Operation SWAB: Monitoring of Ship Contamination

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The Rosensteil School of the University of Miami will receive renewed support for "Operation SWAB." Upon request from a ship or laboratory operator, personnel from the U. of Miami tritium laboratory will travel to and test the facilities for radioactive spills at very low levels. A detailed report on background contamina- tion will be provided and advice will be offered on how best to clean affected areas. The aim is to provide safe and effective operation of on-board and on-site sampling for radioactive tracers. The methods are 100 times more sensitive than safety and health-related radiation control regulations require. This sensitivity is necessary because of the extremely low levels of trace radioactivity in ocean, atmospheric, and polar ice core samples. Operation SWAB can assure facility operators and users that background radiation levels are appropriate for conducting a range of NSF-sponsored investigations involving natural and anthropogenic isotope distributions in the oceans, atmosphere, and polar ice caps.