Ambient office  =  158 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 101 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 99 nanosieverts per hour

Broccoli tomato from Central Market = 89 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 100 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 95 nanosieverts per hour

Dover sole – Caught in USA = 119 nanosieverts per hour

        I have blogged before about the importance of the molybdenum-99 radioisotope. This radioisotope is used to produce technetium-99m for about four fifths of nuclear imaging procedures for disease diagnosis. Mo-99 is produced primarily in research reactors and, since it has a half life of sixty-six hours, it cannot be stockpiled. Most of the world’s current supply of Mo-99 comes from just four reactors in Belgium, the Netherlands, Russia and South Africa.
        The security of the Mo-99 supply is precarious because unexpected shutdowns of any one of the four producing reactors can result in major shortages of this critical radioisotope. In addition, most Mo-99 is produced by irradiating targets made of highly enriched uranium (HEU) which, by definition, means that the targets have twenty percent or more of U-235 which is highly radioactive. With enrichment at this level, there is a danger of nuclear proliferation.
       Mo-99 is used in more than forty thousand procedures in the U.S. every day. However, the U.S. does not currently produce any Mo-99 and must import it. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) at the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) has been working with commercial partners since 2009 to create a domestic Mo-99 supply network. They hope to make use of a variety of supply options that do not depend on HEU. Last year, the NNSA announced a new funding opportunity for the production of Mo-99 without HEU.
       Yesterday, the DoE reported that the NNSA has completed its analysis of the applications submitted for the new funding. An independent review panel provided recommendations to the NNSA. Four companies have been selected to move to the next stage of the selection process to potentially receive cooperative agreement awards. The four companies are Niowave Inc, NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes LLC, Northwest Medical Isotopes (NWMI) and Shine Medical Isotopes. Funds have been allocated by Congress to provide up to fifteen million dollars for each of these companies with industry partners matching any government award.
       Niowave is located in Lansing, Michigan. They are working on the use of superconducting electron linear accelerators for the production of medical radioisotoes such as Mo-99.
       NorthStar is located in Beloit, Wisconsin. They are working on two different processes for the production of Mo-99 without HEU. The first process being developed relies on the Missouri University Research Reactor to irradiate Mo-98 targets to produce Mo-99. The second process will utilize a linear accelerator to produce Mo-99.
        NWMI is located in Corvallis, Oregon. They have obtained technology from Oregon State University for new low-enriched uranium (LEU) to use in Triga research reactors. They have notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission of their intent to submit an application for the construction of a facility that would produce the LEU targets. The targets would then be shipped to a network of university research reactors where they would be irradiated. The irradiated targets would then be shipped back to the NWMI facility to be processed to recover the Mo-99.
      Shine is located Janesville, Wisconsin where they are building a facility. They will produce medical radioisotopes including Mo-99 at the facility. Their process uses a low-energy, accelerator-based neutron source to produce fission on a LEU target dissolved in an aqueous solution.
       Rick Perry is the U.S. Secretary of Energy. He said, “Mo-99 is such a critical toll in healthcare. Doctors count on it every day. This industry outreach helps to develop a reliable domestic supply of a vital medical isotope, reduce dependence on foreign imports, and bring new opportunity to the heartland.”

Ambient office  =  81 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 87 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 87 nanosieverts per hour

Red bell pepper from Central Market = 72 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 81 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 70 nanosieverts per hour

 

        There is a great deal of interest today in what are called small modular reactors (SMR) in the nuclear industry. A small modular reactor is defined as a nuclear fission reactor that produces three hundred million watts of electricity or less. It is hoped that manufacture of these SMRs in factories will improve safety and lower costs.
        Holtec International is a global supplier of equipment and systems to the energy industry. They are based out of Camden, New Jersey. Holtec specializes in the design and manufacture of components for nuclear reactors. They also manufacture and sell dry cask storage systems for spent nuclear fuel assemblies.
        The Holtec Inherently Safe Modular Underground Reactor SMR-160 is a design for a pressurized water reactor that will generate one hundred and sixty megawatts of electricity. In 2018, Holtec and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy signed a contract to collaborate on the commercialization of the SMR-160.
        Holtec describes the SMR-160 as a “passive, intrinsically safe, secure and economical small modular reactor that has the flexibility to be used in remote locations, in areas with limited water supplies or land, and in unique industrial applications where traditional larger reactors are not practical.”
       Holtec also says that “The plant offers a balanced combination of practical innovation and proven technology to withstand the most severe postulated accidents. This advanced nuclear power plant has major appeal in domestic and international markets, offering a right-sized, cost-effective solution for carbon-free energy, and ensuring attainable power options to existing and emerging global economies demanding increased certainty of public safety, environmental protection and security from intrusion and proliferation of nuclear materials.”
         The SMR-160 is currently under review by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and is in Phase One of the three phase CNSC evaluation cycle. The State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine has a collaborative agreement with the CNSC. It is expected to coordinate its regulatory review of the SMR 160 with the CNSC.
      The President of Ukraine’s Energoatom has announced that he will create a consortium with Holtec and the Ukrainian State Scientific and Technical Centre for Nuclear and Radiation Safety (SSTC-NRS) to investigate the technical and environmental feasibility of qualifying a “generic” SMR-160 system that can be constructed and operated anywhere in Ukraine. Holtec gives “…absolute assurance of public health and safety” for the SMR-160. The terms of engagement for the consortium will be announced soon.
        Holtec has also announced signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Exelon Generation to add them to the SMR-160 team which currently includes SNC-Lavin and Mitsubishi Electric. Chris Mudrick is the senior vice president for Northeast Operations for Exelon Generation. He said, “As the largest nuclear operator in the United States, Exelon Generation is pleased to partner with Holtec to develop an operating model for the SMR-160. This project is a great example of how innovation and new technologies are bringing our industry together and driving the future of nuclear power.”
       The MoU says that Exelon will support the market acceptance of the SMR-160, create a generic deployment schedule and staffing plan, and assist improvements of the SMR-160 operational and maintainability features. As SMR-160s as built and deployed around the world, Exelon could supply reactor operating services to customers who do not have an established nuclear industry infrastructure.
 

Ambient office  =  60 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 77 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 83 nanosieverts per hour

Blueberry from Central Market = 116 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 92 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 84 nanosieverts per hour

        Problems with mining uranium do not get much coverage in the media. However, they pose a very serious threat to the environment both during the mining operation and for decades after the mine has been shut down.
       The Northeast Church Rock uranium mine is located approximately seventeen miles northeast of Gallup, New Mexico. It is on the Pinedale Chapter of the Navajo Nation. Between 1967 and 1982, about three and a half tons of uranium ore were taken out of the mine. The ore from the mine was processed at the nearby Church Rock Mill under a license issued by the State of New Mexico.
       Regulatory oversight for the mine has been carried out under a memorandum of understanding between the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency since 1988. The NRC regulates surface reclamation and closure activities at the closed mine. The EPA regulates cleanup of the mine.
       The waste pile at the mill has been temporarily covered and stabilized after over two hundred thousand tons of contaminated soil was removed from the residential areas near the mine and taken to the mine tailings impound area at the mill. The United Nuclear Corporation (UNC), a subsidiary of GE, applied to the NRC in the fall of 2018 for an amendment to the mine license to allow them to transfer a million cubic yards of mine spoils to the tailings impoundment facility at the nearby mill site.
         EPA action level standards say that soil that contains two and a quarter picocuries per gram of radium-226 or two hundred thirty milligrams per kilogram of natural uranium or less are eligible to be transferred from the mine to the existing tailings impoundment area of the mill site. Any waste that contains two hundred picocuries of radium-226 or five hundred milligrams per kilogram of natural uranium or more would need to be segregated and moved to a licensed disposal facility offsite. UNC proposes building a cover over the tailings before the mine spoils are added to the pile. Then a final cover would be built over the mine spoils layer. The EPA has approved of this action in addition to other tasks at the mine and mill.
      The Navajo Nation occupies more than twenty-seven thousand square miles in the states of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. There are over two hundred and fifty thousand Navajos living in the Nation. Almost thirty million tons of uranium ore were extracted from Navajo lands between 1944 and 1986. This has left behind a horrible legacy of over five hundred closed uranium mines. Various U.S. federal agencies are cooperating to remove the greatest risks to the population of the Nation from the contamination that resulted from the mining operations on Navajo land. Since 1994, the Superfund Program has rendered technical assistance and funding to assess sites that may be contaminated and develop a response for those sites which are.
        The U.S. EPA and the Navajo Nation EPA have designated forty-six of the five hundred closed mines as being priorities for cleanup. This designation is based on readings of gamma ray levels close to homes and water supplies. The Northeast Church Rock Mine has been given the highest priority for cleanup because of the number of people who live close to the mine. The public has until the 19th of April to give their comments on the NRC environmental review. The Commission with then draft an environmental impact statement of the actions proposed by UNC.