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Summary of data concerning radiological contamination at well PM-2, Nevada Test Site, Nye County, Nevada

May 1, 1997

Analysis of water collected during August and September 1993 from well PM-2, on Pahute Mesa at\x11the Nevada Test Site, indicated tritium concentrations of\x1121,000 Bq/L at 610 m below land surface. The Schooner event (U-20u) was detonated in 1968 approximately 270 meterssoutheast of well PM-2 at a working depth of 108.2 meters. The crater created by the Schooner event was about 129.8 meters in radius and\x1163.4 meters in depth. Geologic and hydrologic properties of the stratigraphic units are summarized from historical data. The soil around the well and water in the well were analyzed for radionuclides and water in the well was also analyzed for inorganic constituents and organic (volatile and semivolatile) substances. Close agreement between tritium analyses of water from well PM-2, at different times and at the same depths, confirms the elevated levels of tritium. The highest tritium values in the borehole were at 610 meters below land surface-above the shallowest perforations at 765 meters below land surface. These values were only slightly higher than values found at greater depth in the well.

Publication Year 1997
Title Summary of data concerning radiological contamination at well PM-2, Nevada Test Site, Nye County, Nevada
DOI 10.3133/ofr96599
Authors G.M. Russell, G.L. Locke
Publication Type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Series Title Open-File Report
Series Number 96-599
Index ID ofr96599
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse