In-Situ Analytical System for Remote Determination of 90Sr Flux through the Aquifer

The long-term monitoring of groundwater contamination plumes, needed to determine the fate of contaminants generated from past weapons-production activities, is expensive and labor intensive. Becauses of the high costs, monitoring programs collect less data than required to fully understand the fate and transport mechanisms of the contaminants. One source of the high costs is the expense associated with off-site, analytical laboratory services, which may take months before analytical results are returned. If analyses could be performed using remote analytical systems, tremendous cost benefits and increases in data quantity would be possible. This project will design, fabricate, and deploy a remote in situ monitoring system capable of measuring specifically targeted radionuclides in groundwater. Phase I will design a 90Sr analytical system, which will be capable of preconcentrating 90Sr from groundwater and then measuring the 90Y daughter product via the Cherenkov detection technique. A monitoring system capable of simultaneous measurement of groundwater conductivity and pH, in addition to the 90Sr analyzer module, will be fabricated for bench testing. Commercial Applications And Other Benefits as described by the Applicant: The automated monitoring system, which will be designed for a "plug and play" configuration, will employ modular configuration and remote detection capabilities, enabling the system to be used in environmental restoration, homeland security, and national defense applications.