Posted on 04/25/2019 4:49:40 AM PDT by buckalfa
A forum to address information recently released in the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Annual Site Environmental Report and other data concerning the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant will be held at 1 p.m. this Saturday, April 27 at the offices of the Pike County General Health District, located at 116 South Market Street, Waverly.
According to the Pike County General Health District, which is hosting the forum, “community concerns have arisen regarding the detection of traces of Neptunium, a transuranic element and known carcinogen, at an air monitoring station on the grounds of the Zahn’s Corner Middle School.”
The general health district states that it is their responsibility to continue to investigate the information, and they are inviting members of DOE, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, the Ohio Department of Health, and the public to attend Saturday’s forum.
“It is our belief, based on DOE documentation, that Neptunium is on the Portsmouth reservation and has reached the air monitoring station as a likely result of activities related to the construction of the waste disposal facility,” a press release from the Pike County General Health District states. “As a result, the Pike County General Health District is calling on DOE to suspend activities at the disposal facility until such time as the extent of the contamination is understood, along with its potential impacts to public health and the environment.
“In September of 2017, the health district unanimously passed a resolution opposing the construction of an on-site waste disposal facility in Piketon. We are inviting representatives from DOE and state health organizations to help provide context to this contamination.”
According the the health district, information independent of DOE data has confirmed contamination above ordinary background levels at properties near the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, including adjacent to the Zahn’s Corner Middle School.
“While it is premature to determine the health impacts of the contamination discovered thus far, this forum is the first step we will take to ensure the health and safety of our residents is protected,” the press release states.
The forum will include a discussion of the data, its off-site locations, and next steps.
Can’t answer your question. Maybe ignorance is bliss, as in so many other life questions.
If the world’s first response to “climate change” is more nuclear power development (it’s being considered) we’re going to have to solve the waste disposal problem sooner or later unless the solution is waste-free.
“the premise that no amount of radiation is safe”
This premise is quite discredited.
The problem is that when an effect is very small, it’s very hard to measure. It’s essentially impossible to prove that it is zero. The best we can do is estimate a lower limit on the effect.
In the case of low-level radiation exposure, we know the risk is insignificant compared to many other risks we routinely accept.
We also know that exposure to low levels of ionizing radiation is, and always has been, completely unavoidable. Virtually every object we encounter every day is slightly radioactive. Every person is slightly radioactive. Oh well.
The Pike County General Health District seems to be acting irresponsibly. They are seeking publicity in advance of learning and communicating the facts. Classic fear-monger tactics.
Another possibility is the that the Pike County News Watchman failed; maybe the health district HAS communicated the facts, and the “journalists” left them out of the story.
The most obvious relevant fact: how much radiation was detected? The data obviously exists. You only hide data when it doesn’t fit your agenda. Is it being hidden by the journalists, the health district, or the Department of Energy?
5 minutes of effort yields:
The Department of Energy’s web site for the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant:
https://www.energy.gov/pppo/portsmouth-site
The most recent environmental report, covering 2017, released in January 2019:
https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2019/03/f61/2017%20Portsmouth%20ASER.pdf
Section 4.6 in the document covers Environmental Radiation Monitoring.
Older environmental reports can be found here:
https://www.energy.gov/pppo/downloads/portsmouth-annual-site-environmental-reports
I’m glad I don’t depend on the Pike County News Watchman for my news.
More people have died in Ted Kennedy’s (D-HELL) car than in all the civilian nuclear accidents in the United States.
I can see the possibility if they are treating reactor WASTE, but the article seems short on details.
There’s a lot of depleted uranium stored at the site.
The uranium is mostly U-238. A small fraction decays by spontaneous fission, producing about 2 neutrons per decay. Some of the neutrons are captured by uranium, which gives rise to neptunium after a few intermediate steps.
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