Lab Tests Indicate Plutonium in Air

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Lab Tests Indicate Plutonium in Air

RICHLAND, Wash. (AP) - Air samples taken during and after the Hanford 
nuclear reservation fire last month show an increased concentration 
of plutonium in public areas outside the reservation, but still in 
non-harmful quantity, officials said Wednesday. 

Five of 41 routine monitoring samples contained above-normal 
concentrations, though all are significantly below federal and state 
limits for radiation releases, said representatives of the state 
Department of Health and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 

``They are on the order of a thousand-fold lower than what would 
drive public protective action,'' said Jerry Leitch, the EPA's 
regional radiation program manager. 

The five increased readings were measured in the Pasco, Richland and 
West Richland communities, which are within 10 miles of the 
reservation. 

At a fire station in Pasco where the highest reading appeared, a 
person breathing the measured amount of plutonium for a year would be 
exposed to about 10 millirem of radiation, about the equivalent of a 
dental X-ray, federal officials said. 

People on average absorb about 350 millirem of radiation a year from 
a variety of sources, Leitch said. 

Hundreds of air, soil and vegetation samples were taken during and 
after the 191,000-acre wildfire burned nearly half the reservation, 
the most contaminated nuclear site in the country. 

Department of Energy managers at Hanford have said they expected 
laboratory analysis to show some presence of radioactive material 
after wind, firefighting equipment and the fire itself dispersed 
contaminated dirt and ash from the surface. 

The Energy Department is offering testing for 700 firefighters most 
likely to have been exposed to radioactive elements. 

Debra McBaugh of the state Department of Health said the radioactive 
materials posed no immediate danger to residents. 

``There is no reason they have to do anything differently than they 
are doing,'' she said. 

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Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Division		Fax:(714) 668-3149 	                   		    
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