NEW TECHNOLOGY FOR CONDUCTING RADIATION HAZARD
ASSESSMENTS: THE APPLICATION OF THE UNDERWATER
RADIATION SPECTRAL IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM (URSIS) AT THE
MASSACHUSETTS BAY INDUSTRIAL WASTE (U.S.A.)
DARRYL J. KEITH
1
,DAVECOLTON
2
, JOHN LINDSAY
3
, HARRY LOUFT
2
and
LANCE STEWART
4
1
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Health and Environmental Effects Research
Laboratory, Atlantic Ecology Division, Narragansett RI 02882, U.S.A.;
2
Bechtel Nevada
Corporation, Department of Energy, Remote Sensing Laboratory, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A.;
3
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Hazardous Materials Response and
Assessment Division (HAZMAT), Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.;
4
College of Agriculture and Natural
Resources, Marine Research Laboratory, University of Connecticut, Noank, U.S.A.
(
author for correspondence, e-mail: darryl@epamail.epa.gov)
(Received: 17 September 1996; accepted in revised form 4 August 1997)
Abstract. The Underwater Radiation Spectral Identification System (URSIS) is a portable spectrom-
eter used for the in situ detection of radioactivity in the marine environment. This paper reports on
the first time application of this technology to assess, in a preliminary manner, the potential radiation
threat to the public and environment at an aquatic disposal site – the Massachusetts Bay Industrial
Waste Site (IWS). Utilizing the meneuvering capabilities of ROV and manned submersible vehicles,
the URSIS was successfully positioned close (5–10 cm) to waste containers for a period sufficient
to detect, in real time, the presence of radioactive materials. Spectral data from 45 individual targets
indicated that the radionuclides present in sediments which draped or partially buried waste containers
were consistent with natural background concentrations. No man-made radionuclides were detected
at any of the target or background measurement locations. These data support the conclusion that
low-level radiation does not pose an imminent and widespread human health or ecological threat in
Massachusetts Bay.
Key words: Massachusetts Bay, radioactive, submersibles, waste
1. Introduction
The oceans have frequently been used as a disposal option for the management
of toxic, chemical, and radioactive wastes. Beginning in 1946, the United States
disposed of low-level radioactive wastes (LLRW) either by shallow-land burial
at government-owned locations or in the ocean at sites approved by the Atom-
ic Energy Commission (AEC), now the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
Low-level radioactive wastes do not include fissionable products or spent reactor
waste (Curtis and Mardis, 1984). The AEC was responsible for disposing LLRW
through contractor-operated national laboratories and issuing licenses to private
companies for the packaging, transport, and ocean disposal of these wastes. The
bulk of these wastes were either radioactive by-product materials (e.g. Cobalt,
Strontium, Americium, and Cesium), laboratory clothing, as well as other items
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 54: 259–282, 1999.
c
1999 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.