Background

The Rocky Flats historical dose reconstruction study examined data on more than 8,000 chemicals and radionuclides used at Rocky Flats. The study concluded that plutonium releases from the 903 Pad, from the 1957 fire, and from routine operations using carbon tetrachloride were the primary sources of off-site exposures. The most important route of exposure was inhalation of these materials prior to 1975. Phase II of the study began in 1992 to verify, refine, and more thoroughly investigate other pathways.

Rocky Flats GIS Map Application

The map application for the Rocky Flats Environmental Dose Reconstruction study hosts an interactive visual display of the results from the study. The interactive interface allows viewing of respirable-sized, airborne plutonium particles. Some features of the web-based application are:

• Base map of transportation and administrative boundaries, with aerial photographs of Rocky Flats site.
• Viewable temporal layers of plutonium plumes for normal site operation, for the 903 area, and for the fires of 1957 and 1969.
• Interactive layering of spatial/temporal data for Rocky Flats study area.
• Map data contained in vector as well as raster/grid format.
• Map navigation tools for interactive viewing.
• Printable display of numerical measurements of radiological dose, substance concentration, etc.

Contacts

Geographic Information Science Center, UCB (GISC)
Anders Flodmark (flodmark@gisc.berkeley.edu)
Eric Zhang (flodmark@gisc.berkeley.edu)

Screenshot

Layers of temporal data are viewable with the spatial interface on the Hanford mapping application. Densities of measured substances are shown on a grid over the Hanford area, with different years corresponding to different grid values.