Radiation Field Associated With Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Loewe, W.E.

doi:10.1007/978-94-010-9726-0_45

Cited by 1 publication

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“…The earliest mention dates back to 1973 when radiocarbon dating became the main activity of the University of Missouri-Columbia (UMC) Laboratory for Nuclear Archaeology (LNA), and neutron activation analysis (NAA) gradually became a mainstream technique by which to analyse archaeological and palaeontological artefacts [18][19][20][21]. Afterward, "nuclear archaeology" was adopted in a deceiving nuclear forensics context, referring to the investigations related to dose rate estimations of atomic bomb survivors [22,23], and more frequently, efforts to estimate the amount of fissile materials produced or passed through reactors based on residual radiation signatures [24][25][26]. Neither meaning can be applied to the study of legacy installations and radioactive relics from the early nuclear era when the focus is on understanding and/or reconstructing processes in the nuclear industry regardless of law enforcement interests.…”

Section: Nuclear Industrial Archaeologymentioning

confidence: 99%

An Introduction to Nuclear Industrial Archaeology

et al. 2023

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The legacy of the early days of the Atomic Age consists of many problematic sites worldwide, including radioactive waste dumps, uranium mines, spent fuel reprocessing plants, and defunct processing and enrichment plants. Although nature quickly reclaims abandoned sites, any remaining radioisotopes can pose a threat for millennia to come, long after the benefits gained from nuclear technology have faded. The field of nuclear industrial archaeology specialises in finding and characterising these sites to support local communities and site owners. Where maps and building plans have been lost, nuclear archaeologists deploy state-of-the-art analysis techniques on the ground to unravel the current state of legacy sites, and quantify the remaining radioactive inventories to the standard required by the nation the site is located within. The objectives of nuclear industrial archaeology are varied and site dependent. Whether the objective is to puzzle the forgotten history of activity back together or safeguard and recover dangerous radioactive materials, nuclear industrial archaeology adapts radioanalytical laboratory and site-surveying techniques in order to understand the site and allow scientists to communicate this information to support remediation efforts. This paper discusses current methodologies alongside a case study.

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