[ RadSafe ] "Toxic strontium" --- let's all panic (again).

[Brennan, Mike (DOH)]

If we are talking about the "ground water" sampled at the Fukushima
plant, I suspect that it is from the recent event (and continued
addition of large amounts of water, some of which is almost certainly
entering the ground), and that it is irrelevant from a human health
point of view.  

Firstly, no one is going to be drinking water from under the facility:
they wouldn't have, even if the reactors hadn't melted down.

Secondly, the monitoring wells probably are fairly shallow, rather than
going into an aquifer that would be tapped for drinking water, if there
were drinking water wells on the site, which there are not.

Thirdly, while I am not a hydro-geologist (or a more appropriate name
for the field), I am under the impression that water flows downhill,
even underground.  This would means that the contaminated water that has
soaked into the ground will be moving towards the ocean mere hundreds of
meters away, not going up over (or under) the hills behind the plant,
they up gradient for tens of kilometers (at least) in search of human
flesh. 

In more normal times this might be a cause for concern.  Right now,
worrying about the Sr-90 under the plant is like worrying about water
from the fire hoses will wet the carpet.

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
[mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Edmond Baratta
Sent: Thursday, June 16, 2011 10:56 PM
To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) MailingList;
The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) MailingList
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] "Toxic strontium" --- let's all panic (again).

It (Strontium-90) was deposited during the Soviet and USA above ground 
testing many decades ago.

Ed Baratta

edomd0033 at comcast.net

-----Original Message----- 
From: Steven Dapra
Sent: Wednesday, June 15, 2011 5:45 PM
To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] "Toxic strontium" --- let's all panic (again).

June 15

         Point well made, and well taken.

         How likely is it that anyone will drink 10 Sv worth of
ground water?  How did this Sr-90 get into the ground water so
quickly?  Is it from the reactor, or is it from bomb testing
fallout?  Had any of this water undergone routine testing before the
tsunami hit?  What is the rad history of the aquifers?

Steven Dapra


At 04:53 AM 6/15/2011, you wrote:
>At 06:11 PM 6/14/2011, Steven Dapra wrote:
>>More "news" from ABC.
>>http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/06/13/3242749.htm
>>"Highly toxic radioactive strontium has been found in groundwater near
the 
>>crippled Fukushima nuclear plant."
>**********************************
>It is true that high concentrations of Sr-90 in bone can cause bone
sarcoma 
>and leukemia, but the skeletal doses must exceed 10 Sv. This is shown
in 
>Figure 16 in my 2010 paper in the Health Physics Journal: OG Raabe, 
>Concerning the Health Effects of Internally Deposited Radionuclides,
Health 
>Phys . 98: 515-536; 2010.
>
>If you want a copy of this paper, send me an e-mail request.
>
>Otto
>
>**********************************************
>Prof. Otto G. Raabe, Ph.D., CHP
>Center for Health & the Environment
>University of California
>One Shields Avenue
>Davis, CA 95616
>E-Mail: ograabe at ucdavis.edu
>Phone: (530) 752-7754   FAX: (530) 758-6140
>***********************************************



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