Chernobyl Nuclear Accident Congressional Hearings Transcript

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ERAMS consists of 268 sampling locations which routinely
collect environmental data on air particulates, precipitation,
milk, drinking water, and surface water. The air particulate and
drinking water stations take samples representative of about
30 percent of the American population, while the milk sampling
stations cover over 40 percent of the milk consumed by U.S.
citizens
Radiation analyses are performed on ERAMS samples and include
gross alpha and gross beta levels, gamma analyses for fission
products and specific analyses for uranium, plutonium, strontium,
iodine, radium, krypton, and tritium. Special consideration is
given to certain radionuclides, such as gross beta in air
particulates for screening or early warning procedures, and
iodine, cesium, and strontium because one would expect to find
these radionuclides in fallout of fresh fission products such
as those emitted from the Soviet nuclear reactor accident.
Each of these radionuclides also has biological significance;
iodine concentrates in the thyroid, cesium in lean flesh, and
strontium in bone. These radionuclides are also readily passed
into the milk supply.
Typical ambient levels of radioactive iodine in air and milk
are near zero due to its short half life and resulting decay.
Cesium and strontium persist in the environment for a longer
period of time, due to their longer half lives.