RE: Paducah plutonium

["Weiner, Ruth" <rfweine@sandia.gov>]

In agonizing over this whole Paducah plutonium question, I came up with a
question of my own:  is there any epidemiological, or other non-anecdotal,
evidence of cancer from plutonium inhalation?   It would have to be
inhalation, because the Pu isotopes are alpha emitters and the oxide is, it
seems to me, not soluble enough to be taken up in crops and anyway why would
a plant use plutonium?  As a recall, in the famous Pu injection cases, there
weren't even any cases of cancer with a soluble plutonium compound injected
directly into the blood stream.  In fact, there was no effect, as I recall,
that could be traced to plutonium.

Clearly only my own opinion.

Ruth F. Weiner, Ph. D.
Sandia National Laboratories 
MS 0718, POB 5800
Albuquerque, NM 87185-0718
505-844-4791; fax 505-844-0244
rfweine@sandia.gov
 

-----Original Message-----
From: antatnsu@pacbell.net [mailto:antatnsu@pacbell.net]
Sent: Monday, August 09, 1999 1:10 PM
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: Paducah plutonium


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There is an article in the August 9, 1999 San Diego Union Tribune about
a medical review of workers at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion plant in
response to allegations that thousands of workers were unwittingly
exposed to plutonium and other highly radioactive metals.  Does anyone
know what this is about?  I would like to have enough data to write a
letter to the newspaper giving a little more information than was in the
article (which was not much).  Thanks.  Al Tschaeche
antatnsu@pacbell.net

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