The
INL Offsite Environmental Surveillance Program
Routine operations at
the Idaho National Laboratory (INL)
have the potential to release radioactive contaminants into the air and water. To
measure the levels of these contaminants, the Environmental Surveillance, Education
and Research Program (ESER) operates the INL
Offsite Environmental Surveillance Program for the U.S. Department
of Energy, Idaho Operations Office.
The objectives of ESER's Offsite
Environmental Surveillance Program are:
Sample
media representing pathways of contaminants from the INL to
people near the site
Obtain radiological analyses for
these samples
Report and interpret the results
of these analyses for the public.
Over
2000 samples of a variety of media are collected each year,
including air, water, foodstuffs, soil, and direct radiation
measurements. (Sampling Schedule)
Sample collections are made over a nearly 9000 mi2
area of southeastern Idaho.
