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Re: Where the Deer and LNT-lope play?
Bill,
Just curious--- doesn't the degree of contamination have anything to do
with it?
Do you share the apparent NRC/EPA view that there is no such thing as de
minimis,
BRC, insignificant, etc., and that any level of "contamination" too much?
----- Original Message -----
From: William V Lipton <liptonw@DTEENERGY.COM>
To: Vincent A King/KINGVA/CC01/INEEL/US <KINGVA@INEL.GOV>
Cc: <radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2002 11:14 AM
Subject: Re: Where the Deer and LNT-lope play?
> So what you're saying is that it's acceptable to operate so as to produce
> contaminated soil, and then to let that contamination remain long enough
to
> enter the food chain.
>
> Of course it's acceptable, NOT!!!
>
> I hope that other potential environmental pathways, eg. reentrainment as
> airborne contamination, have been evaluated and remediated, as
appropriate.
>
> The opinions expressed are strictly mine.
> It's not about dose, it's about trust.
> Let's look at the real problem for a change.
>
> Bill Lipton
> liptonw@dteenergy.com
>
>
> Vincent A King/KINGVA/CC01/INEEL/US wrote:
>
> > Contaminated sites are fenced and posted to keep out people who can read
> > the signs. Having animals fly/crawl/burrow/leap under, over, and around
> > these fences is not an indication of a "serious programmatic failure."
It
> > is inevitable.
> >
> > Furthermore, if these sites are posted and fenced because of surface
> > contamination, then detecting those materials in the environment
(including
> > the four-legged, antlered part of it) is not surprising, it is expected.
> > Those familiar with environmental science, which environmental activists
> > typically are NOT, know this.
> >
> > Failure to detect the transport to the environment (if it is at
measureable
> > levels) would be a programmatic failure. That obviously did not occur
> > here. Failure to model transport of environmental contaminants to human
> > exposure would be another, but I'll wager that such modeling is
extensively
> > documented for this site as well. Failure to recognize anomalies and
> > investigate the cause of the variance would be yet another programmatic
> > failure (but again, that is not indicated in this case).
> >
> > I guess one could post armed guards to shoot the next deer that tries to
> > jump the fence, but that seems somewhat extreme, especially considering
> > that the radioactive material and concentration being discussed will
have
> > zero health impact on them. Deer don't worry too much about
hypothetical,
> > one-in-a-million chances of cancer based on LNT models since they will
die
> > from more "natural" causes (like our "deerly departed", two year old
> > road-killed fawn) long before the latent period for postulated cancer
onset
> > is reached. (Personally, I'd choose to stay inside the fence if I were
a
> > deer...I'd live longer!)
> >
> > In short, programs that detect and track movement of contaminants in the
> > environment and that are forthright about reporting their results do not
> > qualify, in my opinion, as experiencing "serious" failures.
> >
> > Vincent King,
> > Idaho Falls
> >
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