Migration of noble gas tracers at the site of an underground nuclear explosion at the Nevada National Security Site

Johnson, Christine M.; Aalseth, Craig E.; Alexander, T.; Bowyer, Ted W.; Chipman, Veraun; Day, Anthony R.; Drellack, S.L.; Fast, J. E.; Fritz, Bradley G.; Hayes, James C.; Huckins-Gang, Heather; Humble, P.; Kirkham, R.R.; Lowrey, Justin D.; Mace, Emily K.; Mayer, M.; McIntyre, Justin I.; Milbrath, Brian D.; Panisko, Mark E.; Paul, Matthew; Obi, C.; Okagawa, R.K.; Olsen, K.B.; Ripplinger, Michael D.; Seifert, Allen; Suarez, Reynold; Thomle, Jonathan N.; Townsend, Marilyn S.; Woods, VincentT.; Zhong, Lirong

doi:10.1016/j.jenvrad.2019.106047

Cited by 9 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Under the driving force of AP fluctuation, earth-air activity is an important means of material/energy exchange both inside and outside soil, among which the rise and fall of earth-air have important effects on water/material transport and heat transfer in the soil. Earlier research showed that this movement of earth-air has substantial impact on haze patterns [ 8 ], mines and landfills [ 9 , 10 ], volatile gases [ 11 ], CO 2 [ 12 ], radiation from nuclear explosions [ 13 ], transportation of gases such as SO 2 and CH 4 [ [14] , [15] , [16] ], noble gas migration [ 17 , 18 ], and 222 Rn [ [19] , [20] , [21] ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantity and spatial distribution of earth-air activity in Cave 108 of the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes

Li,

Wang

2024

Heliyon

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantity and spatial distribution of earth-air activity in Cave 108 of the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes

Li,

Wang

2024

Heliyon

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“…The amount of 37 Ar generated from a nuclear event depends upon the number of neutrons produced and the amount of Ca in the surrounding geology. In a well contained test, most fission and activation products from an underground event will be contained within the explosion cavity; however, the chemically inert nature of Ar and Xe can result in these two gases migrating through the subsurface to ground level (Carrigan et al 2019;Lowrey et al 2016;Johnson et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High Throughput Argon-37 Field System

Hayes

Aalseth

Alexander

et al. 2020

Pure Appl. Geophys.

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Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has developed a unique fieldable 37 Ar measurement system designed to measure 37 Ar activity concentrations from soil gas samples to detect above ground and underground nuclear explosions. The Argon-37 Field System is modular in design to accommodate both chemical processing and nuclear detection. The system can be packed into shipping crates and shipped to a location near where the sampling is taking place. The system can process six 2-m 3 whole-air samples in 24 h and can measure the 37 Ar activity in each of the samples using six proportional counters. The proportional counters, designed and built at PNNL, are surrounded with both active and passive shielding to reduce background and can achieve a minimum detection concentration of 10 mBq/m 3 of 37 Ar in whole-air equivalent. The Argon-37 Field System has undergone extensive testing against rigorous requirements to assure the system meets the needs of the noble gas nuclear explosion monitoring community.

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Enhancing detection of underground nuclear tests with unconventional tracers

Pazdniakou,

Mourzenko,

Thovert

et al. 2024

Pure Appl. Geophys.

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Underground nuclear explosions (UNEs) can generate significant air flow that carry, in addition to the radionuclides produced by the explosion, naturally occurring tracers initially present in the surrounding rock or the overlying soil layer. Here we show that these tracers, observed not only at the monitoring sites but also at the test site, could be used to improve the monitoring of the radionuclides used to detect UNEs, which can be hampered by several factors. We first developed a model for non-isothermal single-phase flow, heat and mass transfer, and tracer transport through fractured porous media. Using the conditions relevant for the Punggye-ri site in North Korea as an example, we provide estimates for the emission of water vapor and $$\hbox {CO}_2$$ CO 2 at the test site, and for the emission of radon and radioxenon at the test site and at the Takasaki monitoring site in Japan. The influence of geological conditions is investigated. For a given monitoring station, it is possible to improve the detection of radioxenon from an underground nuclear explosion by detecting, shortly in advance, the emission of water vapor at the nuclear test site using satellite imagery. If $$\hbox {CO}_2$$ CO 2 is contributed only from the soil layer and is then scavenged by the gas seeping from a UNE, it cannot be detected by satellite imagery. Radon cannot be detected at the monitoring site, although this gas species is contributed from everywhere by the rock medium, including the rock vaporized to form the cavity.

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Migration of noble gas tracers at the site of an underground nuclear explosion at the Nevada National Security Site

Cited by 9 publications

References 19 publications

Quantity and spatial distribution of earth-air activity in Cave 108 of the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes

Quantity and spatial distribution of earth-air activity in Cave 108 of the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes

High Throughput Argon-37 Field System

Enhancing detection of underground nuclear tests with unconventional tracers

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