Re[2]: 85 Billion

[Bates.Estabrooks@rfets.gov (Bates Estabrooks)]

          Evidently Mr. (Ms./Miss, etc.) "High Plains Drifter" works in 
          an setting where the concerns of the local populace are not an 
          issue.  Nothing in the nuclear/radiation world is settled 
          strictly on a technical basis.  The technical solutions are 
          often extant, but their application (i.e., where they will be 
          applied and to what degree) are usually a matter of public 
          debate.  Here at Rocky Flats we are facing several such 
          issues.  Different environmental groups are pitted against 
          each other to determine the fate of Pu from this site.  Do you 
          ship the stuff to Savannah River for stabilization so it wont 
          be in our back yard anymore, or do you stabilize it here to 
          avoid the risks associated with shipping it?  Then you have 
          the issue of soil cleanup levels.  The locals in Westminster 
          want the place to be green space, but nearby Arvada wants 
          industrial development; thus different standards.  The DOE no 
          longer makes decisions like these on its own.  All the players 
          (the State, EPA, Feds, locals) now have a say in these things, 
          and that drives budgets.  It may be frustrating for us 
          technical folks, but that's the environment we live in  now, 
          and must accept.
          
          By the way, as a matter of professionalism, Mr. "Drifter" 
          should identify himself.
          
          Bates Estabrooks
          Rocky Flats
          bates.estabrooks@rfets.gov
          303-966-3769
          
          Standard Disclaimer


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: 85 Billion
Author:  High Plains Drifter <magna1%jps.net@inet.rfets.gov> at inet
Date:    3/5/98 9:41 PM


Mr/Ms Hollway:
          
Would you like to make a friendly wager on Congress funding the 
cleanup/remediation?  The porkbarrel die had been cast many years ago.  Four 
hundred thousand possible victems of the deadly radioactivity being held at bay 
at
Hanford will assure funding.  Unless, they are boughtout?   Congress may have 
spent over 5 billion dollars on Hanford already, the economy sure shows it. 
Consider this:  If the stuff out there is so dangerous and may contaminate the 
entire Columbia river why haven't they evacuate the area.  Evidently the tank 
farm
could drain out in its entirety to the Columbia, and with the filtering of the 
soil (sand and rocks, and what the snakes drink) and the effective flushing of 
the
river everyday you would not see an appreciable change in the environment.  If 
they eventurally breakdown some dams to help the salmon plight then the place 
will
be under water anyway.  I haven't done the math, but with the water flow down 
the
Hanford Reach (with presnow melt letdown at the dams above) and the source term 
for the site (including the tank farm) - what would be the direct dilution of 
the
released radioactivity (it could be a relatively small number).  When they were 
sending reactor coolant directly to the river evidently the downstream 
concentrations were not horrendous.  Just some thoughts.....
          
High Plains Drifter
magna1@jps.net