Estimates of exposure rates and fallout arrival times near the Nevada Test Site

One of the tasks of the Off-Site Radiation Exposure Review Project (ORERP) was to estimate doses to individuals resulting from exposure to fallout from nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site (NTS). Dose estimates are based on estimates of the exposure rate 12 h post-detonation (H + 12) and the time of fallout arrival from events producing discernible fallout at locations off the NTS. These estimates are derived from both published fallout patterns and survey meter readings taken by monitors in the field. Each fallout pattern is digitized, and kriging is used to interpolate estimates of exposure rate and arrival time onto a 10-km grid covering the contours of the pattern. These grid values are then used to calculate estimates at any location of interest within the pattern. Exposure rate is also estimated from the survey meter readings for a particular nuclear event by decay-correcting the measurements near a selected location to H + 12 and then aggregating them into one estimate. Estimates of discernible exposure rate and time of fallout arrival from 74 nuclear events at the NTS are contained in the Town Data Base. Estimates are given for 352 locations in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah. Each record in the data base contains estimates for a specified event and location. The distribution of exposure rate is represented by a geometric mean and standard deviation; the distribution of fallout arrival time is represented by an arithmetic mean and standard deviation. A more extensive description and a listing of the Town Data Base are included in a separate report.