Radioactive Plume Detected Near Former Calif Nuclear Site

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@EARTHLINK.NET>]

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Index:



Radioactive Plume Detected Near Former Calif Nuclear Site

US atomic energy pioneers regret lost chances

Radioactive leak at Tokaimura plant caused by worn-out valves

EU executive amends nuclear plan, greens cry foul

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Radioactive Plume Detected Near Former Calif Nuclear Site



SIMI VALLEY, Calif. (AP)--A radioactive plume has been detected in 

two new test wells at the Santa Susana Field Lab, a former nuclear 

research facility, officials said.



High levels of radioactive tritium were detected in the test wells 

drilled by the U.S. Department of Energy after discovering tritium 

earlier this year in the groundwater at the northern edge of the 

research site in the Simi Hills.



The agency now plans to drill additional wells to determine the 

source of the plume, its size, and the speed and direction of its 

movement.



"The reactor was in operation 40 years ago and the plume still 

appears close to the source. It hasn't moved off site," said Majelle 

Lee, project manager with Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA), which owns the lab.



Officials said Thursday that the tainted groundwater is not used for 

drinking and does not pose a health risk to the public or neighbors.



The DOE is ending its 15-year-long cleanup of the former nuclear 

laboratory. The agency has been investigating a handful of sites 

where tritium may have been released, based on 40-year-old records 

detailing how radioactive materials were handled.



A groundwater sample taken in March from a test well drilled next to 

the site of an experimental reactor found tritium at 80,000 

picocuries per liter -or four times the drinking-water standard.



Tritium has not yet been detected in a cluster of monitoring wells 

located downhill from the site but residents wonder if the reports 

have been accurate.



"The question is what got off the site and what else was released 

from the site," said Dan Hirsch, president of Committee to Bridge the 

Gap, a nuclear- watchdog group.



Federal officials said they plan to conduct more groundwater testing 

later this year.



Tritium, a byproduct of a nuclear reaction, has been found at the lab 

before, but never at such high levels.



In 1991, it was detected at 5,400 picocuries per liter on nearby 

property owned by the Brandeis Bardin Institute, which runs a Jewish 

camp and educational facility. Other chemicals were found in soil 

samples two years later taken from the camp along the property line 

with Rocketdyne, which operated a nuclear reactor.



The federal government funded nuclear research at the lab, which was 

run by Rocketdyne, now a division of Boeing (NYSE:BA), from the 1950s 

through the 1980s.

-----------------



US atomic energy pioneers regret lost chances



ATOMIC CITY, Idaho, Sept 10 (Reuters) - In the early days of the Cold 

War, a small team of U.S. scientists watched as nuclear energy 

powered four light bulbs for the first time.



These atomic pioneers thought they had helped solve the nation's long-

term energy needs and had beat the Soviets to the punch as well.



More than half a century later, few people are clamoring publicly for 

more nuclear energy despite high oil prices, and the Russians are 

even disputing who won the race to atomic power.



"If anybody had asked me then how much of our electricity in the year 

2000 would be generated by nuclear power, hell, I would have said 75 

percent or more," said Leonard Koch, 84, one of a handful of men 

present at the birth of nuclear power.



"It's one of the things that hurts me, letting this thing go down the 

drain," he said in an interview.



Koch was part of a team of young scientists at the Experimental 

Breeder Reactor-1 (EBR-1) in a remote Idaho desert that first lit the 

bulbs with nuclear power in December 1951. In the upbeat spirit of 

the times, the nearest tiny settlement to the reactor renamed itself 

Atomic City.



The isolated setting was intentional as the nuclear project was top 

secret. Researchers had few specifics on Soviet plans, but project 

director Walter Zinn sought to be first.



"He wanted to stay ahead of anybody or everybody who was working on 

reactors," chemist Kirby Whitham, 84, told Reuters.



Because of secrecy, the celebration in 1951 was muted. "We knew it 

was a historic moment because Zinn told us," Whitham said. "He 

brought out a bottle of champagne for the whole crew, which only left 

everyone with a small glass."



The names of Whitham, Koch and 14 other nuclear energy pioneers are 

written on a wall in chalk behind a protective panel at EBR-I, which 

has long since become a museum.



One of the four original light bulbs is on display in the modest 

brick building. Outside are two engines made during a discontinued 

effort to build atomic-powered airplanes, symbols of the era's 

enthusiasm for all things nuclear.



Not mentioned in the displays is a Russian city outside Moscow called 

Obninsk, which also calls itself "Atomic City" and claims to be the 

true nuclear pioneer. The Obninsk reactor started providing power to 

the town in 1954, a year before EBR-1 started sending power to nearby 

Arco, Idaho.



"In the nuclear age you can't really pick anyone to be No. 1 in the 

peaceful atom. I think the times just overlap so much," said Paul 

Josephson, author of "Red Atom", a history of the Soviet's peaceful 

nuclear programs.



"There really is no technological breakthrough or feat. When Russian 

and American scientists met in Geneva in '56, they were happy and 

surprised and excited to find that they were all basically on the 

same page."



The Soviets did have a major impact after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster 

raised global concerns about nuclear safety -- a blow that still 

rankles the original EBR-1 scientists.



"If you want to write a good story, you sure as hell can write a good 

one about the contrast between the reactor that was built at Idaho 

and the reactors that were built in Russia," said pioneering 

researcher Reid Cameron, 83.



"Everybody worries about reactors just because of what happened in 

Russia and they're just completely so different it's a joke," he said 

in an interview. "Naturally, I'm biased over the subject but I don't 

understand why we aren't pursuing nuclear energy like we did the 

Manhattan Project."



Nuclear power from 103 reactors now provides about 20 percent of U.S. 

electricity. But no new nuclear power plants have been ordered since 

the 1979 incident at Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania, amid strong 

public opposition.



Even following the 1,000th U.S. soldier's death in oil-rich Iraq and 

complaints about higher gas prices, calls to expand nuclear energy 

receive scant attention. Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne is one who sees 

an expanded future, and some nuclear advocates are hopeful the Bush 

Administration will boost the industry, whose operators include 

Exelon and Entergy .



"I think it is going to become a political reality that you have to 

have nuclear as an energy source ... I don't know what the ideal mix 

is.



"Is it safe? Ask the Navy," the governor said, referring to the 

operation of nuclear submarines.



The home to EBR-1, the Department of Energy's Idaho National 

Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL), is still 

researching nuclear energy, now focused on a new generation of 

reactors after having built 52 reactors over the years. Of these, 13 

are still in operation.



Kathryn McCarthy, INEEL's director of nuclear science and 

engineering, said it will probably take at least 10 to 15 years 

before the United States overcomes public skepticism and opens any 

new nuclear power plants.



"The nuclear industry has not done a good job of educating the public 

in general," she said. "It will require a lot of up- front work, a 

lot of public outreach."

----------------



Radioactive leak at Tokaimura plant caused by worn-out valves



MITO, Japan, Sept. 10 (Kyodo) - A radioactive leak that occurred at a 

nuclear fuel-reprocessing plant in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, in 

June was caused by worn-out valves that had not been replaced for 

about 30 years, the plant's operator said Friday.



The Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute said in a report that 

it found worn-out components in four valves attached to pipes for 

liquid nitric acid, from which the radioactive leak occurred. The 

material contains plutonium and uranium.



The components, designed to prevent leaks, had never been replaced in 

the three decades since the facility began operations, it said.



The institute said it will conduct regular inspections of the valves 

to prevent a repeat of the incident.



When the leak occurred on June 18 and 19, the floor and a section of 

a wall in a basement facility of the plant were tainted with 

radioactive material, and more radioactive material was carried out 

of the facility. No worker was exposed to radiation.

----------------



EU executive amends nuclear plan, greens cry foul



BRUSSELS, Sept 8 (Reuters) - The European Union's executive amended 

its controversial proposals for nuclear safety and waste management 

legislation on Wednesday, but a leading environmental group slammed 

the package as misleading and helpful to industry.



EU Energy Commissioner Loyola de Palacio, considered a proponent of 

nuclear energy in Europe, presented the revised proposals, which call 

for unified standards on safety at nuclear installations throughout 

the 25-nation bloc.



They would also require member states to create plans for dealing 

with radioactive waste, but a Commission-imposed deadline for those 

plans was dropped from the latest drafts as a concession to win 

backing from some sceptical EU governments.



"One of the main problems in the nuclear energy issue is there is too 

little information," de Palacio told a news conference. "These 

(proposals) are key instruments for ensuring greater transparency, 

rationalising the debate and dispelling public fears regarding this 

source of energy."



Other changes to the original plans, which were first presented in 

January 2003, included withdrawing a proposal for so-called "peer 

reviews" in which inspectors from one EU country would check nuclear 

installations in another country.



Member states would instead be required to submit national reports on 

nuclear safety to the Commission for review.



Environmental lobby group Friends of the Earth said the proposals 

were unlikely to be passed by EU governments and accused the 

Commission of favouring industry by implying additional safety 

measures that were an "illusion."



"Nothing in the directives would substantially add to nuclear 

safety," said Friends of the Earth spokesman Mark Johnston, saying 

the proposals would duplicate safety standards already in place at an 

international level.



"It gives the suggestion that something is being done about nuclear 

safety, particularly in regard to Soviet-designed nuclear plants that 

have recently come into the EU."



De Palacio said there was a blocking minority of countries against 

the proposal as it stood, but talks were underway with states that 

could be persuaded.



Britain, Germany, Sweden and Finland are among those countries that 

have opposed the measures in the past, and a spokeswoman for 

Britain's EU representation in Brussels said it had not changed its 

position.



De Palacio, whose term expires at the end of October, wants the 

legislation to be approved before she leaves.



Friends of the Earth said it expected incoming energy commissioner 

Laszlo Kovacs of Hungary to be less enthusiastic about nuclear 

energy.



The group called on the new Commission to adopt a different approach 

and to finish an investigation over long-term decommissioning and 

waste management funding in Europe's nuclear industry.



----------------------------------------------------------------

Sandy Perle 

Senior Vice President, Technical Operations 

Global Dosimetry Solutions, Inc. 

2652 McGaw Avenue

Irvine, CA 92614



Tel: (949) 296-2306 / (888) 437-1714 Extension 2306 

Fax:(949) 296-1144



Global Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com/ 

Personal Website: http://sandy-travels.com/ 



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