title: Twenty-five years of environmental radionuclide concentrations near a nuclear power plant.
abstract: The areas in and along a 262-km length of the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania were monitored for the presence of radioactive materials. This study began two months after the 1979 Three Mile Island (TMI) partial reactor meltdown; it spanned the next 25 y. Monitoring points included stations at the PPL Susquehanna and TMI nuclear power plants. Monthly gamma measurements document concentrations of radionuclides from natural and anthropogenic sources. During this study, various series of gamma-emitting radionuclide concentration measurements were made in many general categories of animals, plants, and other inorganic matter. Sampling began in 1979 before the first start-up of the PPL Susquehanna power plant. Although all species were not continuously monitored for the entire period, an extensive database was compiled. In 1986, the ongoing measurements detected fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear accident. These data may be used in support of dose or environmental transport calculations.
authors: *US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, retired, 11 Mills Road, Gaithersburg, MD 20877; †Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, One Riverwalk Plaza, Suite 202, Wilmington, DE 19801; ‡Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Patrick Center for Environmental Research, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19103; §Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of South Carolina, Office of the President, Columbia, SC 29208.
authors: Charles
authors: C
authors: Harris
authors: Danielle
authors: D
authors: Kreeger
authors: Ruth
authors: R
authors: Patrick
authors: John
authors: J
authors: Palms
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D019015:Geologic Sediments; D008011:Lichens; D055848:Nuclear Power Plants; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D011868:Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D045483:Rivers
chemical_list: D011868:Radioisotopes