IMPACT OF A 2-MW(TH) RESEARCH REACTOR ON RADIOACTIVITY IN SEDIMENTS

The objective of this study was to determine the environmental impact caused by liquid effluent discharge from the University of Virginia's 2 MW(th) Research Reactor during the course of its first quarter-century of normal operation. Sediment samples were collected from the reactor pond (situated in a restricted area next to the Reactor Facility), the stream feeding it, and its exit stream. For a comparative study, sediment samples were taken from a nearby closed reference pond having no direct link with the reactor pond. Concentrations of long-lived alpha, beta and gamma emitting radionuclides, from natural and nuclear weapons fallout sources, were detected in pond and stream sediments. Low levels of activation product radioisotopes from the research reactor were detected in the reactor pond sediment. It was observed that both natural and artificial radionuclide concentrations were higher in the UVAR pond (with the exception of Mn-54 and Zn-65) as compared to exit stream and reference sediments.