In Washington State, the Environmental Sciences Section (ESS) of the State Department of Health is responsible for environmental radiation monitoring. They monitor potential radiation release from facilities in Washington State that have radioactive materials. Even if there is no potential for release of radioactive materials into the environment around a facility, monitoring is still conducted in the facility. Some of the facilities that are monitored are listed below.
The Dawn Mining Company is a uranium mill located in Ford, Washington northwest of Spokane. It processed uranium from the Midnight mine on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Since the mill was shut down and processing halted, the millsite has proceed with decommissioning which includes demolition of site buildings, contaminated soil removal and contaminated ground water remediation.
Areva Richland is a company in Richland, Washington that deals with the whole nuclear fuel cycle with emphasis on fuel production. They load fuel rods with radioactive pellets for use in pressurized water reactors and boiling water reactors. They also deal with packaging and transport of spent fuel rods.
Unitech Services Group is has a facility located in Richland, Washington. They provided radiological laundering services and protective clothing for handling radioactive materials. They also provide other safety gear such as respirators, goggles, boots, gloves, sorbents, soaps, showers, etc. to deal with radioactive materials. They have decontaminate tools and other metals items as well as HEPA air filter units.
The Puget Sound Navel Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington must deal with nuclear submarines and is included in the Sections monitoring responsibilities.
The Hanford Nuclear site contains operating nuclear facilities and a great deal of stored solid and liquid nuclear materials. Hanford has been dealt with in other posts on this blog.
Energy Northwest is a utility company near Richland, Washington which operates commercial nuclear power reactors that feed power into the Washington power grid.
The Trojan Nuclear Reactor site has been decommissioned but still has some spent nuclear fuel on site which must be monitored.
The Washington ESS also hosts the Quality Assurance Task Force which works to improve environmental radiation monitoring programs used by various organizations in Washington State. The task force verifies accuracy of monitoring, coordinates sampling, analysis and reporting, improves resource utilization, maintains credibility, disseminates information and encourages public awareness.
The Washington ESS operates four environmental radiological monitoring stations as part of the United States EPA nationwide RadNet monitoring system.
The Washington ESS has been charged with dealing with radon issues in Washington State. Radon is a noble gas that is released from soil and can concentrate in buildings. It is present in concrete, granite, brick and other stone materials used in building and furnishings. It is the number two cause of lung cancer in the United States.
The Washington ESS protects the public from airborne radioactivity by enforcing federal and state standards for radioactive air emissions. Authority to inspect, review plans and license facilities is delegated by the US EPA and compliance is necessary to insure continued federal funding of many state programs.
