Implications of Relooking Cs-137 Fallout in Soil

The BWCHPS

Abstract:
Cesium 137 in the environment occurs only from weapons releases or reactor failures. After an initial release, many radioisotopes decay away and over time, only a few remain. Of these, Cs-137 makes an ideal way to sample for where fallout exists due to its 30-year half-life and gamma signature. Historic work by the Department of Energy Environmental Measurements Laboratory mapping has fewer than 150 sampling points for the continental 48 US States. Recent events at Fukushima, the 1986 Chernobyl incident, and the current disturbance of Chernobyl area soil by the Russian Army make understanding what happens to Cesium-137 in the environment an important consideration by all Health Physicists.
Biosketch:
Rick Whitman trained as a biology teacher at Villanova and West Chester Universities near Philadelphia. Following Army training in radiation safety he became a civilian health physicist at Fort Detrick, MD in the final days of cleanup of the biological and chemical weapons studies and the transition of those labs to support the National Cancer Institute. After several years he transitioned to the Naval Surface Warfare Center, first as the assistant RSO, RSO, and later Safety Manager for White Oak, MD and Dahlgren, VA, where he managed the world-wide distribution of Cs-137 calibrators 4400 GBq (120 Ci), Neutron calibrators and a strategic quantity of SNM, a Co-60 source of 925,000 GBq (25,000 Ci) and 17,000 sources and 400 high class lasers. As the White Oak Laboratory closed, Rick Whitman became the RSO of the Kansas City Medical Center in Missouri supporting a full NRC Part 35 license and oversaw early Sr- 89 therapies, and a research wing. In 2000, he became the RSO for US Customs, and after 9/11 the US Customs and Border Protection where he supervised the development and scanning systems initially used by 300 employees to 14,000 employees by 2008. He also held 2 Canadian and 1 United Kingdom permit. In 2008, the Army recalled him to active duty with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency where he served at the Nevada Test Site as a Senior Research Scientist and OIC (Colonel). Following his second Army retirement he began college teaching, earned a doctoral degree, and continues occasional consulting often involved with scanning systems or remedial radiation contamination. He has packaged and sent more than 2.5 million pounds of radwaste for disposal. As Co-Chair of the ANSI N43 panel he seeks younger HPS to join one of the 13 panels. 
This presentation will present information on the early days of atomic weapons testing and the release of fallout including atmospheric residence time and deposition. The speaker’s work with the determination of fallout in the 92 counties of Indiana will follow with some implications of the risks to Russian soldiers who disturbed soil in the Chernobyl area. Finally, Rick Whitman will suggest that more study of Cesium-137 in soil has utility several science areas to train the next generation teachers, scientists, and Health Physicists. 
DrRickWhitman@gmail.com / (317)847-4178

Implications of Relooking Cs-137 Fallout in Soil

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Implications of Relooking Cs-137 Fallout in Soil

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