Re: Atomic Confession

["Phil V. Egidi" <7pe@ornl.gov>]

Susan,
One thing I haven't heard mentioned anywhere is that the "DOE Manual of 
Good Practices for Uranium Facilities", EGG-2530, June 1988, clearly states 
that these contaminants are a possibility. Page 2-5:

"Much of the uranium feed material that is currently handled at DOE 
facilities has been reclaimed, or recycled, from reprocessed, spent reactor 
fuel.  The chemical processes by which recycled uranium is purified leave 
trace amounts of transuranic elements (neptunium and plutonium) and fission 
products (mainly Tc-99).  Recycled uranium also contains trace amounts of 
uranium isotopes not found in nature, such as U-236.  At the concentrations 
in uranium from fuel reprocessing facilities, the radiological impact of 
these impurities is negligible in many cases.  However, there are many 
routine chemical processes which tend to concentrate these impurities 
either in the uranium product or in reaction by-products such that 
radiological controls and effluent/environmental monitoring programs must 
consider these impurities in some cases."

This manual was written by staff from Fernald, Rocky Flats, Livermore, PNL, 
and Portsmouth, and published by EG&G Idaho at INEEL.

Clearly, it was known over 10 years ago in the DOE complex, and mentioned 
in this fairly widely-distributed manual.  The paragraph to me seems to 
downplay the issue, but admits that it is there.

May not clear anything up, but I haven't heard this mentioned anywhere.

Phil Egidi
ORNL/GJ
7pe@ornl.gov


At 10:04 AM 2/8/00 -0600, you wrote:
>Transcript of "Living on Earth" interview with Washington Post reporter
>Joby Warrick follows.  Can anyone out there in RadSafe land confirm or
>deny Warrick's reports?  How serious was (or is) the situation at
>Paducah in your estimation?  In your opinion, were the HPs performing
>their jobs adequately?  What's missing from what we've been hearing in
>the media?
>
>A brief aside:  Dr. David Michaels, Assistant Secretary for ES&H at DOE
>was complaining that the plutonium was causing all the consternation,
>but he felt the neptunium was the bigger health threat because of the
>greater quantity involved.

<snip>

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