Radiological air quality in a depleted uranium storage vault

Abstract

The radiological air quality of two storage vaults, one with depleted uranium @U) and one without, was evaluated and compared. The intent of the study was to determine if the presence of stored DU would significantly contribute to the gaseoudairborne radiation level compared to natural background.Both vaults are constructed out of concrete and are dimensionally similar. The vaults are located on the first floor of the same building. Neither vault has air supply or air exhaust. The doors to both vaults remained closed during the evaluation period, except for brief and infrequent access by the operational group. One vault contained 700 KG of depleted uranium, and the other vault contained documents inside of file cabinets. Radon detectors and giraffe air samplers were used to gather data on the quahtity of gaseoudairborne radionuclides in both vaults.The results of this study indicated that there was no significant difference in the quantity of gaseoudairborne radionuclides in the two vaults. This paper gives a discussion of the effects of the stored DU on the air quality, and poses several theories supporting the results.