RE: Health effects near nuclear power plants

[Franz Schoenhofer <schoenho@via.at>]

At 09:38 27.04.2000 -0500, you wrote:
>Norm and all;
>Be careful about the environmental reports you read.  There are two parts to
>the story.
>
>On the effluents side, typically the strontiums are in exceedingly low
>concentrations.  If they can be measured at all above background 

"background" is the concentration originating from the atmospheric nuclear
tests. It is in no way zero! I do not the situation in the USA, but in
Europe a careful environmental monitoring programme has to be performed in
the vicinity of a nuclear reactor site before the start of the NPP - just
in order to establish the already present environmental radionuclide
concentrations.



or the
>lower limit of detection, it is because monthly compositing is performed.
>This gives you a huge volume of air in which to detect truly minuscule
>concentrations.  This sampling is at or near the point of discharge.
>
>The second part is the radiological environmental monitoring part.  Chances
>are that the amount actually found in the environment is zero

No, this is not possible because of the atmospheric nuclear tests.


.  The numbers
>shown, if not zero, are probably the lower limit of detection.
>

The lower limit of detection has to be clearly declard as such in order to
be able to distinguish it from real numbers. By the way a result without
stating the error is unacceptable - many people use numbers to claim
radionuclide concentration increases, though the numbers are all within the
error.

Regards,

Franz


Franz Schoenhofer
Habicherg. 31/7
A-1160 Vienna
Austria
Tel.: +43-1-495 53 08
Fax.: same number
mobile phone: +43-664-338 0 333
e-mail: schoenho@via.at


Office:
Hofrat Dr. Franz Schoenhofer
Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management
Radiation Protection Department (BMLFUW I/8 U)
Radetzkystr. 2
A-1031 Vienna
AUSTRIA

phone: -43-1-71172-4458
fax: -43-1-7122331

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