The 1989 Ingot underground nuclear test was drilled back in 1994 to in
vestigate the behavior of radionuclides adjacent to the edge of a nucl
ear explosion cavity. The Ingot event was fired above the static water
level in bedded tuffs of the Nevada Test Site. Spectral gamma logging
of the drill hole indicated a discrete zone of radioactivity at the d
epth of the working (firing) point. Subsequent radiochemical analysis
confirmed the presence of Cs-137 and Sr-90. The short lived gaseous pr
ecursors of these species migrated through fractures created by the fo
rce of the explosion. Geophysical logging, radiochemical analysis and
solids characterization at Ingot emphasize the significance of gaseous
transport to radionuclide migration near sites of underground nuclear
explosions.