Re: TFP article in Gloucester County Times - Norm Quotes

[Stewart Farber <farbersa@optonline.net>]

On Sun, 16 Nov 2003 18:39:35 -0500 (EST), <RuthWeiner@AOL.COM> wrote:



>

> "Control group" means more than just SR-90 in teeth near to and far from 

> reactors, especially since the reactor component is swamped by the 

> fallout component.

=========================

Hi all:

As everyone knows, if any Sr-90 activity were to be released from a nuclear 

power plant, there would be much more Cs-137 being released due to the 

fission yield [Cs/Sr ~ 1.6] and fractionation of Cs-137 [vs. Sr-90] in 

waste streams that would lead to preferential release of Cs-137 vs. Sr-90 

well in excess of the 1.6 or so fission yield ratio.



Back in 1990 when I sampled and analyzed Cs-137 in woodash from trees 

growing in Vermont, Cs-137 from northern Vermont, nowhere near a nuclear 

plant was measured at about 15,000 pCi/kg of ash. At the same time,  150 

miles to the south, woodash from trees growing near Vermont Yankee and 

harvested after 18 years of plant operation, showed Cs-137 in woodash at 

about 1,500 pCi/kg ash --a level 10 times lower that measured 150 miles 

north of the plant.



As I pointed out in my HPS Newsletter Feature article [Farber, Stewart; 

"Preliminary Study of Cs-137 Uptake by Trees and Its Implications for BRC, 

Waste Disposal, and Dosimetry", Health Physics Society's Newsletter, Volume 

XVIII, Number 4, April 1990] a survey of Cs-137 levels in woodash from many 

areas across the country was necessary because fallout Cs-137 [and quite 

obviously Sr-90] in environmental media like trees [i.e: biomass] can vary 

so sharply despite fairly even weapon's test fallout over a given local 

area. As noted above, an area like Vermont can have Cs-137 in woodash 

varying by a factor of 10  depending on various factors like potassium 

levels in soil [which is inversely related to Cs-137 uptake], stable Cs 

levels in soil,  and Calcium levels in soil [which is inversely related to 

Sr-90 uptake from fallout deposition].  I raised the question in my Health 

Physics Society Newsletter article in 1990 as to what would have happened 

and what kind of claims would an agenda science group like the Tooth Fairy 

Project be making if Cs-137 levels in biomass near a nuclear plant had 

turned out to be 10 times higher than 150 miles north of the plant vs. the 

10 times lower value actually measured? I think we all know the answer 

based on their unscientific claims made in the hope of scaring the public 

and garnering political and media attention against nuclear facilities.



TFP claims made based on a few [selected] measurements [of questionable 

accuracy and precision] of Sr-90 in a few teeth from very young children 

"near" a nuclear plant, given the variability of Sr-90 [and Cs-137] in 

biomass, and any pathway to humans from a nuclear plant's operation vs. 

preexisting higher and variable nuclear bomb test fallout of Cs-137 and Sr- 

90 is incredibly simplistic and unscientific.



Stewart Farber, MS Public Health

Consulting Scientist

[203] 367-0791







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