RADIOACTIVITY ASSOCIATED WITH UNDERGROUND NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS

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Abstract
The detonation of a contained or partially contained nuclear explosion is accompanied by the deposition of a large fraction of the energy in the form of high-temperature, high-pressure regions. The nature of the surrounding medium, the time-temperature history, and the time of cavity collapse or venting determine the extent to which undesirable nuclides such as Sr/sup 90/ and Cs/sup 137/ will appear outside a fused insoluble matrix and be available to ground water or to the atmosphere. The movement of these undesirable radioactivities relative to the ground water movement can be predicted on the basis of measured K/ sub D/'s (distribution coefficients) for the radioactivities in the medium. The induced radioactivities are a 20 to 25% contribution to the fission product radioactivity at times the order of one day, a 1% contribution at about 1 week, decreasing to 0. 1% at about 45 days, increasing to about 2% because of the Co/ sup 60/ for a period of 3 to 15 years. (auth)

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