concentrations of 210 Po, 228 Th, 238 U, 234 U, 226 Ra and 228 Ra isotopes were determined to be 1.62 Bq L -1 in shallow groundwater and 5.88 Bq L -1 in deep groundwater, respectively. The total radioactivity in deep groundwater was higher than that in shallow groundwater, and most of the radioactivity in the water is from 226 Ra. Furthermore, the effective doses for ingestion of natural radionuclides were about 0.333 mSv y–1 for shallow groundwater and about 1.338 mSv y –1 for deep groundwater samples, which are higher than the World Health Organization (WHO, 2017) guideline level (0.1 mSv y –1 ) for drinking water. Ra dominated the total ingestion dose, contributing 93.06 % and 75.40 % of the total effective doses to the deep and shallow groundwater, respectively. The ingrowth and decay of natural radionuclides suggested that 228 Ra/ 226 Ra ratio can be a useful indicator of the source of radioactive contamination. The radioactivity data obtained from the investigated groundwater samples can be used to establish a baseline for radioactivity levels in groundwater around the WIPP site.

63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTAN↗