North Korea is expanding its Yongbyon nuclear complex. cbsnews.com
Blog
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Geiger Readings for August 8, 2013
Ambient office = .117 microsieverts per hour
Ambient outside = .087 microsieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = .096 microsieverts per hour
Hass avacado from Costco = .138 microsieverts per hour
Tap water = .097 microsieverts per hour
Filtered water = .094 microsieverts per hour
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Radioactive Waste 51 – August Update on the Magnuson Park Cleanup
Following the last meeting in July on the radium contamination at Magnuson Park, I was given to understand by the Washington State Department of Ecology (WSDOE) that the period for public comments was being extended to August 31st. However, I found out last Saturday that the Navy’s period for public comments had quietly ended the day before on July 26th. The WSDOE has shown reluctance to challenge the Navy and it looks like the Navy may just proceed with its original plan.
There has been a lot of confusion over the past few months about who has the ultimate authority at Magnuson Park. It appears from Federal and State laws that WSDOE has to sign off on the cleanup. From what I have been told at the meetings I attended, WSDOE does not have the ability or maybe just the will to prevent the Navy from proceeding with their original plan absent environmental impact statements and other documents required by law or regulation. After the current cleanup is executed, WSDOE can go to the Navy and say that they have not done enough. Whether or not the Navy would respond with further work, only the future knows.
The Navy has not investigated the gravel and soil around the drain pipe from the radium room. They have checked the pipe to the point where it enters other pipes that are in use and they claim to have found no radioactive contamination. However, it turns out that there are Navy records of tests on the drain pipe that do show radioactive contamination. They say that they couldn’t investigate the rest of the pipe out to Lake Washington because it was still in use and full of water. The drain pipes are surrounded by gravel to allow drainage at flanges between the sections of pipes. Water flowing through the pipes would carry most contamination away but contaminated water that leaked into the gravel would not move quickly through the soil so it should concentrate any contaminants near the pipe. There has also been no testing of the soil at the bottom of Lake Washington where the pipe system drains into the lake at the boat dock and swimming area. The excuse given was that rocks had been dumped on the bottom and that made it very difficult to suck up silt for testing. There is also the problem of hot spots of strontium and cesium at the park. The Navy has no idea of where they came from and I have not heard of a plan to clean them up.
The Navy has made reference to the US Department of Energy (USDOE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cleaning up of part of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation to a level of fifteen milliRems in justifying its plan to clean up Magnuson Park to 15 milliRems. That could result in almost one extra cancer per one thousand park users from long term exposure. Apparently the Navy is not aware that the public was told in the recent Hanford 300 Area briefing in Seattle that the USDOE and EPA no longer considered the fifteen milliRems level to be safe for public use areas. The Federal standard is one cancer per ten thousand people and the WSDOE standard is one cancer per one hundred thousand people.
The Navy has been displaying arrogance, a reluctance to share important information and a distinct lack of concern for Federal and State laws and regulations concerning such cleanups. Let us hope that the WSDOE holds the Navy to a higher standard in the cleanup of Magnuson Park than the Navy hold itself.
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Radiation News Roundup for August 7, 2013
Radiation from past nuclear testing may help track illegal ivory trade. zeenews.india.com
400 tons of highly radioactive water are going into Pacific each day from Fukushima plant. enenews.com
Areva’s Somair uranium mine in Niger is now back to full operation following the terrorist attack in May that saw one worker killed and several injured. world-nuclear-news.org
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Geiger Readings for August 7, 2013
Ambient office = .087 microsieverts per hour
Ambient outside = .077 microsieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = .077 microsieverts per hour
Red seedless grape from Costco = .137 microsieverts per hour
Tap water = .072 microsieverts per hour
Filtered water = .048 microsieverts per hour
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Radioactive Waste 50 – USDOE Hanford 300 Area – Part 4 of 4
Notes on public meeting held at the Seattle University Heights Center on July 31, 2013 by the United States Department of Energy (USDOE) at Hanford to explain planned cleanup of Hanford 300 Area and solicit public comment.
Part 4 of 4
I mentioned that I had worked with the Yakima Indian Nation around 1980 on finding a nuclear contractor to help them monitor the Hanford cleanup and that USDOE were still fumbling around trying to clean up the mess thirty years later. I said that the USDOE at Hanford had been dishonest, incompetent and had repeatedly broken the law. I mentioned the mess with the leaking tanks of waste and the vitrification plant project that had to be halted because of poor design. I pointed out that after all these years they are still not sure of exactly what is buried under Hanford and what other surprises like the rising uranium levels might be waiting for us down the road. I insisted that five years was too long to wait to see if their wonderful solution worked and that the situation needed to be monitored constantly. There were echoes of the Magnuson Park arguments with respect to the safe levels to leave in the soil. I suggested that the USDOE and the EPA should have a chat with the Navy and point out that they didn’t believe that the level the Navy wants to leave at Magnuson Park was safe for human beings. I finally said that I had no confidence in their planning, their execution and their honesty with respect to this cleanup plan.
Representative Gerry Pollet was the last person who had signed up to comment. He went over some of the important issues such as the safe level of radiation after a cleanup. While the Hanford rep insisted that they were working at the one cancer in ten thousand level, Gerry pointed out that their published documents still had the eight cancers in ten thousand level. He said that the state planned to permanently raise the level of Columbia and that there was no mention of the problem of more uranium being released by the higher level. There are rules about having industrial levels closer than two hundred feet from a recreation use riverbank and yet the designated industrial area in the 300 Area was much closer than that. He also took issue with the idea that the only way to control the dust and insure the safety of the workers would be to spay large amounts of water on the ground. He said that there were other ways of controlling dust that would not result in washing more uranium into the soil and he asked why none of them had been mentioned or explored. He also complained that the definition of the industrial area was much too broad and covered parts of the 300 Area that were not eligible. He asked about a consultation with state officials that the Hanford people were not able to provide. He remarked that the EPA had made earlier statements with respect their authority to override USDOE plans at Hanford and that he was disappointed that the EPA had apparently abandoned their position and accepted the USDOE plans. In closing, he insisted that this plan was not well-thought out and that it should be seriously reconsidered and revised before implementation. He lamented the fact that the Washington State Department of Ecology was not participating in the meeting other than as moderator and expressed the hope that the WSDOE would step in and exert their legal authority with respect to the clean up. He also said that the Hanford USDOE plan failed to meet state legal standards as required by Federal law.
I got a real sense of déjà vu all over again as I watched the meeting proceed. Just as at the Magnuson Park meeting, a department of the Federal Government failed to publicize a meeting well, failed to allow adequate time for their presentation and public questions and comments, failed to answer pointed and relevant questions adequately, left important information out of their presentation, failed to explain why they were not following the state and Federal laws with respect to such cleanups and really seemed to be conducting the meeting more to reassure the public that all was well as opposed to sincerely wanting public input to their process.
For more information on 300 Area at Hanford:
Article from Hanford USDOE about 300 Area
Article about Hanford 300 Area from EPA
Pacific Northwest Laboratory article about Hanford 300 Area
Video of 300 Area cleanup plan
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Geiger Readings for August 6, 2013
Ambient office = .064 microsieverts per hour
Ambient outside = .083 microsieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = .115 microsieverts per hour
Red seedless grape from Costco = .168 microsieverts per hour
Tap water = .088 microsieverts per hour
Filtered water = .066 microsieverts per hour
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Radioactive Waste 49 – USDOE Hanford 300 Area – Part 3 of 4
Notes on public meeting held at the Seattle University Heights Center on July 31, 2013 by the United States Department of Energy (USDOE) at Hanford to explain planned cleanup of Hanford 300 Area and solicit public comment.
Part 3 of 4
The question and answer period came next. A rep from Hanford Challenge, a non-profit group, brought up the question of thorium. He said that he had found high levels of thorium while exploring the 300 Area and that there was a legend on the map that said thoria trench. The geologist said that they found no significant levels of thorium on the site but did not explain about the trench.
Someone questioned the ability of the DOE to maintain fences and guards over a period of decades and asked about the possibility of changes to the industrial zoning. They were assured that DOE would be able to do it safely.
Washington State Representative Gerry Pollet who is also with Heart of America Northwest raised the issue of the acceptable contamination level. He had an argument with one of the Hanford reps who insisted that they were going for the one in ten thousand cancers and not the eight in ten thousand cancers that had been in one of the Hanford documents about the project.
Following the Q & A, came the time for formal comments. I always find it strange at this type of meeting that the formal comments are on the record but the Q and A section is not on the formal record. If I were cynical, I would think that the people answering the questions were reluctant to have their answers on the record.
A man with the Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility brought up the fact that there was no mention of the possibility of biological reconcentration of the uranium by plants and animals downriver from Hanford.
The man from Hanford Challenge brought up the thorium again and pointed out that there was definitely high levels of thorium in the 300 Area that needed attention.
The Native Americans in the area were brought up. Commenters complained that the Indians had treaty rights to use that land and fish the river and they were engaged in those activities right now while the uranium level was unsafe.
Current recreational use of the riverbank by boaters, fishermen, families with children, windsurfers, kayakers and hikers was mentioned. The Columbia River periodically rises and resoaks the soil with containing the uranium. The river then drops back to a low level and the groundwater flows out of springs on the riverbank. This groundwater would carry unsafe levels of uranium, exposing the recreational users.
Another man with the Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility brought up the fact that over eight trillion dollars had been spent creating nuclear weapons at Hanford. The billion dollars that was tossed around as a figure for the cleanup was far too little to do the job quickly and properly but was a tiny fraction of the money spent by the DoD on weapons. A woman said that would seem that the Defense Department could spare a few billion out of the five hundred billion defense budget to clean up their mess at Hanford.
There were several comments from Heart of America members questioning the ability of DOE to maintain control of the fenced of industrial areas in the 300 Area for decades. One member insisted that the cleanup should be done thoroughly and quickly. Another complained about the publicity and low attendance.
For more information on 300 Area at Hanford:
Article from Hanford DOE about 300 Area
Article about Hanford 300 Area from EPA
Pacific Northwest Laboratory article about Hanford 300 Area
Video of 300 Area cleanup plan
