[ RadSafe ] Fwd: Radioactive contamination unearthed atformerrocket test site...
JPreisig at aol.com
JPreisig at aol.com
Sun Dec 30 13:11:13 CST 2012
____________________________________
From: JPreisig at aol.com
To: radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu
Sent: 12/29/2012 7:45:04 P.M. Eastern Standard Time
Subj: Re: [ RadSafe ] Radioactive contamination unearthed atformerrocket
test site ...
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
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