[ RadSafe ] Re: Credible tritium release

[Philip Egidi]

<Can anyone give a plausible scenario whereby a credible tritium release
to
the environment could result in  significant health effects??>

To humans or to biota?

Just wondering.  If the new ICRP recommendations come into effect as 
drafted, this type of question may come up more often.
We may be evaluating those releases to other species as well as human
populations.
Consider it a practice question on a slow Friday PM.
Discuss.


Phil Egidi
EPS III
Radiation Management Unit
Compliance Program
Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Division
CDPHE
(303)692-3447
(303)759-5355 (fax)



If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

>>> <jjcohen at prodigy.net> 08/19/05 02:51PM >>>
Can anyone give a plausible scenario whereby a credible tritium release
to
the environment could result in  significant health effects??


----- Original Message -----
From: "John R Johnson" <idias at interchange.ubc.ca>
To: "Muckerheide, James" <jimm at WPI.EDU>; <radsafe at radlab.nl>;
<rad-sci-l at WPI.EDU>
Cc: <cdn-nucl-l at mailman1.cis.mcmaster.ca>; <mbrexchange at list.ans.org>
Sent: Friday, August 19, 2005 11:57 AM
Subject: RE: [ RadSafe ] We can't bury a few tritium atoms
incorporatedinfoundation materials!?


> James and other radsafers
>
> FYI, there is a special issue of HPJ on tritium. Our paper in it is
>
> METABOLISM AND DOSIMETRY OF TRITIUM, R. L. Hill and John R. Johnson,
Health
> Physics, Vol. 65/6 (1993)  628-647.
>
> John
>  _________________
> John R Johnson, Ph.D.
> *****
> President, IDIAS, Inc
> 4535 West 9-Th Ave
> Vancouver B. C.
> V6R 2E2
> (604) 222-9840
> idias at interchange.ubc.ca 
> *****
> or most mornings
> Consultant in Radiation Protection
> TRIUMF
> 4004 Wesbrook Mall
> Vancouver B. C.
> V6R 2E2
> (604) 222-1047 Ext. 6610
> Fax: (604) 222-7309
> johnsjr at triumf.ca 
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl]On

> Behalf Of Muckerheide, James
> Sent: August 19, 2005 10:30 AM
> To: radsafe at radlab.nl; rad-sci-l at WPI.EDU 
> Cc: cdn-nucl-l at mailman1.cis.mcmaster.ca; mbrexchange at list.ans.org 
> Subject: [ RadSafe ] We can't bury a few tritium atoms incorporated
> infoundation materials!?
>
>
> Friends,
>
> Note the following intended use of the explicitly fraudulent BEIR
VII
> report:
>
>
> But Diane D'Arrigo, a low-level radiation specialist with the
Nuclear
> Information and Referral Service in Washington, said that when
tritium
> enters
> the human body, "if it were to displace a hydrogen atom in our DNA
we
would
> have potential genetic damage."
>
> Because tritium is almost always found as a water contaminant, it
goes
> directly into soft tissues and organs, according to the EPA.
>
> Tritium "is very much something that can be taken up by the body,"
D'Arrigo
> said. "It gives off beta emissions, so wherever it lodges it will
give off
> radioactivity in that region."
>
> A National Academy of Sciences panel in June said that even very low
doses
> of
> radiation pose a cancer risk over a person's lifetime. "It is
unlikely
that
> there is a threshold [of radiation exposure] below which cancers are
not
> induced," the scientists stated.
>
> Of course, the electric ratepayers are stuck with the $ millions for
such
> ludicrous "decisions," continuing to profit the "rad protectionists"
while
> continuing to destroy the economics of all things nuclear.
>
> Now, maybe we can get $ billions to prevent cosmic radiation from
constantly
> manufacturing tritium in the atmosphere?  Can we sequester tritium
to
reduce
> the world equilibrium tritium inventory of 50 million curies?  (How
about
> reducing the legacy of the 2,000 million curies in the early '60s
from
> above-ground weapons tests - now about 700 million curies? :-)
>
> But we explicitly suppress the data that shows that biology ceases
to
> function without radiation (including biology studies from removing
K-40
> from
> natural potassium in the Oak Ridge calutrons).
>
> All relevant data is discarded by the BEIR VII Committee.
>
> (Note also that these foundations are above a "tritium plume" in
ground
> water
> from 1960's leakage from the below-ground spent fuel pool.)
>
> Regards, Jim Muckerheide
>
> ===================
>
>
>
>
> More radioactive Yankee Rowe waste to pass through Vermont
>
>
> By Kathryn Casa | Vermont Guardian
>
> posted August 19, 2005
>
> BRATTLEBORO - As much as 23 million pounds of tritium-laced
construction
> waste could be trucked through southern Vermont within a stone's
throw of
> two
> elementary schools after Massachusetts regulators turned thumbs down
on a
> request to leave the low-level radioactive material on site.
>
> Officials of the shuttered Yankee Rowe nuclear power plant near Rowe,
MA,
> had
> asked the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
(MassDEP)
for
> a "beneficial use determination" (BUD) permit, which proposed leaving
in
> place building foundations and other underground structures of the
reactor
> containment building, one of the few structures left standing at the
site.
>
> They also asked for permission to fill holes left by demolished
foundations
> and other excavations with about 20 tons of concrete rubble from
demolition
> of other structures at the site.
>
> Yankee Rowe, the nation's third-oldest nuclear power plant, began
> decommissioning in 1993. Late last year, officials there estimated
there
> were
> about 1,000 shipments left before decommissioning was complete.
>
> But in a July 29 decision, MassDEP said the proposal could
complicate
> cleanup
> of soil and groundwater contamination. "MassDEP has concluded that
the BUD
> approval to abandon-in-place subsurface structures and reuse
concrete
rubble
> as fill shall be limited to only those materials with no
distinguishable
> plant-related radioactivity above background level," said MassDEP
> Commissioner Robert W. Golledge, Jr.
>
> "While the risk posed to the public by Yankee's proposal may be low,
> tritium-contaminated rubble is low-level radioactive waste which
cannot be
> left on site. Further interring the material on site may exacerbate
or
> complicate the clean up of existing soil and groundwater
contamination at
> the
> site," he determined.
>
> Tritium, a known carcinogen, is released in steam from commercial
nuclear
> reactors and may leak into the underlying soil and ground water,
according
> to
> the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It has a half-life of about
12
> years.
>
> The EPA considers tritium one of the least dangerous radionuclides
because
> it
> emits very weak radiation as it decays, and leaves the body
relatively
> quickly.
>
> But Diane D'Arrigo, a low-level radiation specialist with the
Nuclear
> Information and Referral Service in Washington, said that when
tritium
> enters
> the human body, "if it were to displace a hydrogen atom in our DNA
we
would
> have potential genetic damage."
>
> Because tritium is almost always found as a water contaminant, it
goes
> directly into soft tissues and organs, according to the EPA.
>
> Tritium "is very much something that can be taken up by the body,"
D'Arrigo
> said. "It gives off beta emissions, so wherever it lodges it will
give off
> radioactivity in that region."
>
> A National Academy of Sciences panel in June said that even very low
doses
> of
> radiation pose a cancer risk over a person's lifetime. "It is
unlikely
that
> there is a threshold [of radiation exposure] below which cancers are
not
> induced," the scientists stated.
>
> Yankee Rowe spokeswoman Kelley Smith said that plant officials and
> Massachusetts state officials are in negotiations about how much of
the
23.7
> million pounds of concrete in the reactor support structure will have
to
be
> shipped out. That determination will be made after officials measure
tritium
> background levels, she said.
>
> MassDEP spokeswoman Elizabeth Stinehart said the process used to
determine
> background levels is "still under development."
>
> Kelley said that if left in place, the tritium would result in
exposure
> levels that exceed only those set by MassDEP, but would be within
the
limits
> set by both the Massachusetts Department of Health and the Nuclear
> Regulatory
> Commission.
>
> According to NRC criteria, Kelley said, decommissioning plants must
> demonstrate that a hypothetical resident living on a reclaimed site
would
> not
> be exposed to more than 25 millirems of radiation in addition to the
360
> millirems that resident would receive during the course of a normal
year.
> She
> said the increased dosage must take into account all possible
pathways,
> including drinking water from a well drilled on the property, or
drinking
> milk from a cow raised on the land.
>
> Because Massachusetts restricts the transport of radioactive waste
through
> various towns and on certain roadways, the concrete will be shipped
north
on
> Route 100 through Readsboro and Whitingham, VT, then east on Route 9,
a
> windy
> highway that crosses Hogback Mountain and comes within yards of
Marlboro
> Elementary School and the Academy School in West Brattleboro.
>
> The trucks will connect to Interstate 91 at exit 2, where they will
head
> south, eventually ending up at a rail line in Worcester, MA, where
the
waste
> is loaded onto railcars and transported to a nuclear waste facility
in
Utah,
> Smith said.
>
> Yankee Rowe notifies the Vermont Department of Health in advance
about the
> shipments, which in turn notifies Vermont State Police headquarters
in
> Waterbury. But local emergency response officials have told the
Vermont
> Guardian that they are not notified of the shipments.
>
> State records showed that 250 shipments had passed through southern
Vermont
> as of November 2004, the last time the Vermont Guardian requested
the
> information. Current statistics were unavailable this week because
the
> Vermont Department of Health Protection was moving.
>
> Past shipments have contained low levels of the radioactive isotopes
cobalt
> 60; nichol 63; iron 55; cesium 137; cesium 134; americium 241;
CM-243;
> plutonium 238, 239, 241, 245; and depleted uranium said Carla White,
> Vermont's senior radiological health specialist.
>
> During the busiest demolition periods, about one truck per week has
passed
> through southern Vermont, state records showed.
>
> Marlboro School Board Chairwoman Lauren Poster said the elementary
school
> has
> long been concerned with traffic on Route 9, which includes a passing
lane
> in
> front of the school, where the speed limit is 50 miles per hour. She
said
> traffic accidents and jack-knifed trucks are routine on the roadway
during
> the winter months.
>
>
>
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