Innovative characterization, monitoring and sensor technologies for environmental radioactivity at USDOE sites

The mission of the U. S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Manag ement EM) is to clean up its contaminated sites from the past production of nuclear weapons. Within EM, the Office of Science and Technology (OST) is responsible for providing a full range of science and technology resources needed to support resolution of EM cleanup and long-term environmental stew ardship problems. This responsibility includes implementation of a technolo gy development pathway from basic research to development, demonstration, a nd deployment of scientific and technological solutions needed by DOE sites . One OST Program is the Characterization, Monitoring, and Sensor Technolog y Crosscutting Program (CMST-CP), which aims to provide innovative technolo gies (i.e., faster, better, cheaper, and/or safer) for environmental charac terization and monitoring. This paper describes several technologies that C MST-CP has supported for development with significant benefits realized or projected over the baseline characterization and monitoring practices. Exam ples of these technologies include mapping of subsurface radioactivity usin g Cone Penetrometer and drilling techniques; a Rapid Liquid Sampler for Sr, Ra, Tc, and Cs using 3M Empore (TM) Rad Disks; Long-Range Alpha Detectors; a Compact High Resolution Spectrometer;, BetaScint (TM) for determination of Sr in soil; Laser-Induced Fluorescence Imaging techniques for mapping U on surfaces; the Environmental Measurements While Drilling System; and the Expedited Site Characterization methodology.