Nevada Test Site Annual Site Environmental Report for Calendar Year 1998

Book excerpt: Prior to 1989, annual reports of environmental monitoring and assessment results for the Nevada Test Site (NTS) were prepared in two separate parts. Onsite effluent monitoring and environmental monitoring results were reported in an onsite report prepared by the US Department of Energy, Nevada Operations Office (DOE/NV). Results of the Offsite Radiological Surveillance and Long-Term Hydrological Monitoring Programs conducted by the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Laboratory (various names) in Las Vegas, Nevada, were reported separately by that Agency. Beginning with the 1989 Annual Site Environmental Report for the NTS, these two documents were combined into a single report to provide a more comprehensive annual documentation of the environmental protection activities conducted for the nuclear testing program and other nuclear and non-nuclear operations at the NTS. The two agencies have coordinated preparation of this tenth combined onsite and offsite report through sharing of information on environmental surveillance and releases as well as meteorological, hydrological, and other supporting data used in dose-estimation calculations.