Distribution of gamma exposure rates in a reactor effluent stream flood plain system

Ground-level gamma dosimetry surveys were conducted along the length of a radiocesium-contaminated reactor effluent stream flood plain system to determine the extent and patterns of isotope distribution over a decade after reactor releases were stopped. The maximum mean exposure rates were found at upstream locations near the source of the contamination and in a downstream sedimentary delta. Gamma exposure rates were not uniformly distributed and high exposure rates were generally restricted to small areas of the flood plain. There was little similarity in either the spatial distribution or magnitudes of maximum gamma exposure rates across flood plains along the stream. Frequency the measured exposure rates tended to be highly skewed and most closely approximated the log-normal distribution in most areas along the stream. However, the complex and changing patterns of dose distributions strongly affected the ability to predict the probability of encountering unusually high exposure rates. Complex statistical and distributional models are required to provide precise descriptions of the dosimetry environment in such complex ecosystems and different models could be required on a site-by-site basis.