Interim Baseline Radiological Investigation Report in
Support of the Upton Rare Earth Processing Plant
November 15, 2012
2
1.1
Description of the Project
The Project is located in Weston County, Wyoming; specifically Township 48 North, Range 65
West including all of Section 33 and parts of Sections 28, 29, and 32. Surface ownership within
the Project is comprised of 850 acres of private land. Figure 1.1 shows the location of the Upton
Project.
1.2
Purpose and Scope
The objective of the investigation was to establish baseline concentrations of radon and
radioactive, lanthanide, PM
10
and PM
2.5
particulates in air; and radionuclides in surface soil (0-
15 centimeters [cm]) and related radon flux and exposure rates at the Upton Project. This
information will be used in part to assess future potential impacts to human health and the
environment, if any, during construction, operation, and closure phases. The results from
monitoring of radionuclides in groundwater and surface water are being investigated and
reported separately.
The collection of soil samples and other quality-affecting work performed in June 2012 were
conducted in accordance with
•
the requirements of Section 2.3 of the SAP;
•
applicable ERG Standard Operating Procedures; and
•
RER’s Health and Safety Program and the
Bear Lodge Project Health and Safety Plan
,
Draft
(Knight Piésold, 2011).
1.3
Organization and Contents
Following this introduction, Section 2 summarizes the scope of the investigation and identifies
any deviations from the SAP. Section 3 documents the results of the gamma survey and
associated predictions of exposure rates. Section 4 documents the analytical results for soil
samples and predictions of radium-226 and natural thorium concentrations in surface soil
samples from gamma survey results. Section 5 discusses associated data quality issues. Section 6
presents the results of radon flux measurements. Section 7 presents a description of and the
locations of passive radon track etch detectors. Section 8 presents the particulate concentrations
(long-lived radionuclides, stable rare earth elements, and PM
10
and PM
2.5
fractions of particulate
matter) in air. Section 9 presents the summary and conclusions, followed by references in
Section 10.
