[ RadSafe ] Indian Point in the news - Hudson fish near nuke plant contain [reduced] strontium-90 -"A red-herring??"

[stewart farber]

I noted the following post was being held for review by the list moderator, since I sent it from another email address:
=======================================================
Hello all,

As is well established, one does not have Sr-90 released from a nuclear 
plant without much higher total activity of Cs-137 [i.e.: for unit release 
of Sr-90, the Cs-137 release >>> 1]. Lots of reasons related to waste 
control systems and behavior of Sr-90 vs. Cs-137 regarding fractionation in 
any leakage path, but not necessary to go into details.

Cs-137 once released into the environment will be concentrated in fish much 
more than Sr-90 for any concentration in water [especially in fresh water]. 
So any release of activity from Indian Point [or any nuclear plant], if 
significant vs. background levels of these isotopes residual from bomb 
testing, would result in elevated Cs-137 in fish before anything significant 
showed up with measured Sr-90 activity.

The low levels of Sr-90 reported in this news article are almost certainly 
an analytical artifact. Since half of the fish sampled 10 miles upriver 
[what would be considered a "background" area had Sr-90, one-third higher 
than fish taken near the plant, it is unlikely the plant and its recent 
releases of Sr-90 [or Cs-137] are connected in any way.

Without much elevated levels of Cs-137 in all of these fish, especially 
those sampled near the plant, this whole issue of supposed slightly elevated 
Sr-90 in fish sampled near and upriver is likely just a "red herring" being 
promoted by those with an anti-nuclear agenda to scare the public.

Stewart Farber, MS Public Health
Consulting Scientist
Farber Technical Services
1285 Wood Ave.
Bridgeport, CT 06604
[203] 367-0791 [office]
email: radproject at sbcglobal.net

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----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Johnston, Thomas" <Tom_Johnston at nymc.edu>
To: "Academic-Medical Radiation Safety Officers listserve" 
<amrso at mailman.mcw.edu>; <radsafe at radlab.nl>
Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2007 10:09 AM
Subject: [ RadSafe ] Indian Point in the news - Hudson fish near nuke plant 
contain strontium-90


> Hudson fish near nuke plant contain strontium-90
>
>
>
>
>
> Greg Clary
> The Westchester Journal News
>
>
>
> (January 16, 2007) - BUCHANAN - In what could be the Lower Hudson
> Valley's next environmental controversy or just a laboratory mistake,
> fish in the Hudson River have been found to contain traces of
> strontium-90.
>
> The radioactive isotope was discovered leaking almost a year ago at the
> Indian Point nuclear power plants, and tests on 12 fish found four with
> detectible amounts.
>
> The tests were conducted for Entergy Nuclear Northeast, which owns the
> plants, after researchers pulled the fish from the river in late summer
> - six from more than 10 miles upriver in the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge area
> and the rest from around Indian Point.
>
> "Certainly it's of concern that the strontium was found in 25 percent of
> the sampling," said C.J. Miller, spokeswoman for Rockland County
> Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef.
>
> "The origin of that is something that we need to determine. If indeed it
> is coming from the plant itself, then that needs to be remedied
> immediately."
>
> The company has spent millions to find and stop the leaks, but so far it
> has been able only to capture much of the irradiated water without
> locating the source.
>
> Three of the upriver fish had strontium levels ranging as high as 24.5
> picocuries per kilogram, while one taken from near the plant had 18.8
> picocuries per kilogram, according to results first released late last
> week.
>
> Picocuries measure radioactivity in the tiniest amounts. Although the
> Nuclear Regulatory Commission doesn't set safe minimums for fish,
> Westchester County officials said the mean detectible level is 10
> picocuries per kilogram.
>
> Public officials, regulators and plant owners are eager for more
> sampling to determine if the results are merely false positives, which
> are more likely at low levels, or something more significant.
>
> GCLARY at lohud.com
>
>
>
>
>
> Thomas P. Johnston
>
> Radiation Safety Officer
>
> New York Medical College
>
> Valhalla, NY 10595
>
> 914-594-4448 office
>
> 914-594-3665 fax
>
> 914-557-5950 mobile
>
> tom_johnston at nymc.edu <mailto:tom_johnston at nymc.edu>
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