[ RadSafe ] Chino Airport to clean radium contamination

[Robert Atkinson]

Hi,
This is of interest to me as a non-HP licensed aircraft engineer. 
It's a follow on to another clean up,
http://www.epaosc.net/preservation_aviation
I've looked closely at the photographs and none of the instruments that
are visible have markings that appear to be radium luminised. Most
instruments only had major increments luminised and the paint was
visibly different, looking "thicker" and a light brown colour. This
whole operation appears to be a bit "over the top", but if it's not then
there are hundreds of these instruments in circulation. The British
instruments appear to have 4 to 10 times as much activity as the
American ones. The status of these items (in the UK) seems unclear.
There are exemptions for clocks and watches, but these do not apply to
instruments. They have no radiation markings and most vendors (as
aircraft curios) either don't know they are radioactive or just ignore
it.
Radon progeny are an issue, if you seal and instrument in a bag for a
few days, they are easily detectable on the inside surface of the bag.
I would be interested in any practical techniques for estimating the
activity contained in such instruments. Contact dose rates for intact
instruments are typically 5-50 uSv/hr.
Any comments would be welcome.

Robert.


-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl] On
Behalf Of John R Johnson
Sent: 14 April 2005 22:48
To: Susan Gawarecki; RADSAFE
Cc: John R Johnson (TRIUMF)
Subject: RE: [ RadSafe ] Chino Airport to clean radium contamination

Susan and other radsafers

My experience with radium dials is that the radium stays on the dials. I
therefore assume that the contamination is radon progeny and need see if
that is stated in the bulliten.

Has anyone reviewed it?

John
 _________________
John R Johnson, Ph.D.
*****
President, IDIAS, Inc
4535 West 9-Th Ave
Vancouver B. C.
V6R 2E2
(604) 222-9840
idias at interchange.ubc.ca
*****
or most mornings
Consultant in Radiation Protection
TRIUMF
4004 Wesbrook Mall
Vancouver B. C.
V6R 2E2
(604) 222-1047 Ext. 6610
Fax: (604) 222-7309
johnsjr at triumf.ca


-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl]On
Behalf Of Susan Gawarecki
Sent: April 14, 2005 2:19 PM
To: RADSAFE
Subject: [ RadSafe ] Chino Airport to clean radium contamination


Chino Airport to clean radium contamination
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
http://www.dailybulletin.com/Stories/0,1413,203~21481~2812918,00.html#
By Megan Blaney, Staff Writer

Tuesday, April 12, 2005 - CHINO -- One man's hobby to collect vintage
airplanes will cost San Bernardino County nearly $200,000 to clean up
radioactive material - at least temporarily.

The county will seek reimbursement after cleaning up the radium-226
contamination at Chino Airport, where Jeff Pearson, owner of
Preservation Aviation, Inc., stores vintage airplanes containing the
material. The radioactive material was used on the predominantly
American military aircraft to illuminate instrument dials. The aircrafts
date mostly from World War II through the 1960s.

"In both hangars, there is a quantity of old aviation instruments that
have the radium painted on the dial," San Bernardino County Director of
Airports Bill Ingraham said Monday.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency determined the radioactive
materials exceed the radiation limit and closed off the area March 10,
deeming it unsafe for entry, Ingraham said.

Twelve tenants of nearby hangars are still not allowed into the building
and cannot access their aircraft, airport Manager James Jenkins said
Tuesday. Their aircraft is not contaminated, but the area is, he said.

The county hired New World Environmental Inc. for $110,597 to clean up
the site and will pay an additional $85,000 to dispose of the
radioactive material in certified landfills. The Board of Supervisors on
Tuesday approved the funding, which comes from the Airports Capital
Improvement Fund.

"Since the county is owner of one building, and we own the land for the
other building, we are ultimately responsible," Ingraham said.

The county intends to recover the cleanup cost from the tenant, Ingraham
said.

The EPA's investigation of the Chino hangar stemmed from an
investigation into a warehouse in North Hollywood where the same company
was ordered to cease operations because of radioactive contamination
from the same source.

The FBI served the search warrant to investigate the hangars on behalf
of the EPA. New World Environmental Inc. is expected to start cleanup
today.

EPA Onscene Coordinator Robert Wise said he could not comment on the
contamination as it was an ongoing investigation.

Pearson could not be reached for comment.




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