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RE: Hanford Site cleanup standards
>-----Original Message-----
>From: William V Lipton [mailto:liptonw@dteenergy.com]
>..... What is clear is that to achieve any reasonable cleanup will be
>expensive.
>To actually return the land to an undegraded condition is probably
>beyond what we can afford.
As a newcomer, the following may well have been covered, and considered. So
please excuse an amateur entering into this debate....
But a point I have not seen raised is the risk involved in the clean-up
itself (of any site, to a given "safe" level). I imagine it would be
possible to do a risk analysis of the cleanup operation itself, based on
past experience.
And not just the radiological risk, but the overall risk of all cleanup and
storage operations (personal injuries, vehicular accidents, contamination
dispersion outside the site, etc.)
Obviously, it is necessary to remove the really bad stuff, but, at some
point, you get to (very) diminishing returns. And the risks involved in
continuing the cleanup will outweigh the benefits, expense notwithstanding.
Somewhat analogous to the choice between removal of hard asbestos
insulation from a building or sealing it in place. Generally more risk is
involved in the cleanup than leaving everything as is (with suitable
sealing and maintenance).
But I guess that the forces that drive these cleanups (greenies, a
frightened, misinformed, public and, of course, the lawyers......) consider
the workers who do the cleanup as "expendables" .....
Doug Aitken Schlumberger Drilling and Measurements QHSE
Advisor
Phone (Sugarland): 281 285-8009
Phone (Home office): 713 797-0919
Phone (Cell): 713 562-8585
Principal E-mail: jdaitken@earthlink.net
Schlumberger E-mail: daitken@sugar-land.oilfield.slb.com
Mail: 300 Schlumberger Drive MD2, Room 111
Sugar Land, TX 77478
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