Tracing the Migration of Low‐level Radioactive Waste Using Rn‐222 as an Indicator of Hydrogeological and Geochemical Conditions

Abstract

Port Hope, Ontario, located on the north shore of Lake Ontario, is home to some of largest amounts of low‐level radioactive waste contamination in the world. The waste is enriched in 238U and 226Ra, both of which decay into the invisible, radioactive gas radon‐222 (222Rn). This project is an attempt to determine the amounts of 222Rn that have migrated from scattered waste sites into selected streams and groundwater in the local watershed. This knowledge can be used to predict hydrogeological and geochemical conditions within the sample stream and surrounding area.