Caribbean radiation early warning system (CREWS)

CREWS is a regional network of five high volume air samplers located around the Gulf of Mexico designed to detect extremely low level releases of airb orne radioactivity from the nuclear power plants being constructed in Cuba. Four of the stations are currently operational. The CREWS stations use a h igh efficiency particulate filter to sample aerosols larger than about IO n m Aerosols are collected continuously for a week at a flow rate of 515 cubi c meters per hour and then counted on a high purity germanium (HEPGe) spect roscopy system. The first station began operation in October, 1998. This pa per reports the concentration ranges and seasonal trends of the natural rad ionuclides Be-7 and Pb-210 detected by the CREWS system. Anthropogenic meas urements are also provided and possible sources are discussed Finally, the paper examines the average minimum detectable concentrations achieved by th e systems and predicts the level of release that this system can detect fro m the Cuban reactors.