Plutonium level still higher after Washington fire

The Associated Press

RICHLAND, Wash. (July 27, 2000 12:03 a.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - Air samples taken during and after the Hanford nuclear reservation fire last month show an increased concentration of plutonium in public areas outside the reservation, officials said Wednesday. But they added that the concentration is still not at a harmful level.

Five of 41 routine monitoring samples contained above-normal concentrations, though all are significantly below federal and state limits for radiation releases, said representatives of the state Department of Health and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

"They are on the order of a thousand-fold lower than what would drive public protective action," said Jerry Leitch, the EPA's regional radiation program manager.

The five increased readings were measured in the Pasco, Richland and West Richland communities, which are within 10 miles of the reservation.

At a fire station in Pasco where the highest reading appeared, a person breathing the measured amount of plutonium for a year would be exposed to about 10 millirem of radiation, about the equivalent of a dental X-ray, federal officials said.

People on average absorb about 350 millirem of radiation a year from a variety of sources, Leitch said.

Hundreds of air, soil and vegetation samples were taken during and after the 191,000-acre wildfire burned nearly half the reservation, the most contaminated nuclear site in the country.

Department of Energy managers at Hanford have said they expected laboratory analysis to show some presence of radioactive material after wind, firefighting equipment and the fire itself dispersed contaminated dirt and ash from the surface.

The Energy Department is offering testing for 700 firefighters most likely to have been exposed to radioactive elements.

Debra McBaugh of the state Department of Health said the radioactive materials posed no immediate danger to residents.

"There is no reason they have to do anything differently than they are doing," she said.

http://www.nandotimes.com/noframes/story/0,2107,500232669-500338210-501934034-0,00.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), July 27, 2000

Answers

Plutonium is rough stuff--not exactly beneficial to nasal congestion or lung function.

2

-- Uncle Fred (dogboy45@bigfoot.com), July 27, 2000.