Report No. EPA 600/R-94/117
                                                    Date: July 1994
RESIDUAL SOIL RADIOACTIVITY AT THE GNOME TEST SITE
            IN EDDY COUNTY, NEW MEXICO
                      S.H.Faller
              Environmental Protection Agency
                     P.O. Box 93478
              Las Vegas, Nevada  89193-3478
   ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING SYSTEMS LABORATORY
        OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
        U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
               LAS VEGAS, NV 89193-3478

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                                         NOTICE
       The information in this document has been funded wholly or in pan by the United States Environ-
mental Protection Agency through Interagency Agreement DE-A108-91 NY 10963 from the United States
Department of Energy. It has been subject to the Agency's peer and administrative review, and it has been
approved for publication as an EPA document. Mention of trade names or commercial products docs not
constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.

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                                     Contents
                                                                               Page
Notice	ii
Abstract	iv
Acknowledgements	v
Introduction	1
    Surface Contamination and Remediation	2
Experimental Procedure	4
Experimental Results	4
Discussion	7
Summary	 9
References	10
                                      Figures
                                                                               Page
Figure 1.  Location of the Gnome Test Site in Eddy County, New Mexico	1
Figure 2.  Gnome Site survey locations, shaft sites, and operating wells.
             Locations 16 through 22 are not shown	3
                                       Tables
                                                                               Page
Table 1.   Dose rate inventories at Gnome survey locations	5
Table 2.   Spectrometry results at Gnome on-site and off-site locations; calculated
           distribution parameter, 137Cs content, and minimum detectable activity	6
                                         in

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                                         ABSTRACT
    A surface soil characterization was conducted at the Gnome Test Site surrounding areas near
Carlsbad, New Mexico to determine the abundances of gamma-emitting radionuclides and total expo-
sure rates.   137Cs was the only man-made nuclide detected in measurements taken at 22 on-site and
off-site locations, with a maximum concentration of 11.49 ± 0.13 kBq rrva(31.02 ± 0.35 pCi cm2).
Extended 137Cs verticle distributions and lower than expected inventories at undisturbed sites can be
attributed to the unconsolidated sandy surface of the area.  Results of the in-situ sped ro me try indicate
that at all locations the dose rate due to <137Cs is small compared to that of the naturally occurring back-
ground.
                                              IV

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                                ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS


    The author would like to thank Brian Moore (or the strontium analyses and Don James and Max
Davis for assistance in collecting field data.

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VI

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                                   INTRODUCTION
   The Gnome Test Site is located in Eddy
County, southeastern New  Mexico, approxi-
mately 35 km southeast of the city of Carlsbad
and  12 km  southwest  of the Department  of
Energy (DOE) Waste Isolation Pilot Project
(WIPP) facility (Fig. 1).  Project Gnome was a
3.1 kiloton yield nuclear detonation conducted
on  10 December,  1961,   as  part of the
Plowshare  Program  of the Atomic Energy
Commission.  The program was initiated  in
1957 to investigate the feasibility  of the use of
nuclear explosives for nonmilitary applications
such as large-scale civil engineering projects
and scientific studies. The Gnome experiment
was specifically designed to explore the possi-
bility of converting the energy of a nuclear
explosion to electric  power, investigate  the
production  and recovery of radioactive iso-
topes,  collect data on the  characteristics  of
nuclear detonations within a salt medium, and
to obtain neutron cross-section measurements
over a wide energy range. It was the first of
the Plowshare experiments and the first under-
ground nuclear test conducted outside of the
Nevada Test Site in  the  United  States  (U.S.
AEC 1961; Nathans 1965; U.S. DOE 1982).
   The nuclear device was detonated 370 m
below the surface of the Gnome site in the
Sal ado geological formation, which is  com-
posed primarily of halite (NaCl) (Gardner and
Sigalove  1970).  Access to the shotpoint was
provided by a horizontal drift tunnel that led to
a vertical shaft 340  m southwest of ground
zero. The explosion created a cavity about 21
m in height and 46 m in diameter (Gard 1968).
By June of 1962, mine-back activities had con-
nected the shaft to the cavity, allowing it to be.
entered.  A blanket of collapsed material from
the upper hemisphere of the chamber provided
shielding from the highly radioactive melt pro-
duced in  the explosion.
Figure 1. Location of the Gnome Test Site In Eddy County, New Mexico.
                                           1

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SURFACE CONTAMINATION AND
REMEDIATION
    Immediately following the firing of the
device, a low pressure vent from the Gnome
shaft occurred owing to the failure of a rupture
disk in a blast door in the access tunnel.  For
more  than  a  day,  steam  and  short-lived
radioactive gases vented from the shaft  and
were carried in a northwest direction from the
site (Fig. 2).  After the event, a  considerable
amount of contamination was present on the
surface  of the site (Gardner and Sigalove
1970).  Later reentry mining and core sam-
pling  operations  also  brought contaminated
material to the  surface, mostly in the form of
salt muck.
    From  1968 to 1969, a cleanup program
was conducted at the  site, with  guidelines
specifying the removal of all radioactive mate-
rial with a reading of 2.6 x 10'8 C kg'1 h'1  (0.1
mR h"1, beta plus gamma) as measured with a
30  mg  cm"2  window Geiger  Muller survey
probe. Contaminated soil and debris were dis-
posed into the Gnome shaft and drift tunnels or
were interred beneath uncontaminated soil. In
addition, all surface facilities  were removed
and all  bore  holes were plugged  except for
those  retained  for hydrological  monitoring
(U.S.  AEG 1973).  In 1977, a second more
extensive cleanup program was initiated with
guidelines  for removal  of soil  with beta-
gamma activity above 0.74 Bq g'1 (20 pCi g'1)
or a moisture 3H activity above 1.1 kBq  ml'1
(30 nCi ml'1).  This operation included the
removal of debris from the contaminated waste
dump and salvage  yard (Fig. 2) that had been
exposed by  weathering, and  the  disposal of
contaminated soils and approximately 3 x 10*7
kg of salt muck into the Gnome cavity.  The
Coach shaft denoted on the figure was con-
structed for a second  Plowshare detonation
that was later abandoned.  It was also used for
disposal  of  contaminated  materials,  and
because the Gnome and Coach shafts were
connected by a  horizontal drift tunnel,  the
associated well LRL-7  was used  for water
monitoring and recovery during the operation.
Once the cavity had  been filled to near capaci-
ty,  remaining  radioactive  materials  were
removed to the Nevada Test Site for burial in a
low-level waste site. The operation concluded
in 1979,  and the  site has since  been decom-
missioned (U.S. DOE 1981, 1982).
    In 1991, a study was undertaken to deter-
mine in-situ  gamma-ray  exposure rates and
radionuclide concentrations in surface soils at
nuclear test  locations outside of the Nevada
Test Site (Faller  1992).  In June of 1992, the
Gnome site was selected for a surface charac-
terization that would coincide with  the annual
hydrological  testing of the  area  (U.S. EPA
1992). This study was conducted to assess the
extent of remaining activity at the site and pro-
vide data on the distribution of the contamina-
tion in the desert environment.
    Survey sites were selected from locations
of previous operational facilities such as waste
disposal sites, building  foundations, and shaft
sites.  In addition,  radiological  survey  maps
from previous surveillance reports  were used
to determine contaminated locations and areas
with background levels of radiation (U.S. DOE
1981).

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                                                 To Highway 128
                                                      Salvage Yard
                                                Evaporation
                                                  Pond
                                                   X
                                                  GNOME
                                                    SHAFT
                                                  (plugged)
                                                                      Survey Location

                                                                      Well
Contaminated
Waste Dump
                                                              Ground Zen
                                                                 (DD-1)

                                                              Decontamination Pad
                                                           "Salt Muck Pile Site
                                                               COACH SHAFT
                                                                  (plugged)
             Scale in Meters
                                                    LRL-7
gure 2.  Gnome Site survey locations, shaft sites, and operating wells. Locations 16 through 22 are not shown.

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                            EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
    Field  gamma-ray spectra were collected
with  a  high-purity  germanium  detector
(HpGe) with a relative efficiency of 30%. The
spectra were collected for periods of 45 min
with a portable battery-powered multichannel
analyzer and recorded on diskettes for later
retrieval and analysis with a laboratory mini-
computer.  Soil core samples were collected
as described in Beck (1979) and Miller et al.
(1980).  Conversion factors to determine dose
rates  in air and soil activities were obtained
from  Beck (1980), Murith  et al. (1986), and
Heifer and Miller (1988).  Total gamma-ray
flux was measured at each  survey site with a
pressurized ion chamber (PIC) for periods of
15 min.  All measurements were taken at a
height  of   1   m  above  ground  level.
Calibrations of radiation detection equipment
were  performed with  radioactive  sources
traceable to the National Institute of Standards
and Technology (NIST). In a period  of 6 d, a
total of 22 on-site and off-site locations were
surveyed, with core samples taken at 11  loca-
tions.   Soil samples  were  packaged and
returned  to the laboratory  for  gamma-ray
analysis as in Faller (1992). Two soil samples
were analyzed for radiostrontium content  by
total dissolution, ion-exchange  separation,
and beta-ray analysis.
                              EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
    Fig. 2 depicts the Gnome Test Site and the
approximate path of the plume from the shaft
vent.   On-site and  near-site  in-situ survey
locations and  the positions  of facilities that
were removed during clean up operations are
also shown.  On-site wells are sampled and
analyzed yearly.
    Table 1 lists the gamma-ray dose rates in
air measured at each of the survey locations.
The combined total rates are the summed con-
tributions from  the  cosmic-ray  component,
deduced from the barometric pressure, and the
natural  and man-made components, derived
from analysis  of the HpGe spectra.  Gross
dose rates from PIC measurements, taken at
the same survey locations as the gamma-ray
spectra, are given as a  check of the summed
rates.
    Table 2 lists the 137Cs  inventories for each
surveyed site.  The depth distribution parame-
ter is expressed as o/p, where a is the recip-
rocal of the relaxation length of the assumed
exponential profile in the soil, and p is the soil
density (Miller and Heifer 1985). At locations
where soil cores were not taken, parameters of
oo (planar distribution) and 0.05 are given to
represent a large range in distribution profiles.
Corresponding radiocesium  abundances per
unit area deduced from the depth parameters
and the spectral results are listed for each sur-
vey site.  The minimum detectable concentra-
tions per unit area are also given.   n7Cs was
the only  man-made gamma-emitting nuclide
detected in this study.
   The one-sigma statistical uncertainties of
the nuclide inventories in Table 2 are general-
ly less than 20% of the calculated values, and
in some cases, as little as 1%. Uncertainties
are as high as 50%  for 7Be values, owing to
the small concentrations.  Uncertainties intro-
duced by literature conversion factors used to
determine individual nuclide concentrations
are generally less than 15% (Heifer and Miller
1988). In addition,  uncertainties of less than
6% exist in the PIC dose rate in air values, and
some  relatively small errors  exist in estima-
tions of vertical distributions where  they were
determined (Faller 1992).

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Table 1. Dose rate Inventories at Gnome survey locations (LOnGy tr'= 0.11 nRh').
Dose rate in air (nGy h ')


1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.

ON SITE
Surface ground zero (5 m northeast of monument)
Coach shaft site (well LRL-7) .
70 m northeast of Coach shaft she
130 m northeast of Coach shaft site
Waste tank/evaporation pond site
West side of salt muck pile site
East side of sail muck pile she
Gnome shaft (8 m northeast of plug)
Southeast side of contaminated waste dump
Central area of contaminated waste dump
Salvage yard
Decontamination pad
OFF SITE
Weis USGS 4 and 8
150 m northwest of Gnome shaft
400 m northwest of Gnome shaft
2.5 km northwest of Gnome shaft
10 km northwest of Gnome shaft
16 km northwest of Gnome shaft
2.5 km west of surface ground zero
3 km east of surface ground zero
4 km northeast of surface ground zero
3 km south of surface ground zero
Cosmic

45
45
45
45
45
45
45
45
45
45
45
45

45
44
44
45
45
45
45
44
44
44
«K

7.8
6.7
5.6
7.7
7.2
10.7
10.6
8.4
4.3
8.0
9.8
9.0

11.5
11.4
11.4
13.0
9.2
. 13.8
10.3
8.4
10.1
8.4
^Th'

8.4
6.7
5.3
6.8
7.7
10.5
8.5
6.6
4.8
5.9
10.6
7.3

8.8
10.2
10.4
13.4
11.2
12.9
7.0
6.8
9.0
6.5
"IP

11.1
15.8
10.9
6.3
6.5
9.7
10.4
9.4
7.0
7.7
8.9
7.5

9.0
9.1
9.7
10.6
10.8
8.9
9.0
7.5
7.6
6.3
'Be

0.6
0.4
0.3
0.4
0.3
0.1
02
0.4
0.4
0.3
0.3
0.3

0.5
0.3
0.3
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.3
0.3
wCs

4.3"
2.4"
0.3"
0.3"
0.4"
0.1b
1.0"
4.4"
0.8"
5.8
0.1"
4.1

3.3"
9.8
4.1
0.4
1.4
0.8
0.4
0.5
0.5
0.3
Total

77
77
67
67
67
76
76
74
62
73
75
73

78
85
80
83
78
82
72
68
72
59
PIC

75
70
68
67
69
73
72
73
63
75
70
73

79
83
76
76
67
77
70
68
80
65
•   Contribution from series.
6   Assuming alp •> 0.05 (no core taken).

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Tiblt 2. Spectromotry results at Gnome on-site and off-site locations; calculated distribution parameter, '"Cs content, and mini-
mum detectable activity (1.0 kBq nr* = 2.7 pCI cm •*).
II7Cs Distrtoution

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.

ON SITE
Surface ground zero (5 m northeast at monument)
Coach shaft site (well LRL-7)
70 m northeast of Coach shaft site
130 m northeast of Coach shaft she
Waste tank/evaporation pond she
West side of salt muck pile site
East side of salt muck pile site
Gnome shaft (8 m northeast of plug)
Southeast side of contaminated waste dump
Central area of contaminated waste dump
Salvage yard
Decontamination pad
OFF SITE
Wetts USGS 4 and 8
150 m northeast of Gnome shaft
400 m northwest of Gnome shaft
2.5 km northwest of Gnome shaft
10 km northwest of Gnome shaft
16 km northwest of Gnome shaft
2.5 km west of surface ground zero
3 km east of surface ground zero
4 km northeast of surface ground zero
3 km south of surface ground zero
o/p
oo
0.05
OO
0.05
OO
0.05
OO
0.05
OO
0.05
OO
0.05
OO
0.05
OO
0.05
OO
0.05
0.14
OO
0.05
0.04

OO
0.05
0.14
0.25
0.11
0.54
0.26
0.09
0.17
0.13
0.10
Activity abundance
(kBq m-2)
1.42
9.51
0.80
5.38
0.096
0.63
0.10
0.66
0.14
0.91
0.033
0.22
0.32
3.26
1.45
9.78
028
1.85
6.77
0.044
0.30
9.96

1.07
7.16
11.49
3.71
0.50
1.00
0.69
0.65
0.53
0.56
0.42
i
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
+
±
±
+
±
±
±
±
±
±
+
±
±
±

±
±
±
±
±
+
+
±
±
±
±
0.03
0.17
0.02
0.14
0.009
0.06
0.01
0.06
0.01
0.07
0.008
0.06
0.02
0.15
0.03
0.17
0.01
0.08
0.10
0.008
0.05
0.18

0.03
0.18
0.13
0.08
0.05
0.03
0.04
0.05
0.04
0.04
0.04
MDA
0.05
0.34
0.04
025
0.03
0.16
0.02
0.15
0.02
0.16
0.01
0.16
0.03
0.26
0.03
0.19
0.02
0.16
0.10
0.03
0.17
022

0.03
0.19
0.12
0.07
0.11
0.04
0.07
0.10
0.07
0.09
0.08

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                                     DISCUSSION
    The summed totals of the dose rates from
cosmic radiation and radionuclides at all sur-
veyed locations are in close agreement with
the measured PIC rates at the same sites.  The
average PIC value in this study is 2.0% lower
than the average  summed  value, and differ-
ences in the  two  values at each location are
within the estimated uncertainties.
    A large variability in 137Cs activity is evi-
dent  across  the  Gnome  site (locations  1
through 12).   However, at all of the on-site
locations and other survey sites close to the
Gnome shaft, the range of 137Cs values should
be  considered only an estimate because the
ground has been disturbed several times  since
the original contamination, and it is unlikely
that the radiocesium  has an  exponentially
decreasing vertical distribution, as assumed in
the calculation of the inventories  and  dose
rates. Also,  at locations 9  and 10, it is  quite
possible that  the observed 137Cs activity is due
to contaminated materials  buried within the
waste dump.
    It was suspected that the relatively high
cesium activity at  the surface ground zero, sur-
vey location 1, may have been caused by  over-
flow or spillage from well DD-1 which is used
to monitor the water within the Gnome cavity.
A surface soil sample  was taken next to the
wellhead  and returned to  the laboratory for
radiochemical analysis.  The ratio of ^Sr to
137Cs in soil  was  found to  be 0.029 ± 0.010,
while the ratio in water obtained from well
DD-1 was 0.24 ± 0.05 (U.S. EPA 1979).  The
large difference implies that the source of the
soil contamination was not the well water, and
was probably the  post detonation venting and
drilling operations.  Ratios of ^Sr  to  137Cs
determined for many soil  samples at the site
prior to the cleanup program of 1977 were also
generally very small (U.S DOE 1978).
    Survey location 13 is located between two
U.S. Geological Survey wells used for a tracer
experiment  in  1963  (Beetem  1964).   The
experiment was designed to determine physi-
cal characteristics of dispersion and chemical
absorption reactions  of radionuclides in the:
Culebra Dolomite Aquifer, which is consid-
ered to be the  only significant aquifer at the
Gnome site (Gardner and Sigalove 1970). The
nuclides were injected into well USGS 8 and
recovered from USGS 4 for analysis and rein-
jection. Nuclides ml, 3H, ^Sr, and 137Cs in a
range of 0.4 to  1.8 TBq (10-50 Ci) were intro-
duced during the  course  of the  experiment
(U.S.  DOE 1982), and the latter three nuclides
are presently detected  in  the waters of both
wells. A  laboratory analysis of a  surface soil
sample taken near USGS  8 showed a ^Sr to
137Cs  activity ratio of 0.11 ± 0.03 while the
water of USGS 8 had a ratio of 0.74 ± 0.11,
again indicating that the activity  is probably
not due to well water spillage.
    Survey sites 14 through 18 were selected
for a cursory investigation of remaining fallout
from  the Gnome vent. The sites lie within the
general path of the fallout plume (Fig. 2) at
varying distances from the Gnome shaft.  Of
all locations surveyed in  this study,  site 14
which lies 150 m  from  the shaft,  showed the
highest 137Cs inventory.  This is not unexpect-
ed because in aerial surveys flown before and
after the 1977 to 1979 decontamination opera-
tion, the region immediately northwest of the

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Gnome shaft  was  found to have  the most
extensive 137Cs contamination (U.S.  DOE
1981). The final survey showed a small area at
the same location as survey site 14 that had a
137Cs count rate equivalent to an exposure rate
of 25 to 28 nGy h'1 (2.8 to 3.3 pR h'1) at a
height of 1 m.  In Table 1, it is evident that the
dose rate from 137Cs measured in this study is
about one third of that value, or approximately
equal to the contribution from the 232Th series.
    Survey sites 14, 15, and 17 all show ele-
vated 137Cs abundances. Site 16 is an area that
appeared to be frequently drained, and  is not
likely to have the same retention characteris-
tics as the other locations. In all, it would be
difficult to draw conclusions about the extent
of remaining  fallout activity  without a thor-
ough investigation.  Decay and weathering in
the elapsed 31 y would have altered the origi-
nal distribution, and the plume itself which
was released for several hours would certainly
not have left a simple contoured pattern of fis-
sion products.
   Sites 19 through 22 were selected for off-
site control measurements because of their dis-
tance from the Gnome site and because they do
not lie in the recorded path of the plume. The
sites have similar abundances  and extended
vertical distributions of I37Cs.   The activities
are somewhat low considering the average 30
cm of rainfall the area receives (Gardner and
Sigalove 1970;  Miller et al. 1980; Arnalds et
al. 1989).  The surface of the region around  the
Gnome site consists primarily of alluvial mate-
rial and quartz sand (Mackallor 1965),  and in
the immediate vicinity consists of caliche out-
croppings, sand, and sand dunes sparsely cov-
ered with desert vegetation. Poor water reten-
tion characteristics likely account for the low
137Cs fallout activity and the deep dispersion
relative to other arid regions in North America.

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                                      SUMMARY
   The dose rates deduced from in-situ spec-
trometry and soil  core  analysis are in close
agreement with the measured PIC rates at all
surveyed locations.  As in previous surveys,
137Cs abundances were found to be highly vari-
able in the Gnome area, with the highest con-
centration  lying   150  m northwest of the
Gnome shaft site.  Presumably this activity
was deposited from the low-pressure venting
that occurred immediately after the detonation,
and it currently accounts for a dose rate about
equal to the contribution from the  naturally
occurring M2Th series, or about one-eighth of
the total dose rate measured at that location.
    Considering the time elapsed since the ear-
lier surveys, radiocesium  concentrations at
contaminated locations detected in this study
were lower than expected. Also, surveys con-
ducted at surrounding control areas away from
the path of the  vent plume show low  137Cs
abundances relative  to  other regions that
receive less or equal rainfall.  Both discrepan-
cies are probably due to the predominance of
an  unconsolidated sandy surface with  poor
water retention characteristics.

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