IRADIATION-RELATED MONITORING AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AT THE N_VADA TEST SITE

Beginning with the first nuclear-weapor •.related test3 at the Nevada Test Site (NTS)in 1951, a radiation-relatedmonitoriwlgprogramwas establishedto determine the levels and distributionof radionuclides released. Primary methods involved survey-meter-equippedfield-monitoringteams and placement of filmbadges and air-samplingdevicesatfixedlocations.Beginninginthe mid-1950s, more stringent standards,the resultsofthismonitoringprogram,andthe resultsofrrla,'_d research programs ledto incroasocfenglr_'_eringeffortsto reduce localfallout. With passage of the National EnvironmentalPolicy Act a,_d increased concern about possible effects of radiationexposure, environmental activities related to the NTS increased. There is now an extensive monitoringprogram at the NTS to assess radiological conditionsresultingfrom past tests and from continued testingof nuclear-weapons devices. In populated areas near NTS, there is also a monitoring effort that t_,ies on assistance from local communities. Other efforts include reconstruction of radiation doses received by offsite residents during the 1950s and 1960s.determination of the current inventory and distribution of radionuclides in surfac _ soil, and studies of the movement of radionuclides in the desert ecosystem.]59 160 Anspaugh et a