Radiological Environmental Monitoring
The Radiochemistry section of the Public Health Labs is responsible for analyzing the environmental samples of air, water, soil, sand, sediment, vegetation, milk, fish, lobster, mussels, atmospheric particulate material, and direct gamma radiation levels obtained from various sites within the State.
The New Hampshire Division of Public Health Services conducts a well established, continual environmental monitoring program for the three nuclear facilities, which are: (i) Seabrook Nuclear Power Station (SNPS) located in the town of Seabrook on the east coast; (ii) Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station (VYNPS) located in the town of Vernon, Vermont across the Connecticut River on the western border; and (iii) Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNS) located in Kittery, Maine bordering Portsmouth on the east coast.
The Radiochemistry section of the Public Health Labs is responsible for analyzing the environmental samples of air, water, soil, sand, sediment, vegetation, milk, fish, lobster, mussels, atmospheric particulate material, and direct gamma radiation levels obtained from various sites within the State. An estimated 10,000 measurements are performed on approximately 1,300 individual samples every year. New Hampshire also participates in a system for daily monitoring of air samples through an electronic radiological surveillance system called RadNet. This is part of an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) nationwide continual radiation monitoring network system for the nation's air, drinking water, milk, and precipitation. These systems enable the State's public health and emergency management agencies to have an independent source of data regarding radiation levels and to detect any radiation levels above normal "background" levels.