Re: Radioactive Cobalt Is In Cove

[LIPTONW@dteenergy.com]

Two comments: 
 
1)  This occcurrence illustrates a potential flaw in the "Offsite Dose 
Calculation Manual" for some nuclear power plants.  The liquid release 
calculations sometimes do not account for the accumulation of radionuclides
in 
sediments.  The liquid release limits are thus specified in terms of 
concentrations, eg, less than MPC or less than "effluent concentration", not 
in terms of radionuclide quantities.  Thus, large volumes of low
concentration 
releases may have resulted in the accumulation of detectable quantities of 
radionuclides in sediments, perhaps without the knowledge of the licensees. 
I 
suspect the Millstone occurrence is not unique.  Hence, all nuclear power 
plants where sediment accumulation is a possibility should review their 
environmental monitoring programs to be sure that all potential pathways are 
being monitored.  If sediment accumulation has occurred, we should be the
ones 
to find it.  If found, a credible risk assessment should be prepared and 
published before this becomes a media circus.  If practicable, nuclear power 
plants with the potential for radionuclide accumulation in sediments should 
adopt a zero liquid release policy. 
 
2)  It would be a serious mistake for Millstone to attempt to trivialize the 
significance of this event.  As with the tritium plume at Brookhaven, the 
problem isn't the dose, which is virutally zero, but the question of how the 
licensee allowed this to happen.  I highly recommend that we all review the 
events at Rancho Seco, in the 1980's.  See NRC Inspection Report No. 
50-312/86-15.  If the problems here apply to your plant, don't wait for 
someone else to find them. 
 
The opinions expressed are stricly mine. 
It's not about dose, it's about trust. 
 
Bill Lipton 
liptonw@dteenergy.com 
 
 
You wrote: 
 
>Local paper picked up on trace amount of Co-60 found in cove adjacent to 
>Millstone (see below).  If the measurements are accurate, it amounts to
about 
>0.1 to 0.4 pCi/gram of sediment to a 6 inch depth.  We communicated the 
results 
>of our shellfish samples to Allan Jacgues, the businessman who leases the 
>shellfish beds.  Barely detectable activity has been seen in some clams, 
>oysters, mussels, and lobsters collected in Jordon Cove and other areas
around 
>Millstone.  Oysters collected in the quarry, our discharge canal, routinely 
see 
>plant related activity.  Barely detectable activity has also been seen in
some 
>seaweed and sediment in the vicinity of the plant.  
 
>Several comments on the article: 
 
>1) "...the finding is significant because it shows that traces of
radioactive  
>materials from Millstone have contaminated the environment  
>beyond the plant boundaries." 
 
>The finding should not be significant because the trace amounts found are
not 
>unusual.   
 
... 
 
>You can see what we're up against. 
 
>Claude Flory 
>Senior Scientist 
>Northeast Utilities 
>floryca@nu.com
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