RE: U.S. Orders Probe Of Plutonium Exposure - Report

[Bill_Goldsmith@radian.com]

Andy and others:  What you folks have said about the Pu source and behavior
in gaseous diffusion is consistent with what I recall.  However, if memory
serves me correctly, there were green salt (UF4) and metal operations also
on site at Paducah.  Currently, they have 14 cubic meters of TRU waste
stored on site according to DOE's waste management EIS.
Bill Goldsmith
Radian International LLC
423-220-8265
FAX 423-483-9061
Bill_goldsmith@radian.com <mailto:Bill_goldsmith@radian.com> 



		-----Original Message-----
		From:	Karam, Andrew
[mailto:Andrew_Karam@URMC.Rochester.edu]
		Sent:	August 09, 1999 15:34
		To:	Multiple recipients of list
		Subject:	RE: U.S. Orders Probe Of Plutonium Exposure
- Report

		>The Pu, of course, comes from neutron capture by U-238 in
reactor fuel.  Pu
		is chemically similar to U, so there is nearly always some
Pu contamination
		included with U when it is chemically removed from the rest
of the spent
		fuel (cladding and fission products).  Pu-238 and Pu-239 are
not very
		different in mass from U-238, so you can expect most of the
Pu to end up in
		the "heavy" end of the cascade.  However, even highly
enriched U will have
		some U-238 in it, along with some of the Pu.  <

		>I think you'd also expect to see Pu-241 (the most abundant
Pu isotope in
		spent fuel) along with its decay daughter, Am-241, and some
Np-237 from
		Am-241 decay. If you look at the PORTS environmental
monitoring reports from
		the early 1990s you will also notice U-236 (I haven't seen
any more recent
		ones).  With the Tc-99, this is a sure sign of the presence
at one time of
		recycled reactor fuel since this isotope is not found in
nature (t 1/2 =
		23.4 million years) and is formed by neutron capture by
U-235.  I would
		assume U-236 is also found at Paducah. <


		Andy

		Andrew Karam, CHP              (716) 275-1473 (voice)
		Radiation Safety Officer          (716) 275-3781 (office)
		University of Rochester           (716) 256-0365 (fax)
		601 Elmwood Ave. Box HPH   Rochester, NY  14642

		Andrew_Karam@URMC.Rochester.edu
		http://Intranet.urmc.rochester.edu/RadiationSafety
	
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