Forwarding this, FYI, from a colleague.....
Jaro
http://www.norwichbulletin.com/news/stories/20021109/opinion/333419.html
Saturday, November 9, 2002
Millstone soil is not laden with trouble
We can all breathe a bit easier now that the findings of the Star Foundation regarding the Millstone Nuclear Power Station have turned out wrong.
Star performed chemical and radiological soil tests outside Millstone and said that it had found uranium and hydrazine there. It did find uranium. It did not find hydrazine.
Star mailed the results of its tests to the state Department of Environmental Protection. The DEP then performed its own analyses.
The DEP found that the uranium levels were exactly what could be expected to be found in nature: Levels that were nothing to worry about.
The alleged hydrazine turned out to be a different chemical, dimethylhydrazine, one that Millstone said it had never used in any function or procedure.
Dimethylhydrazine is used in photography, jet and rocket fuels, in plant growth and in organic synthesis. How it showed up in sediment near Millstone remains a mystery.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Georgia Institute of Technology also have performed soil tests at Millstone and detected nothing out of the ordinary.
The Star Foundation, which enjoys the endorsement of celebrity Christie Brinkley, performed its testing thanks to a grant secured by the New York State Assembly.
The foundation should perform its testing closer to home, where the Assembly can oversee those efforts.
The foundation need not pay a return visit to Millstone.
We don't need any more false alarms.
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