[ RadSafe ] Radioactive contamination unearthed atformerrocket test site ...

Sat Dec 29 18:45:04 CST 2012

Dear Jerry Cohen/Radsafe:

     Maybe the U.S. Government did pull the plug on the  Pluto, Nerva, 
Bomb-Propelled Rockets
(see Adventures in Experimental Physics --- Bogdan Maglich, Editor) and so  
on.  I kind of doubt it.
Some of these projects went into DOD funding, and kind of disappeared from  
public 
scrutiny???  That seems more likely.  The U.S. government doesn't  always 
give up on such
viable research.  Some of the guys who worked on these projects can no  
longer talk about what they
are doing --- their projects sometimes give the good old USA tactical  
advantages, defense-wise.

     As for any lawsuit stemming from radiation  exposures from Fukushima, 
such a lawsuit might fly
in an American Court.  In a Japanese or World Court, not so  much???

     Regards,  Joe Preisig

In a message dated 12/29/2012 7:20:27 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
jjc105 at yahoo.com writes:

I  believe you are refereing to the "Pluto" program managed by the Los 
Alamos  
Lab. Pluto was a rocket powered by liquid hydrogen by running it through a  
nuclear reactor expanding its volume to provide the necessary thrust. It  
worked, 
but I assume because it invoved nuclear energy,  it was  politically 
unacceptable 
to the politicians in Washington. During the same  period (the 60's), 
Livermore 
Lab was working on a nuclear powered ramjet  engine. Following its first 
sucessful test, this project was also killed  by the federal government.
Jerry  Cohen

________________________________
From: Edmond  <edmond0033 at comcast.net>
To: The International Radiation Protection  (Health Physics) Mailing List 
<radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu>
Sent:  Sat, December 29, 2012 10:20:06 AM
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Radioactive  contamination unearthed 
atformerrocket test 
site near Los Angeles - U.S.  News

I think (not very sure) at one time the DOE or (AEC) was trying to  develop 
a 
rocket engine that was to be powered by radioactivity.  It  was canceled 
for 
whatever reason.

Ed  Baratta

edmond0033 at comcast.net

-----Original Message----- From:  Douglas Minnema
Sent: Wednesday, December 19, 2012 3:44 PM
To: The  International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List
Subject:  Re: [ RadSafe ] Radioactive contamination unearthed 
atformerrocket test  
site near Los Angeles - U.S. News

Just curious, what about  tritium?

Twelve or so years ago, when I was doing a safety management  system review 
of 
the DOE-funded cleanup operations at that site, there was  clear (and 
acknowledged) evidence of a tritium plume moving from the site  into 
off-site 
areas.  I was surprised at the time because there had  not been any active 
reactors or other obvious sources for the tritium at  the site for many 
years 
before that time, but it was equally clear that  the plume was associated 
with 
one of the old test reactor  locations.

I understand that the intervening half-life of time will  have reduced the 
quantities further (please, no lectures on radioactive  decay :-) but at 
that 
time the quantities were easily measurable.   I'm not sure that one 
half-life 
would have been enough to "make it go  away."  Physical dispersal of the 
plume 
might be enough to reduce it  to below detectable, but I don't have a good 
feel 
for that.

Doug  Minnema, PhD, CHP
US Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety  Board

-----Original Message-----
From:  radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu  
[mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Cary  Renquist
Sent: Friday, December 14, 2012 1:54 PM
To: The International  Radiation Protection (Health Physics) MailingList
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ]  Radioactive contamination unearthed at 
formerrocket 
test site near Los  Angeles - U.S. News

Here is the EPA's Fact Sheet on the study  results:
EPA Radiological Characterization Study Results  http://j.mp/12dBJrt

It lists some of the specific results in a  table.
e.g.
Am-241: 3 positive in the 0.05-0.06 pCi/g  range
Cs-137:  291 positive in the 0.2-200 pCi/g  range
Pu239/240:  14 pos in the 0.02-0.19 pCi/g range
Sr90:   153 pos in the 0.08-21 pCi/g range Etc.

---
Cary  Renquist
cary.renquist at ezag.com

-----Original  Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu  
[mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Cary  Renquist
Sent: Friday, 14 December 2012 10:35 AM
To: The International  Radiation Protection (Health Physics) MailingList
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ]  Radioactive contamination unearthed at 
formerrocket 
test site near Los  Angeles - U.S. News

U.S. EPA's Final Technical Memorandum Look-Up  Table Recommendations This 
is a 
link to a pdf that seems to have the  background threshold values for the 
nuclides of interest (Table 2 of  attachment 1).
http://j.mp/QYILg4

Pursuant to an interagency  agreement between the U.S. Department of Energy 
(DOE) 
and U.S.  Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), the USEPA has conducted 
a  
Radiological Background Study to determine the background levels for  
radionuclides in surface and subsurface soils associated with Area IV and  
the 
Northern Buffer Zone (Area IV Study Area1) of the Santa Susana Field  
Laboratory 
(SSFL), located in Ventura County, California. In addition, the  USEPA is 
currently conducting a radiological characterization of the Area  IV Study 
Area 
to identify areas that exhibit radionuclide concentrations  in surface and 
subsurface soil and sediment above background levels  (herein, "soil" shall 
mean 
surface and subsurface soil as well as surface  and subsurface sediment 
unless 
otherwise specified).

I didn't  see a doc that has the presented results of the soil samples, 
however,  
this article at least has some details:
Latest soil tests at Santa  Susana Field Lab site shows radioactive 
material 
remains - LA Daily News  http://j.mp/TSusGW

The EPA researchers collected 3,735 samples of  mostly surface soil and 
found 
that of those, 500 contained concentrations  of radioactive materials that 
exceeded what is known as background  standards - or the levels occurring 
naturally in the environment. Almost  all were man-made radionuclides. Most 
of 
those samples contained  Cesium-137, and of those one sample reached levels 
up to 
1,000 times above  background standard. There were 153 samples of 
Stronium-90 and 
of those  some hits reached levels that were 284 times higher than  
background.

Both radioactive elements are considered dangerous to human  health when 
present 
at high levels.

"There were some hits that were  elevated but for the most part, they were 
in the 
range that we expected,"  said John Jones, federal project director with 
the 
Department of  Energy.

Cary

---
Cary  Renquist
cary.renquist at ezag.com

-----Original Message-----
From:  radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu  
[mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Robert J  Gunter
Sent: Friday, 14 December 2012 6:38 AM
To: 'Robert Atkinson';  'The International Radiation Protection (Health 
Physics)Mailing  List'
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Radioactive contamination unearthed atformer  
rocket 
test site near Los Angeles - U.S. News

Not a very  informative statement:  "10 percent contained radioactive  
concentrations exceeding background levels."

This could easily be  fill from another location or different aggregate 
based on 
this statement  alone.  Is it NORM or Cs-137?

Robert J. Gunter, MSc, CHP
CHP  Consultants/CHP  Dosimetry
www.chpconsultants.com
www.chpdosimetry.com
Toll Free:  (888) 766-4833
Fax:  (866) 491-9913
Cel:  (865)  387-0028
rjgunter at chpconsultants.com

________________________________
From:  Steven Dapra <sjd at swcp.com>
To: The International Radiation  Protection (Health Physics) Mailing  List
<radsafe at agni.phys.iit.edu>
Sent: Friday, 14 December 2012,  2:53
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Radioactive contamination unearthed at  former
rocket test site near Los Angeles - U.S. News

Dec.  13