Rad leak in upstate NY

[Robin_Siskel@NOTES.YMP.GOV]

  Hi Jeff,

  Jim Hardemans' numbers are in the ballpark of my recollections also...
  Tho I thought the max. exposure to a hypothetical member of the public
  was more on the order of 5mrem....

  There were significant releases at TMI.  My understanding was several
  planned vents thru the stack to ensure containment pressure remained
  in bounds... The resulting doses to the surrounding area/public were
  minimal, however (atmospheric dilution is your friend too!  :-)  ).
  Huge epidemiological studies have been conducted since,
  and I believe are an ongoing project.  Results, if I remember correctly,
  have shown no detrimental effect on the local population (e.g., no
  increase
  in disease/cancer, no effect on children or lifespan, etc. -- no surprise
  to
  most of us!  :-)  ).

  Much of our current emergency planning efforts
  are a direct result of lessons learned at TMI and the communication
  problems encountered during the emergency there.  One example I remember
  hearing was when a discussion of dose rate in the aux. building was
  overheard
  by a reporter who thought that the 5mrem/hr. being discussed was at the
  site boundary.
  Shortly thereafter his report hit the airwaves.  Which resulted in
  unnecessary
  evacuations as you can imagine.  I'm sure some of you radsafers have much
  better info. than I do on this issue...

  The impressive part to me was that with 40% of the core melted, there was
  still no
  significant offsite doses.  This may not be so impressive to members of
  the
  lay public, however!

  Wasn't there another major chemical event in upstate NY (other than Love
  Canal) that resulted in relocation of the local town population?  I think
  the
  town was fenced and maybe the chem. at issue was Dioxin?  Or am I now
  confused with Love Canal?

  As always, the above are merely my musings and do not reflect whatsoever
  on my employer!
  Robin Siskel

  email:  Robin_Siskel@notes.ymp.gov