Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-75dct Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-12T17:39:19.498Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

North Korean nuclear test of October 9th, 2006: The utilization of health Canada’s radionuclide monitoring network and environment Canada’s atmospheric transport and dispersion modelling

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 January 2012

J. Barescut ,
D. Lariviere ,
T. Stocki ,
T.J. Stocki ,
R.K. Ungar ,
R. D’Amours ,
M. Bean ,
K. Bock ,
I. Hoffman  and
E. Korpach
...Show all authors
T.J. Stocki
Affiliation:
Radiation Protection Bureau, Health Canada, 2720 Riverside Dr., AL6604C, Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1A 1C1
R.K. Ungar
Affiliation:
Radiation Protection Bureau, Health Canada, 2720 Riverside Dr., AL6604C, Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1A 1C1
R. D’Amours
Affiliation:
Canadian Meteorological Centre, Environment Canada, 2121 Trans-Canada Highway, Dorval, QC, Canada H9P 1J3
M. Bean
Affiliation:
Radiation Protection Bureau, Health Canada, 2720 Riverside Dr., AL6604C, Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1A 1C1
K. Bock
Affiliation:
Radiation Protection Bureau, Health Canada, 2720 Riverside Dr., AL6604C, Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1A 1C1
I. Hoffman
Affiliation:
Radiation Protection Bureau, Health Canada, 2720 Riverside Dr., AL6604C, Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1A 1C1
E. Korpach
Affiliation:
Radiation Protection Bureau, Health Canada, 2720 Riverside Dr., AL6604C, Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1A 1C1
A. Malo
Affiliation:
Canadian Meteorological Centre, Environment Canada, 2121 Trans-Canada Highway, Dorval, QC, Canada H9P 1J3
Get access

Abstract

Since January 1959, Health Canada has monitored environmental levels of radioactive fallout, to ensure the health and well being of Canadians. This work has evolved to include explosion verification for the Comprehensive nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty by monitoring the concentration of radioxenon in the atmosphere. Detection of Xe at Yellowknife by the monitoring system of Health Canada combined with the atmospheric transport and dispersion models (ATDM) of Environment Canada and seismic timing data have shown that the source of this Xe was most likely from the North Korean nuclear test of October 9th, 2006. Historical and real time monitoring data on the distribution of Xe releases from Chalk River Labs, the major source of anthropogenic background to Yellowknife were studied. Careful review of other large Xe-133 measurements at Yellowknife with ATDM was used to understand the October 2006 measurements of Xe. This allowed us to conclude that the Xe-133 detected at Yellowknife could be attributed to a release from the October nuclear test in North Korea. Health Canada and Environment Canada have demonstrated that Xe detection combined with ATDM is a viable technology for treaty verification.

Type
Research Article
Information
Radioprotection , Volume 46 , Issue 6: ICRER 2011 – International Conference on Radioecology & Environmental Radioactivity: Environment & Nuclear Renaissance , 2011 , pp. S529 - S534
Copyright
© Owned by the authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Stocki T.J., Armad P., Heinrich Ph., Ungar R.K., D’Amours R., Korpach E.P., Bellivier A., Taffary T., Malo A., Bean M., Hoffman I., Jean M., Measurement and Modeling of Radioxenon Plumes in the Ottawa Valley J. Environ. Radioact. 99 (2008) 1775–1788.
Grasty R.T., Walters B.R.B., Hovgaard J., and LaMarre J.R. Radiat. Protect. Dosim. 94, (2001) 309–316.
Grasty R.T., Hovgaard J., and LaMarre J. Radiat. Protect. Dosim. 95, (2001) 249–256.
Stocki, T.J., Blanchard X., D’Amours R., Ungar R.K., Fontaine, J.P., Sohier, M., Bean M., Taffary T., Racine J. Tracy B.L., Brachet G., Jean M., and Meyerhoff D., J. Environ. Radioact. 80, (2005) 305–326.
Fontaine J.P., Pointurier F., Blanchard X., and Taffary T. J. J. Environ. Radioact. 72, (2004)129–135.
Sullivan J. D.. Phys. Today 51, March (1998) 24–29.
Saey P.R.J, Bean M., Becker A., Coyne J., D’Amours, R., DeGeer, L.-E., Hogue R., Stocki, T.J., Ungar, R.K., and Wotawa G. Geophys. Res. Lett. 34 (2007) L20802.
Stocki, T.J, Lo M.-C. Lo, Bock K., Beaton L.A, Tisi S.D.R., Tran A., Sullivan T., Ungar R.K. Radioprotection 44 (2009) 735–739.
Stocki T.J., Beaton L.A., Tran A., Bock K., and Ungar R.K. Nucl. Instr. Meth. A580, (2007) 683–686.
Deaconescu, R. AECL Annual Safety Review Molybdenum-99 Production Facility Annual Safety Review 2001. AECL-MISC-303-01 Rev. 0. Chalk River, Ontario (2002).
Thompson, L.W. Annual Safety Review Molybdenum-99 Production Facility Annual Safety Review 2002. AECL-MISC-303-02 Rev. 1. Chalk River, Ontario (2003).
Thompson, L.W. Annual Safety Review Molybdenum-99 Production Facility Annual Safety Review 2003. AECL-MISC-303-03 Chalk River, Ontario (2004).
Thompson, L.W. Annual Safety Review Molybdenum-99 Production Facility Annual Safety Review 2004. AECL-MISC-303-04 Rev 0. Chalk River, Ontario (2005).
Thompson, L.W., Annual Safety Review Molybdenum-99 Production Facility Annual Safety Review 2005. AECL-MISC-303-05 Rev 0. Chalk River, Ontario (2006).
D’Amours, R. and Malo A., “A Zeroth Order Lagrangian Particle Dispersion Model MLDP0”, Internal publication, Canadian Meteorological Centre, Environmental Emergency Response Section (2004) 19 pp.
D’Amours R., Malo, A., Servranckx R., Bensimon, D., Trudel, S., Gauthier J.-P., J. Geophysl Res, 115 (2010), D00L11, 1–11.
Legree B. private communication.