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Re: Error Condition Re: Fwd: RE: Nuke Sites May Not Rid
Now that I am subsribed, can you tell me how I can get a copy of the
following:
Is there anyway to get a copy of this study by the National Academy of
Sciences. How does one go about getting this copy? Please advise.
Thanks, Carmen
>>
>>>> >Nuke Sites May Not Rid Contaminants
>>>> >
>>>> >WASHINGTON (AP) - More than two-thirds of the government sites
>>>> >involved in decades of nuclear bomb production will never be
>>>> >completely cleaned of contamination, according to a study by the
>>>> >National Academy of Sciences.
>>>> >
>>>> >``Long-term stewardship will be required for over 100 of the 144
>>>> >waste sites,'' said the report released Monday by a special panel
>>>> >examining government plans to deal with this legacy of the Cold
>>>> >War years.
>>>> >
>>>> >And the scientific panel warned that any plan for managing long-
>>>> >term isolation of contaminated sites should anticipate problems
>>>> >because the likelihood of the containment ``measures failing ... is
>>>> >relatively high.''
>>>> >
>>>> >The sites are in 27 states and range from the massive Hanford
>>>> >reservation in Washington state, where government reactors made
>>>> >plutonium for the first nuclear bombs, to portions of the nation's
>>>> >federal research labs such as Argonne in Illinois and Sandia in New
>>>> >Mexico.
>>>> >
>>>> >The time for remediation of the sites, contaminated with radiation
>>>> >and dangerous chemicals, range from several years to nearly 50
>>>> >years. And for decades after that continued stewardship of many of
>>>> >these sites will be required, the scientists said.
>>>> >
>>>> >Furthermore any plan for dealing with these sites must be flexible
>>>> >with continued involvement by the federal government because ``the
>>>> >likelihood that institutional management measure will fail at some
>>>> >point is relatively high,'' said the report.
>>>> >
>>>> >The report was requested by the Energy Department as it develops
>>>> >long-term strategies cleaning up materials that in some cases are
>>>> >expected to remain dangerously radioactive for thousands of years.
>>>> >
>>>> >``The Academy did a good job at pointing out the many things we
>>>> >have to look at,'' said Gerald Boyd, the department's deputy
>>>> >assistant secretary for science and technology.
>>>> >
>>>> >Boyd said the department agrees that many of these sites cannot
>>>> >be abandoned even after the contamination is clearly contained.
>>>> >
>>>> >``We can't walk away from these sites. We can't turn our backs to
>>>> >them. That's what they (the Academy) are recommending to us
>>>> >and that's what we're planning to do.''
>>>> >
>>>> >While some areas likely will never be clean enough to be used,
>>>> >other areas - or parts of facilities - are expected to be cleaned
>>>> >sufficiently of contamination for restricted uses, the scientists said.
>>>> >
>>>> >The DOE strategy involves two stages: first containment of the
>>>> >contamination and remediation, a process already underway.
>>>> >Secondly, long-term ``stewardship'' of sites where residual
>>>> >contamination will be left for the foreseeable future, perhaps
>>>> >always.
>>>> >
>>>> >But such long-term management is full of uncertainties, the report
>>>> >said.
>>>> >
>>>> >``At many sites future risk from residual wastes cannot be
>>>> >predicted with any confidence because numerous underlying
>>>> >factors that influence the character, extent and severity of long-
>>>> >term risks are not well understood,'' said the report.
>>>> >
>>>> >Thomas Leschine of the University of Washington, chairman of the
>>>> >committee that wrote the report, said that as a result the
>>>> >government model for long-term stewardship of these sites must be
>>>> >flexible and anticipate failure.
>>>> >
>>>> >``Understanding this and developing a highly reliable organizational
>>>> >model that anticipates failure while taking advantage of new
>>>> >opportunities for further remediation and isolation of contaminants
>>>> >remains a significant challenge for DOE,'' said Leschine.
>>>> >
>>>> >Mary English, a researcher at the University of Tennessee-
>>>> >Knoxville, and the committee's vice chair, said that any plans for
>>>> >these sites ``will need to be periodically revisited'' because of
>>>> >changing conditions and new technological developments.
>>>> >
>>>> >The Energy Department must ``acknowledge gaps'' in its technical
>>>> >capabilities today as they would be used to contain and isolate
>>>> >radioactive wastes hundreds of years into the future, the study said.
>>>>
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>> --
>>>> -------
>>>> >Sandy Perle Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800)
>>>> 548-5100
>>>> >Director, Technical Extension 2306
>>>>
>>>> >ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Division Fax:(714) 668-3149
>>>>
>>>> >ICN Biomedicals, Inc. E-Mail:
>>>> sandyfl@earthlink.net
>>>>
>>>> >ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com
>>>>
>>>> >Costa Mesa, CA 92626
>>>> >
>>>> >Personal Website: http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205
>>>> >ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com
>>>> >************************************************************************
>>>> >The RADSAFE Frequently Asked Questions list, archives and subscription
>>>> >information can be accessed at http://www.ehs.uiuc.edu/~rad/radsafe.html
>>
>>Carmen M. Rodriguez, Communications and Outreach Team
>>Environmental Restoration Project, Los Alamos National Laboratory
>>1900 Diamond Drive, Pueblo Complex Room 104E, MS M992, Los Alamos, NM 87545
>>Phone at work: (505) 665-6770 Phone at home: (505) 662-7044
>>Fax telephone: (505) 665-7369 Email address: carmenr@lanl.gov
>>
>>************************************************************************
>>The RADSAFE Frequently Asked Questions list, archives and subscription
>>information can be accessed at http://www.ehs.uiuc.edu/~rad/radsafe.html
>>
>Carmen M. Rodriguez, Communications and Outreach Team
>Environmental Restoration Project, Los Alamos National Laboratory
>1900 Diamond Drive, Pueblo Complex Room 104E, MS M992, Los Alamos, NM 87545
>Phone at work: (505) 665-6770 Phone at home: (505) 662-7044
>Fax telephone: (505) 665-7369 Email address: carmenr@lanl.gov
>
>************************************************************************
>The RADSAFE Frequently Asked Questions list, archives and subscription
>information can be accessed at http://www.ehs.uiuc.edu/~rad/radsafe.html
>
Carmen M. Rodriguez, Communications and Outreach Team
Environmental Restoration Project, Los Alamos National Laboratory
1900 Diamond Drive, Pueblo Complex Room 104E, MS M992, Los Alamos, NM 87545
Phone at work: (505) 665-6770 Phone at home: (505) 662-7044
Fax telephone: (505) 665-7369 Email address: carmenr@lanl.gov
************************************************************************
The RADSAFE Frequently Asked Questions list, archives and subscription
information can be accessed at http://www.ehs.uiuc.edu/~rad/radsafe.html