ABSTRACT The Radionuclide Aerosol Sampler/Analyzer (RASA) is an automated aerosol collection and analysis system designed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in the 1990’s and is deployed in several locations around the world as part of the International Monitoring System (IMS) required under the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). The RASA operates unattended, save for regularly scheduled maintenance, iterating samples through a three-step process on a 24-hour interval. In its 15-year history, much has been learned from the operation and maintenance of the RASA that can benefit engineering updates or future aerosol systems. On 11 March 2011, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami rocked the eastern coast of Japan, resulting in power loss and cooling failures at the Daiichi nuclear power plants in Fukushima Prefecture. Aerosol collections were conducted with the RASA in Richland, WA. We present a summary of the lessons learned over the history of the RASA, including lessons taken from the Fukushima incident, regarding the RASA IMS stations operated by the United States.
Revised: October 24, 2011 |
Published: September 14, 2011
Citation
Forrester J.B., T.W. Bowyer, F. Carty, L. Comes, P.W. Eslinger, L.R. Greenwood, and D.A. Haas, et al. 2011.LESSONS LEARNED IN AEROSOL MONITORING WITH THE RASA. In Proceedings of the 2011 Monitoring Research Review: Ground-Based Nuclear Explosion Monitoring Technologies, September 13-15, 2011, Tucson, Arizona, 2, 681–688. Washington Dc:National Nuclear Security Administration.PNNL-SA-82609.