[ RadSafe ] Cathy Garger, Prolific, Anti-Nuclear Writer -

[Roger Helbig]

Global Research is a pretty disreputable, pro nearly every conspiracy theory
on the net, but Garger also gets the ability to frequently post on OpEdNews,
which is widely accepted by the left, and controls at least two Yahoo
Groups, one of which used to be based in the Netherlands.   Her continual
misrepresentation of facts thus should be confronted and rebutted.

 

This one came up in my Google Alert on Rosalie Bertell - 

 


Environmental Coverup: Radioactive Groundwater Contamination in the
Chesapeake Bay 

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=16866

 

by Cathy Garger 

		

 <http://www.globalresearch.ca> Global Research, January 8, 2010


 <http://axisoflogic.com> Axis of Logic - 2010-01-03

	
	

 

Not far from the political wheeling and dealing, hidden from view outside
Washington, DC, one of the most stunning cover-ups in environmental criminal
history quietly gurgles below our feet. For outside the awareness of nearly
17 million residents exists a total news blackout of nuclear power plants
that have leaked radioactive chemicals into the groundwater of the
Chesapeake Bay Watershed. 

To be clear, it's not that media coverage of the polluted, oxygen-deprived
Chesapeake Bay with its forty percent "dead zones" doesn't exist. In fact,
mid-Atlantic news coverage has been glutted for years with "save the Bay"
rhetoric, public awareness campaigns, and half-hearted clean-up efforts. And
while the dead-and-dying Chesapeake receives no shortage of coverage in the
local media, the only pollution you're going to hear about is that which
does not concern radioactive contamination of the Chesapeake Bay. 

Nuclear poisons aside, the defiled Chesapeake is forever in the news. In
May, 2009, President Obama donned his cape and made like a cartoon super
hero to [ostensibly pretend to] jump in to protect and restore the
Chesapeake with an Executive Order. Thanks to dutiful White House staffers,
the greater DC metro area media ravenously devoured such fanfare - as is par
for the course on the poor Chesapeake's woes. Well, on some of the Bay's
woes, that is - considering the mainstream media's standard protocol of
reporting only on topics deemed acceptable for public consumption. 

There exists possibly no better example of the total stand down on the
Chesapeake's nuclear woes than the day in August, 2009 when an EPA rep came
to an Annapolis town hall forum. Organized by local non-profits Chesapeake
Bay Foundation, Clean Water Action, and Maryland PIRG offshoot, Environment
Maryland, the event was billed as an opportunity for the public to give EPA,
tasked with coordinating the fulfillment of the Executive Order, its input.
Press was in abundance in the standing-room-only event, ensuring wide press
coverage of standard Bay pollution topics with bright smiling faces talking
about nitrogen and storm drains. 

Yet for all the rhetoric from the non-profit organizers and EPA about the
Bay-on-its-way-out, (It's all that blasted fertilizer, cow manure, and storm
water runoff, dang it!) radioactive chemical emissions generated by the
eleven (11) reactors in the Bay watershed and their own "special"
contributions to the Bay's demise were never mentioned. No one with a
microphone talked about routine, planned radioactive discharges and
continuous purges of 11 nuclear reactors into the air, Bay, and its
tributaries. Predictably, neither was a word about "accidental" leaks - nor
nuclear power's thermal, climate-changing pollution - uttered from the
podium. In fact, this writer and one other citizen were the only ones to
stand up and expose the "elephant" in the room ... namely, the deadly
effects of the eleven nuclear reactors on the Chesapeake Bay. 

Furthermore, in the EPA's recent follow up effort, "Draft Strategy for
Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay," noticeably absent is not as
much as a word of mention of nuclear fission products leaked into
groundwater - nor about radioactive liquid effluents continuously spewing
into the Bay and its tributaries for well into the fourth decade. In
essence, for all the incessant "Chesapeake Bay saving" rhetoric, it's as if
the rampant point source radioactive and thermal pollution generated by the
eleven Bay watershed reactors simply does not exist. 

A Leaky Reactor or Two, Ya Say? How 'Bout ... ALL! 

Yet whether EPA, environmental groups, or the media ever talk about it or
not, the fact still remains that radioactive groundwater has been migrating
steadily underground towards the Bay and draining into its tributaries for
years. And whether residents living in the area are aware of it or not -
increases in radioactive pollution now further threaten the health of nearly
17 million humans - and all other living things within the Bay ecosystem. 

It's a huge surprise to many to learn how many nuclear reactors discharge
into the body of water often called "our national treasure" and its
tributaries. Out of the eleven (11) nuclear reactors in the Chesapeake Bay
Watershed, nine (9) are located on rivers or a lake (in North Anna's case, a
lake) that flow either directly or eventually into the Bay. The other two
(2) reactors are located at Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, which sits
directly on - and dumps into - the Chesapeake Bay. 

With Bay restoration efforts focused on storm water drains, fertilizer, and
farm animal dung, precious few in the greater Baltimore-Washington metro
area ever seem to discover on their own that 11 nuclear reactors (plus,
actually, the twelfth, the now-defunct infamous Three Mile Island Unit 2)
have been wrecking havoc on the Chesapeake Bay Watershed since the 1970s.
Even more of a well-kept secret, however, is the fact that all of the
nuclear power plants - a full one hundred percent (100%) - have leaked
radioactive materials into the Chesapeake Watershed's groundwater. 

Unbeknownst to most living in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, the nuclear
power plants described by Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley as "a new clean
energy-generating asset" (or, rather, a$$et) are, in reality, anything but
clean. How in the world can "clean" be used to describe complex machinery
that continuously discharges materials that contaminate our water, air, soil
(think food) with Uranium and its decay products that remain in the
environment for an eternity and lethal fission products, most of which are
not found in nature? 

Tritium, the most plentiful radionuclide emitted by nuclear reactors, was
found in nature in only miniscule amounts prior to the 1940s ... that is,
back in the pre-nuke era, before the nuclear orgy of reactor-generated
electricity and thousands of atomic bomb explosions were still but a mere
twinkle in Manhattan Project's, J. Robert Oppenheimer's, eye. 

With 1,500 different radioactive isotopes called radionuclides, (most of
which are created in the nuclear fission process) a few in particular -
Tritium, Cobalt-60, and Cesium-137 most predominantly [see descriptions
below] - have been reported in the soils and groundwater on and around the
nuclear sites in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. 

One would be justified to surmise that if the extent of the radioactive
contaminated groundwater's were to become public knowledge, then new,
experimental nuclear reactors - such as those planned for Calvert Cliffs,
MD, Peach Bottom (Bell Bend), PA and North Anna, VA might not ever get
built. [Note: Approval of the new reactor at North Anna has not been smooth
sailing for Old Dominion, due to the hard work of local environmentalists,
with assistance of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, who took the
case to a Virginia Court - and won.] 

Radioactive Water from Calvert Cliffs Heads for the Bay 

Although many in the area realize the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant
sits on the Chesapeake, about 35 miles from Washington, DC, completely
suppressed from public awareness has been the December 3, 2005 discovery of
the underground radioactive contamination in one of the monitoring wells. 

According to a 2006 report, a substantial leak of tritium - approximately
60,000 liters inside a 49 foot deep well, from an eroded pipe in a
sub-surface drainage system connected to the plant's circulating water
system, caused levels of tritium as high as 2,880 picocuries per liter. This
is roughly 288 times the tritium found in nature. According to the
Department of Energy, natural tritium levels [pre-Nuclear Age] were in the
10 to 30 picocuries per liter range. 

Information submitted by Constellation Energy indicated that Calvert Cliffs'
tritiated-contaminated groundwater plume was then roughly 273 feet from
reaching the Chesapeake Bay. In a July, 2007 report, Constellation reported
the tritiated plume was expected to migrate and reach the Bay "sometime
between 2010 and 2028." So any day during the next 18 years, the silent
radioactive "hit" on the Bay will quietly take place when no one is
watching, when no one even knows. Tragically, the extent and size of the
tritiated plume will neither be measured nor evaluated. As a Constellation
Energy Senior Chemist admitted, there are no regulations nor reporting
requirements specifically mandated by the NRC for tritium contamination
levels in the soil. 

Abnormal levels of tritium in the groundwater of Calvert Cliffs on the Bay,
according to a December 5, 2008 report, are still present. Yet no
remediation is planned to stop the radioactive water from further
contaminating the Chesapeake - a dwindling source of crabs, oysters, clams,
rockfish, bluefish, trout, flounder, and other fish for consumers along the
East coast. 

Where Are the Environmentalists? 

Although information on groundwater contamination in the watershed has been
reported by the NRC, Union of Concerned Scientists, and Exelon Corporation
websites, the issue has been ignored by government officials, the media, and
environmental non-profit organizations. 

While searching for more details on groundwater contamination at Chesapeake
Watershed nuclear power plants, no information on the subject was found on
the websites of the Chesapeake Safe Energy Coalition - a group that reports
it "exists to challenge and subsequently stop the proposed new reactor at
Calvert Cliffs" - nor on any of the websites of the organizations that
comprise the anti-nuclear coalition nor on the websites of the two leading
"save the Bay" groups, Chesapeake Bay Foundation and Alliance for the
Chesapeake Bay. 

Just how can it be possible none of the environmental, consumer protection,
and Bay-saving organizations in the DC area have covered the issue of
radioactive groundwater contamination occurring at no less than all of the
nuclear power plants in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed? 

Even more astonishing, however, than the blackout by local non-profits is
the fact that both UniStar (a new firm formed by Constellation Energy and
Electricite de France) and the State of Maryland did not mention leaking
reactors nor groundwater contamination in the process of obtaining a
Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity to construct a third,
double-size, experimental French EPR ("European Pressurised Reactor") at
Calvert Cliffs. Incidentally, the application was subsequently granted by
the State of Maryland Public Service Commission in August, 2009. 

With six nuclear power plants involved, it certainly defies belief that none
of the afore-mentioned organizations, media, or state government agencies
have exposed the radioactive groundwater contamination at all Chesapeake
nuclear plants. Even the NRC does not list on its page of nuclear sites with
tritiated groundwater any of the six nuclear power plants in the Chesapeake
Bay Watershed. 

What's the Big Deal About Radioactive Hydrogen in our Water? 

Tritium is but one of the 1,500 hazardous radioactive isotopes that put
human health at risk. The NRC states that it "assumes that any exposure to
radiation poses some health risk, and that risk increases as exposure
increases in a linear, no-threshold (LNT) manner. The LNT assumption
suggests that any increase in dose, no matter how small, incrementally
increases risk." 

Why, exactly, is this radioactive groundwater such a concern? For starters,
tritium, the only radioactive isotope of hydrogen and most prevalent
contaminating element, according to the NRC, "cannot be filtered out of the
water." 

Environmental Epidemiologist and Founder and Past President of The
International Institute of Concern for Public Health, Dr. Rosalie Bertell ,
echoes the NRC's statement, as she states, tritium is "a very effective
distributor of radioactivity in the environment since it is exceedingly
mobile as tritiated water, and can travel everywhere that water can travel.
The human body, all tissues and cells, are composed of about 70% water.
About 80% of the atoms in the human body are hydrogen atoms, which can be
replaced by tritium." 

So are Americans actually protected from the hazards of this dangerous
radiation? Consider the following carefully - but only on an empty stomach.
The DOE states the "maximum contaminant level developed by the Environmental
Protection Agency for tritium in drinking water supplies is 20,000 pCi/L or
0.02 microcuries per liter (a picocurie is a millionth of a microcurie).
Higher concentrations can be present in water at facilities that produce and
utilize tritium, including certain DOE sites." 

Twenty thousand (20,000) picocuries per liter, you say, EPA? Hold the
phones! If the water our grandparents found outdoors in nature in the 1930s
[before nuclear reactors and bomb explosions began polluting our
environment] contained a mere 10 to 30 picocuries per liter of tritium - a
truly miniscule amount generated by the sun's cosmic rays and subterranean
sources which originated from the formation of the earth - why in the world
is it now acceptable for humans alive today to be permitted to drink a full
20,000 picocuries per liter of tritiated water.... in other words, up to
2,000 times the amount of radioactivity found in nature prior to the advent
of the "Nuclear Age"? 

In the words of Dr. Bertell, "It is the role of regulators to protect the
public health, not to protect the right of corporations to pollute up to
industry established non-health based levels. Industry based regulations
have ordinarily proven too lenient! Tritium is not the exception!" 

Radioactive Water Impacts Humans and Other Living Things 

As far as the effects of tritium and its impact on aquatic life in the Bay,
research shows that tritium - even at minimal doses - has adverse effects on
the genetic materials of marine mussels. In fact, current levels of
"permissible" radiation in our waters may not be protective of aquatic life.
One study suggests "that the generic dose limits recommended by the
International Atomic Energy Agency for the protection of aquatic biota might
not be applicable to all aquatic organisms." Research also shows that, in
tritium accumulation in the aquatic organisms food chain, radionuclide
concentrations are highest up the food chain with consumer fish. 

In humans, tritium can be taken into the body by drinking water, eating food
containing tritium, breathing air, and absorption through the skin. When
tritium is inhaled, it is taken into the lungs, where it is circulated in
the bloodstream and distributed to all tissues. Ingested tritium is almost
completely absorbed, moving quickly from the gastrointestinal tract to the
bloodstream. Within minutes it is found in all body fluids, organs, and is
uniformly distributed throughout the soft tissues. And according to the NRC,
after 10 days of exposure, approximately one-half the radioactive tritium
still remains within the body. 

With skin absorption of tritium, exposure to high concentrations of
tritiated water vapor readily occurs under conditions of high humidity
during hot weather, due to the normal movement of water through the skin.
According to the DOE, "Tritiated water behaves the same as ordinary water,
both in the environment and in the human body. Hence, a significant fraction
of the inhaled and ingested tritium is directly absorbed into the
bloodstream." When radioactive tritium is taken into the body through any of
these means, it is distributed through all body fluids within one to two
hours. 

While inside the body, tritium can cause significant damage to health. When
ingested in food, tritium can remain within the body for years. In a paper
by Committee Examining Radiation Risks of Internal Emitters (CERRIE) titled
"Tritium: Properties, Metabolism and Dosimetry," the amount of tritium in
protein (think fish caught in a highly tritiated body of water) appears to
be greatly increased. A study found that, in tritium in foods, the amount of
tritium can increase the radiological dose 1.7 to 4.5 times over the dose
found in water. 

Specifically, scientific research shows proximity to nuclear power plants
with high rates of tritium discharges includes cell damage within the
genetic materials, especially DNA, with mutations causing birth defects and
Down's syndrome. In pregnant females, tritium ingested by the mother can
cross the placenta and become incorporated directly into the fetus. 

High rates of tritium have also been associated with high newborn death
rates, high childhood leukemia death rates, childhood cancers in children
from birth to 14, and children born with central nervous system disorders.
Even the NRC affirms on its website, "The health risks include increased
occurrence of cancer and genetic abnormalities in future generations." 

What may be perhaps most concerning to all may be the latency period - or
the period of time between radiation exposure and the detection of cancer
and other diseases. In other words, the tritium we inhale, consume in our
water and food, or absorb directly through our skin today can cause cell
damage today that results in diseases and problems with our offspring many
years in the future. 

Environmental Epidemiologist and Founder and Immediate Past President of The
International Institute of Concern for Public Health, Dr. Rosalie Bertell,
has reported that tritium is "a very effective distributor of radioactivity
in the environment since it is exceedingly mobile as tritiated water, and
can travel everywhere that water can travel. The human body, all tissues and
cells, are composed of about 70% water. About 80% of the atoms in the human
body are hydrogen atoms, which can be replaced by tritium." 

Dr. Bertell tells us also that current tritium doses are disproportionately
damaging to women and children, the populations at highest risk. In addition
to fatal cancers and severe genetic defects, miscarriage, and still-births,
tritium protection risks must also take into account non-fatal cancers,
reproductive problems, and chronic diseases caused by nonfunctioning
enzymes, hormones, and other proteins due to tritium-induced damage. These
disruptions, however, just may be the proverbial "icing on the cake." As Dr.
Bertell states about the harm caused by radiation in general, "There are a
large number of auto-immune diseases like type two diabetes, lupus disease,
rheumatoid arthritis and others, which are likely to be radiation related
since their mechanisms are similar to those of cancer - namely mutations of
the DNA." 

Quite unfortunately for our kids, grand kids, and their children yet to
come, the NRC reports about genetic effects as a result of cell mutation
caused by radiation can sometimes skip generations and may not manifest
abnormalities for several generations to come. And since effects of
radiation occur at the level of the cell, "thus changes may not be observed
for many years (usually 5-20 years) after exposure." Yet it's not like any
of this is breaking news. Scientists have known since the 1950s the
multitude of diseases caused by ionizing radiation can appear years after
initial contamination. 

To help better visualize these radiation-induced damages, proteins, enzymes,
DNA and RNA depend upon their shape for their activity and biological
integrity. When the shapes are altered, this results in inactivity of normal
processes. In addition, the radioactive decay process of one tritium atom
may have "a catastrophic effect" on the activity and normal processing of
these molecules. 

Environmental radiation expert Dr. Chris Busby of the Low Level Radiation
Campaign has labeled tritium an "enhanced hazard" because, as a form of
radioactive hydrogen, it freely exchanges with hydrogen in biological
systems, such as enzymes, to DNA, "which is held together and whose
reactions are controlled and facilitated by hydrogen bonds." In essence, all
hell breaks loose within our cells when tritium enters our bodies! 

What is the public's bottom line on groundwater contamination? 

Nuclear reactors that leak tritium are a real concern. With a half-life of
12.43 years, some of the tritium will still be around in the environment for
more than a couple of hundred years. Yet in the minds of nuclear energy
firms like Calvert Cliff's Constellation Energy, the fact that underground,
leaked radioactive water migrating toward the Bay will be around for years
presents no problem at all! 

Constellation showed its unabashed hubris and wonton disregard for the
environment and public health in a 2006 NRC report. "Since the tritium was
originally permitted for discharge to the Chesapeake Bay," said the firm
that recently sold out half its business (and all of its soul) to
Electricite de France, a firm that is, for all intents and purposes, the
French nuclear state, "there will be no significant impact." 

Qu'est-ce que c'est, Constellation Nucleaire? No significant impact, you
say? Au contraire! And go tell that to the crabs and oysters! As
bottom-dwellers, the Chesapeake's prized seafood is the Bay life most
impacted with the lion's share of radioactive materials that settle in the
sediment! In the twisted logic of those in the nuclear pollution industry -
and their enablers in positions of federal power - since tritium and other
radioactive chemicals are already permitted to be discharged into the Bay
and its tributaries through what is called "planned effluent releases"- what
harm does it do, goes the argument, when even more tritium and other
radioactive poisons migrate through the soils into the Bay? 

Yet even despite the current warped mindset that allows the imperiled
Chesapeake to function as the nation's largest floating nuclear dumping
site, energy firms like Constellation actually do realize that leaky
reactors are absolutely not okay. As a representative of Constellation
Energy acknowledged at a September, 2007 presentation on Tritium, [nuclear]
"plants do not have legal authorization to release radioactive material to
the groundwater." Furthermore, "Groundwater flows through and off the plant
property, potentially contaminating private property." 

As Constellation Energy also stated, "Groundwater is considered a public
resource." Thus, by contaminating our public resource, the residents' right
to clean groundwater suitable for drinking has been compromised. While even
though possessing no discernible moral responsibility toward public and
environmental health, the nuclear industry still does understand the law and
realizes that contaminating groundwater is an ongoing action in violation
with the law. As the Constellation spokesperson stated, "plaintiffs can
claim property damage...'You have put your radioactive waste on my property
and damaged my property value'." 

Sad is the day when even nuclear regulators shrug their shoulders and admit
that nuclear-generated poisons will increase human diseases, anomalies, and
disorders in sad and painfully debilitating ways - including brain
abnormalities and, according to CDC, "decreased intelligence as measured by
Intelligence Quotient [IQ] tests." 

Can there be any other solution than for all of us to work our hardest to
stop the continued onslaught of radioactive contamination of, not just the
Chesapeake Watershed, but the entire United States? Each day the
contamination increases, so we must act all the more quickly while those
members of the human species among us with consideration for all those to
come after still have vitality, decent health, and some semblance of normal
brain functioning left. 

The complete blackout that surrounds groundwater contamination of all
nuclear power plants in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed without question
constitutes one of the greatest environmental crimes in US history. 

Tragically, all indications are such that this trend of increased,
life-destroying, environmental radiation will only continue - that is, of
course, unless and until ordinary but determined Americans in large numbers
relentlessly demand an end to the continuous radioactive poisoning and
reckless endangerment of our environment and our people. 

You can start with the Chesapeake Bay Watershed or you can start in your own
backyard. But wherever you choose to protect, please go ahead and do it -
and make it fast! For there are so many precious lives already born and yet
to be born for the next umpteen billion years who, although they do not yet
realize it, are dependent upon just average folks like you and me and the
next guy and gal to take a stand, speak up, speak out, and tell those in
positions of power they may no longer permit the unabated radioactive
poisoning and contamination of our nation any longer -at least not on our
watch! 

The nuclear polluters - and the radiation-enablers in all levels of power -
are not going to stop running our nation into the ground with always more
toxic, more dangerous, more lethal nuclear poisons... until the American
people in large numbers not request - but rather, demand - that it is so. 

Contaminating Bay Tributary Nuclear Power Plants 

Three Mile Island, PA - Unit 1 - 

In July, 2006 AmerGen Energy Company reported numerous releases that "may
have" a current impact on groundwater. The report admits the presence of
underground tritiated water but gives no amounts of any radionuclides. In
addition, an unusual comment is made with regard to the underground
contaminated water: "The site maintains three production supply wells that
are pumped continuously for supply water to various systems. The benefit of
this is that the station recovers tritiated water beneath the site for use
at the station." This is atypical due to the fact that nuclear power plants
do not customarily have any need to use radioactive water for plant
operations at commercial nuclear power plants used to generate electricity
for the public. 

The report of groundwater contamination from Unit 1 at Three Mile Island
includes: 

Leaks from the Unit 2 Borated Water Storage Tank occurred between 1981 -
1987. 


1990 - Secondary Side water drained to roof from the Feed Water Heaters. 


1986/1996/1997 - Unit 1 Borated Water Storage Tank leaks. 


1999 - Unit I Liquid radwaste discharge line leakage. 


1995/2004 - Unit I Aux Boiler Blowdown sump leakage. 


2006 - Unit 1 Condensate Storage Tank - A, de-icing line leak. 
North Anna Power Station, VA - Units 1 and 2 - 

In August, 2006, Dominion's North Anna Power Station reported 56 occurrences
where either the volume or the source of the release exceeded the reporting
threshold. There are no plans for remediation of contaminated soils prior to
decommissioning. 

A 2008 report showed a tritium level on April 9, 2008 from the storm drain
as high as 4,290 picocuries per liter (roughly 429 times the natural level)
and on December 30, 2008, a well monitoring reading reached 5,580 picocuries
per liter (about 558 times natural tritium levels). On September 29, 2008, a
different well showed a Cobalt-60 level of 3.24 picocuries per liter and
Cesium-137 at a level of 32.2 picocuries per liter. Both Co-60 and Cs-137
are not found in nature, as they are solely a product of manmade nuclear
fission. (See below for more info). 

Surry Power Station, VA - Units 1 and 2 - 

In August, 2006, Dominion's Surry Power Station reported eight (8) events
where either the volume or the source of the release exceeded the reporting
threshold. There are no plans for remediation of contamination until
decommissioning of the plants take place. 

In one of the wells, tritium levels went from 14,700 picocuries per liter on
March 6, 2008 to 17,200 picocuries per liter on September 8, 2008 to an even
higher 17,900 picocuries on November 20, 2008. Surprisingly, despite the
increasing amounts of tritium up to 1,790 times greater than normal levels,
the narrative simply stated there were no on-site leaks. Another well
reading indicated tritium levels as high as 10,700 picocuries per liter -
that is 1,070 times natural levels. 

That same well showed Cobalt-60 at a level of 25.6 picocuries per liter.
(See info on Cobalt-60 below). In addition, in October 2007, a water leak
from an underground storm drain pipe contained 31,900 picocuries per liter
of tritium, roughly 3,100 times the amount found in nature. This amount was
over and above the 20,000 picocuries per liter permitted by the EPA in
drinking water. The leaked water - at the rate of 60 to 120 drops per hour -
also contained a fair amount of Cobalt-60 (18.3 picocuries per liter) and a
high amount of Cesium-137, (986 picocuries per liter) over four times the
"permissible" amount of Cesium-137 of 200 picocuries/liter. (See info on
Cesium-137 below). 

Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, PA- Units 2 and 3 - 

In September, 2006 Exelon Generation put out a Hydrogeologic Investigation
report on its Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station with tritium levels as much
as 57 times above natural levels. As a background note: With regard to Unit
1 no longer in operation, in February, 1986 there was a release of an
estimated 34,000 to 36,000 gallons of tritiated water from the Condensate
Storage Tank that landed in the storm drain system that flows into the
Conowingo Reservoir, which in turn flows into the Chesapeake Bay. In
addition, at the Units 2 and 3 area site, there were three other releases of
radioactively contaminated liquids that occurred in 1981, 1982, and 1983. 

Five well sites showed significant tritium levels and nine sample locations
in all were selected (including surface water). The highest tritium reading
was 575 picocuries per liter, about as much as 57 times over natural levels.
The report indicates there is no indication that tritium has yet migrated
offsite. 

Susquehanna Steam Electric [Nuclear] Power Station, PA - Units 1 and 2 - 

In a July, 2006 Susquehanna Steam Electric [Nuclear] Station report made by
PPL Susquehanna to the NRC, four wells were identified as being used for
"domestic" water use, such as for drinking within the nuclear plant.
Condensate and radwaste system leaks and spills into groundwater were
reported as having occurred in 1983, 1988, 1991, and 1995. Levels of
radioactive contamination were simply omitted from this report, which
stated, "The potential for contamination of groundwater and/or soils is
being re-evaluated as part of the on-going review of events (see question 3)
involving inadvertent releases of liquid radioactive materials," concluding,
"there is no indication that remediation efforts need to be initiated." 

In a 2008 report submitted to the NRC, Susquehanna reported a tritium level
of 525 picocuries per liter (roughly 52 times the tritium from natural
sources) and groundwater samples as high as 181 picocuries per liter
(roughly 18 times the natural tritium value). The 2007 report showed a
similar tritium value of 529 picocuries per liter and higher ground water
tritium values, with a high of 298 picocuries per liter (roughly 29 times
the amount found in nature). 

Two Other Radionuclides in Chesapeake Watershed Groundwater 

Cobalt-60 - A product of manmade nuclear fission, Cobalt-60 is a highly
radioactive isotope not found in nature. Created by human nuclear endeavors
beginning in the 1940s - Cobalt-60 wrecks havoc within the body for many
years, one-half of it depositing in the liver and soft tissues. In addition,
as the EPA warns, "Because it emits such strong gamma rays, external
exposure to cobalt-60 is also considered a significant threat." The CDC
tells us "Co-60 can cause skin burns, acute radiation sickness, or death. "
As the DOE itself admits, "Cobalt-60 is the isotope of most concern at
Department of Energy (DOE) environmental management sites." Despite all of
this, the amount of Cobalt-60 permitted in our drinking water is 100
picocuries per Liter(!) 

According to the CDC, short-term exposure of rats to high levels of cobalt
in the food or drinking water results in effects on the blood, liver,
kidneys, and heart. Longer-term exposure of rats, mice, and guinea pigs to
lower levels of cobalt in the food or drinking water results in effects on
heart, liver, kidneys, and blood as well as the testes, and also causes
effects on behavior." 

To quote the CDC, "Being exposed to radioactive cobalt may be very dangerous
to your health." Cells can become damaged from gamma rays that can penetrate
your entire body, even if you do not touch the radioactive cobalt. Radiation
from radioactive cobalt can also damage if one ingests, drinks, breathes, or
touches anything that contains radioactive cobalt. With enough exposure, one
can experience a reduction in white blood cell count, which could lower
resistance to infections. Skin can also blister or burn, and hair loss can
take place. Reproductive system cells can become damaged and cause temporary
sterility. Exposure to lower levels of radiation can cause nausea, and
higher levels can cause vomiting, diarrhea, bleeding, coma, and death.
Exposure to Cobalt-60 can damage the genetic materials within cells and also
result in the development of cancer and other diseases." 

Cesium-137 is another radionuclide not found in nature. A by-product of
nuclear fission in reactors and nuclear explosions, exposure to Cesium-137
can cause burns, acute radiation poisoning, and even death. Exposure to
Cesium-137 can increase the risk for cancer and other diseases, with the
radioactive material distributed in the soft tissues, especially widely
distributed in muscle tissue. Cesium-137 has been associated with heart
arrhythmias. With a half-life of 30 years, it will remain in the environment
for many generations. 

Even though no Cesium-137 is present in nature, the EPA allows up to 200
picocuries per liter in our drinking water(!) According to the CDC, tests on
animals given large doses of cesium compounds have shown changes in
behavior, such as increased activity or decreased activity. Exposure to
Cesium-137 can cause cell damage, and, with high doses, acute radiation
syndrome, which includes nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, bleeding, coma, and
death. In utero, babies exposed to enough radiation during the time when
their nervous system is rapidly developing can experience brain changes that
can result in behavior changes or decreased mental abilities. 

To read the reports of radioactive groundwater contamination and associated
effluent reports at a nuclear power plant near you, visit the NRC website. 

Cathy Garger is a freelance writer, organizer, and speaker who works to stop
the continued obscene, eternal radiation poisoning of the planet. Living in
the shadow of the national District of Crime, Cathy is constantly nauseated
by the stench emanating from the nation's capital during the Washington, DC,
federal work week.  <mailto:donnac2222002 at gmail.com> Contact the Author

 

 

From: Google Alerts [mailto:googlealerts-noreply at google.com] 
Sent: Saturday, January 09, 2010 1:32 AM
To: rhelbig at california.com
Subject: Google Alert - Rosalie Bertell

 

Google News Alert for: Rosalie Bertell


Environmental
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php%3Fc
ontext%3Dva%26aid%3D16866&ct=ga&cd=oBQPSi-H7Go&usg=AFQjCNE1zMuoHK2xO7FL9Vvjg
QIrQv2MZA>  Coverup: Radioactive Groundwater Contamination in ...
Center for Research on Globalization
Environmental Epidemiologist and Founder and Past President of The
International Institute of Concern for Public Health, Dr. Rosalie Bertell ,
echoes the ...

Google Web Alert for: Rosalie Bertell


Paul
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://www.paulloeb.org/impossible-content
s.html&ct=ga&cd=oBQPSi-H7Go&usg=AFQjCNFCdDrRGCoMYE-flN8nhjRG6wQPYw>  Loeb -
The Impossible Will Take a Little While
Victoria Safford-"The Small Work in the Great Work": Opening the gates of
hope, from a wonderful Unitarian minister Sister Rosalie Bertell-"In What Do
I ...


Protect
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/bioinit
iativeemrpi/signatures%3Fpage%3D7&ct=ga&cd=oBQPSi-H7Go&usg=AFQjCNFRPQbT_ftyO
OJV1tadvkIb7b0zrA>  your health from Electromagnetic Radiation
Name: Dr. Rosalie Bertell on Mar 26, 2008. Country: US. Comment:: I am a
Regent of the International Physicians for Humanitarian Medicine ...

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