title: Potential impact of releases from a new molybdenum-99 production facility on regional measurements of airborne xenon isotopes.
abstract: The monitoring of the radioactive xenon isotopes (131m)Xe, (133)Xe, (133m)Xe, and (135)Xe is important for the detection of nuclear explosions. While backgrounds of the xenon isotopes are short-lived, they are constantly replenished from activities dominated by the fission-based production of (99)Mo used for medical procedures. At present, one of the most critical locations on earth for the monitoring of nuclear explosions is the Korean peninsula where the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has announced that it conducted three nuclear tests between 2006 and 2013. This paper explores the backgrounds that would be caused by the medium to large scale production of (99)Mo in the region of the Korean peninsula.
authors.affiliation: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99352, USA. Electronic address: ted.bowyer@pnnl.gov.
authors.forename: T W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Bowyer
authors.affiliation: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99352, USA.
authors.forename: P W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Eslinger
authors.affiliation: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99352, USA.
authors.forename: I M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Cameron
authors.affiliation: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99352, USA.
authors.forename: J I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Friese
authors.affiliation: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99352, USA.
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Hayes
authors.affiliation: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99352, USA.
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Metz
authors.affiliation: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99352, USA.
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Miley
mesh_terms: D000396:Air Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*; D056911:Democratic People's Republic of Korea; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D008982:Molybdenum; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D018788:Radioactive Hazard Release; D011868:Radioisotopes; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D014979:Xenon Isotopes / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D000396:Air Pollutants, Radioactive; D011868:Radioisotopes; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D014979:Xenon Isotopes; D008982:Molybdenum
keywords: Comprehensive nuclear-test-Ban treaty (CTBT); International monitoring system (IMS); Medical isotopes; Nuclear explosions; Radioxenon