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RE: Contaminated uranium in the news again
The recycled uranium report was designed to help address the question of
what kinds of doses were received by the workers at places like Hanford and
Oak Ridge. Non of the reports I looked at addressed such questions as where
did the recycled uranium (RU) go. The influx and outflux of the material
was addressed inorder to answer such questions as which workers were
potentially at risk, were protection measures appropriate to the risks, etc.
The reports were prepared by the different sites to address their own
situations.
>From: "Stokes, James" <StokesJ@TTNUS.COM>
>Reply-To: "Stokes, James" <StokesJ@TTNUS.COM>
>To: "'AndrewsJP@AOL.COM '" <AndrewsJP@AOL.COM>,
>"'radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu '" <radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu>
>Subject: RE: Contaminated uranium in the news again
>Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2001 11:35:47 -0400
>
> I find it rather disturbing that the current people within the DOE, did
>not
>know how widly spread this "contaminated" uranium was. Those of us who
>knew
>our jobs, knew we were working with recycled uranium. The entire program
>was based on recycling. Not because "we" were environmentally concious per
>say, but rather to mask the production rates. TO my knowledge, virtually
>every site handled recycled uranium. But many of those sites also handled
>"weapons grade" materials too, which are much more dangerous to one's
>health.
>
>I would provide you with numbers, but I can't. I will suffice it to say
>that a radiological assessment was performed, and as long as the
>"contaminate" concentration was below a certain threshold, the practices
>for
>uranium were adequate for worker protection. Once the concentration
>exceeded that threshold, additional safety practices were incorporated.
>
>If the current Administration does not know this, they need to find the
>right people to talk too. That would be those who used to do the work. We
>knew what we were working with, even if they did not know.
>
>Jim Stokes RRPT, former defense programs contractor.
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: AndrewsJP@AOL.COM
>To: radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu
>Sent: 6/25/01 6:48 AM
>Subject: Contaminated uranium in the news again
>
>http://www.newsday.com/ap/text/national/ap165.htm
>
>This is on AOL news today and elsewhere. How bad is this contamination?
>
>Anybody know?
>It would be nice to have the numbers so we could answer questions.
>
>AP National
>Contaminated Uranium Threat Widens
>
>ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) -- Thousands more workers than first thought could
>face
>serious health threats from exposure to plutonium and other highly
>radioactive matter that fouled a large amount of uranium recycled by
>U.S.
>nuclear weapons programs, a published report says.
>
>From 1952 until 1999, when the shipments ended because of the
>contamination
>threat, vast quantities of recycled uranium were shipped worldwide.
>
>New government studies, reviewed by USA Today and reported in Monday's
>editions, found that the recycling program yielded 250,000 tons of
>tainted
>uranium, or about twice as much as earlier estimated. The highly
>radioactive
>material was handled at about 10 times the number of sites previously
>revealed and reportedly reached more than 100 federal plants, private
>manufacturers and universities.
>
>''This stuff circulated much more widely than we'd thought,'' said
>Robert
>Alvarez, an official at the Energy Department when the new studies were
>started in 1999.
>
>USA Today said the latest studies suggest that thousands more workers
>than
>expected might have unwittingly faced radiation risks beyond those
>associated
>with normal uranium. That exposure could significantly increase their
>odds of
>developing cancer and other diseases.
>
>AP-NY-06-25-01 0617EDT<
>
>
>06/25/2001
>
>
>John Andrews
>Knoxville, Tennessee
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