View Full Version : Study Finds Enriched Uranium in The Nolichucky River
Pete Moss
11-12-2010, 11:15
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40141088/ns/local_news-nashville_tn/
This was in the news this morning about contamitnation in the Nolichucky near Erwin, TN. Uncle Johnny's and the Nolichucky were some great memories for me and hate to see somewhere so wonderful poisoned.
Slo-go'en
11-12-2010, 11:18
Not suprising, as there is a reprocessing plant in town there.
4eyedbuzzard
11-12-2010, 11:34
Ah! CRUD (Chalk River Unidentified Deposits) strikes again!
Don't worry, what could happen?
http://www.rob-clarkson.com/duff-brewery/blinky/01.gif
Rain Man
11-12-2010, 11:55
Nothing to worry about. The Chamber of Commerce and "the market" will sort it all out and take care of us all. No need for more "big government" to step in!!!
Or ... NOT!
Rain Man
.
Pete Moss
11-12-2010, 12:11
I am fully aware that it will just flow down river and the problem will sort itself out in the Gulf of Mexico!:banana
I used to guide on the nearby Pigeon River and it is also polluted from a Paper Mill. Pisses me off.
Okay, so there's uranium in the water, but how bad is it? They can't even give us a scary bad estimate like the media did with the oil spill? Many PCT hikers drink uranium contaminated water every year. It's not a big deal if the amount is low.
Pete Moss
11-12-2010, 13:12
Its that attitude that lets things get out of control.
" Oh one barrel of toxic waste in the river, no biggie."
one turns to two, two turns to three, three turns to four.....
Next thing you know, a river no longer has a fish population and is shut to recreational activity beacuse of toxic hazards.
There was no indication in the article of what the uranium levels are, but it is meant to warning that if not checked and fixed, could be a big problem.
This is exactly how most disasters in history start, a small problem that goes unchecked beacuse of attitudes of complacency, and grows into something much worse.
Examples: New Orleans and Katrina, Gulf oil spill to name two.
Rocket Jones
11-12-2010, 13:23
As for more regulation, how about enforcing the laws on the books now? It's illegal to pollute now, but if we make it even more illegal that'll solve everything?
The problem isn't lack of oversight, it's that the people responsible for the oversight aren't doing their job.
GracefulRoll
11-12-2010, 13:23
http://pool.theinfosphere.org/images/a/a2/The_Sewer_Mutants.jpg
Yikes.
.......... 21 drops of AquaMira per liter?
Pete Moss
11-12-2010, 13:26
As for more regulation, how about enforcing the laws on the books now? It's illegal to pollute now, but if we make it even more illegal that'll solve everything?
The problem isn't lack of oversight, it's that the people responsible for the oversight aren't doing their job.
You got it!
The EPA gives these companies permits to allow certain amounts of toxic waste to be dumped into the river. I don't know how the Uranium was dumped in the river, maybe it just leeched, but I really wish we had an organization in this country that actually stopped these companies from destroying rivers. The EPA is useless.
The EPA is not useless. Your not old enough to remember before they were here. Lake erie in Michigan caught on fire. I think Boston Harbor did also.
Agreed. I would like to see things get away from this attitude of " Let's see HOW bad it is and then determine if its bad enough to fix"
If we are having to determine HOW bad it is....it's bad enough, lets fix it and make it right.
I'm fine with that. It's just that they tested it, so surely they have some indication of how bad it is. Hopefully it was just a lazy reporter. Surely they can do both at the same time.
The Solemates
11-12-2010, 17:26
Don't worry, what could happen?
well....4 eye buzzards come to mind :eek::eek::eek:
skinewmexico
11-12-2010, 19:28
Never mind
4eyedbuzzard
11-12-2010, 21:34
The EPA is not useless. Your not old enough to remember before they were here. Lake erie in Michigan caught on fire. I think Boston Harbor did also.
Actually, it was the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland that caught fire in 1969.
well....4 eye buzzards come to mind :eek::eek::eek:
http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/dre1961l.jpg
The EPA gives these companies permits to allow certain amounts of toxic waste to be dumped into the river. I don't know how the Uranium was dumped in the river, maybe it just leeched, but I really wish we had an organization in this country that actually stopped these companies from destroying rivers. The EPA is useless.
Fact check! No, not useless. Just not perfect, like most human institutions. Perhaps all?
The clean water act, administered by EPA, is the most successful environmental law in history. Unfortunately, it's passage required compromise, compromise that made enforcement cumbersome, and at times impossible.
Weary
Tipi Walter
11-12-2010, 21:59
The EPA is useless.
That about says it all.
The EPA is useless.
That about says it all.
Consider the alternative.
Many underground water sources have a certain amount of natural source uranium in them; especially out west. There is a famous spring on the PCT that most hikers use despite the sign warning about it. After all, while the levels are higher then recommended, they are still low and the the only real issue would be long term use of it rather then drinking a liter or two. And most backcountry water sources aren't even tested so who knows what we are drinking. But let look on the positive side and think about all those batteries we could save from our flashlights.
Rain Man
11-13-2010, 12:28
Naturally occurring background uranium has no comparison to enriched uranium, which latter is what was found in the water near Erwin.
Like the fellows recently caught for beating up hikers in Damascus, this company apparently has a history of being a bad character and if so should be in jail and the key thrown away. It has proven its incorrigible character as those other hoodlums did.
Rain Man
.
Many underground water sources have a certain amount of natural source uranium in them; especially out west. There is a famous spring on the PCT that most hikers use despite the sign warning about it. After all, while the levels are higher then recommended, they are still low and the the only real issue would be long term use of it rather then drinking a liter or two. And most backcountry water sources aren't even tested so who knows what we are drinking. But let look on the positive side and think about all those batteries we could save from our flashlights.
The Uranium found in the Noli isn't the kind found in nature.
It is the same. The difference is the concentration and the concentration of the useful isotope. What we need to know is the concentration or an expert to say what kind of danger the concentration in the river presents.
It is the same. The difference is the concentration and the concentration of the useful isotope. What we need to know is the concentration or an expert to say what kind of danger the concentration in the river presents.
"The scientist who analyzed the samples said the type of uranium seen in them is not the kind that is found in nature, and the only plausible interpretation is that the elements came from the processes at NFS."
Do they mean its the same, just manipulated? I wouldn't want to be a raft guide on that river.
Uranium as found in nature isn't all that uncommon, but is usually quite benign since the useful isotope is found in very low quantities. Even if the concentration of the uranium found in the river was very low, they can easily know it's enriched if the concentration of the useful isotope was higher than normally found. That's why I want to know more details. The levels they found may be normally safe. There's no reason to incite panic if that's the case. Of course it still needs to be cleaned up, but there's no reason to impact the livelihood of the people around that river if it's still safe.
It is the same. The difference is the concentration and the concentration of the useful isotope. What we need to know is the ....
So it's not the same...
The scientist who analyzed the samples said the type of uranium seen in them is not the kind that is found in nature, and the only plausible interpretation is that the elements came from the processes at NFS. Are you a nuclear scientist or do you just play one on the internet?
Read again. The "type" of uranium. Come back after you google "isotope".
Pedaling Fool
11-13-2010, 16:54
The article is so devoid of information that it's basically useless. Not saying this is a non-issue, for all we know this is the next big scandal since the gulf spill. But I find it interesting what the NRC had to say.
As of now all you car-driving environmentalist do far more damage to the environment. Ride a bike if you really give a .....:sun
As of now all you car-driving environmentalist do far more damage to the environment. Ride a bike if you really give a .....:sun
I've never owned a car in my life. :D
NFS needs to get their sheeet together. This sure isn't the first time.
Rain Man
11-14-2010, 10:54
As of now all you car-driving environmentalist do far more damage to the environment. Ride a bike if you really give a .....:sun
All you anti-environmentalists go drink some toxic sludge (or move to sunny Chernobyl) if you really don't give a .....:sun.
Like the bumper sticker that says "If you can read this, thank a teacher," there should be one that says "If you have air to breath and water to drink, thank an environmentalist."
Rain:sunMan
.
Pedaling Fool
11-14-2010, 10:57
All you anti-environmentalists go drink some toxic sludge (or move to sunny Chernobyl) if you really don't give a .....:sun.
Like the bumper sticker that says "If you can read this, thank a teacher," there should be one that says "If you have air to breath and water to drink, thank an environmentalist."
Rain:sunMan
.
I'm so misunderstood.
As of now all you car-driving environmentalist do far more damage to the environment. Ride a bike if you really give a .....:sun[/QUOTE]
Misunderstood? I thought your message came through fairly clear.:-?
4eyedbuzzard
11-14-2010, 12:21
All you anti-environmentalists go drink some toxic sludge (or move to sunny Chernobyl) if you really don't give a .....:sun. Like the bumper sticker that says "If you can read this, thank a teacher," there should be one that says "If you have air to breath and water to drink, thank an environmentalist." Rain:sunMan.
I prefer thanking the autotrophs and heterotrophs from the Archean Eon for the air, and protoplanet and comet impacts in the Hadean Eon for the water. I thank environmentalists for being part of the social process of choosing how we as a species use natural resources, manipulate our environment, and for holding up the protective end of what, by nature, must be an adversarial process. I thank a teacher(s) for knowing this. ;)
I'm so misunderstood.
So were Jesus, Mao, and the Beatles. :rolleyes: :D [And I just KNOW some people are going to misunderstand this comment]
Pedaling Fool
11-14-2010, 15:34
There are many in society that see no appreciation on a bumpersticker and they do make our lives easier and more liveable than environmentalists.
How about a bumpersticker to thank all the big oil companies for the vehicle that gets you to and from your hiking trips and the countless articles in everyday life that require crude oil, not to mention your gear list.
Environmentalism is a worthy cause, but you've far more benefitted from the endeavors of others.
The overwhelming majority of people that fret over the environment are just bobbleheads.
How about a bumpersticker to thank all the big oil companies for the vehicle that gets you to and from your hiking trips and the countless articles in everyday life that require crude oil, not to mention your gear list.
.
Don't forget all the little children who make our hiking clothes.
(as an Erwin resident I'm none to pleased with this regardless of how poorly written the article is....)
(then again, I was born in Oak Ridge, TN....)
Pedaling Fool
11-14-2010, 15:42
(as an Erwin resident I'm none to pleased with this regardless of how poorly written the article is....)
What struck me about the article is that it seems as though no one (such as the reporter) must not have asked a single question; there are tons of questions (very obvious questions) the article leaves unanswered.
How about a bumpersticker to thank all the big oil companies for the vehicle that gets you to and from your hiking trips and the countless articles in everyday life that require crude oil, not to mention your gear list.
I think the oil companies make enough money, they don't our thanks. if you're going to thank anybody, thank the roughnecks.
Pedaling Fool
11-14-2010, 15:48
I think the oil companies make enough money, they don't our thanks. if you're going to thank anybody, thank the roughnecks.
Thanks to all the "Enviornmentalists":)
That's why I ride my bike everywhere; I only put about 10 miles a month on my car.
I think I got them (big oil) on the ropes:D
Tipi Walter
11-14-2010, 17:21
The Appalachian mountains you guys so love to visit and backpack thru are in no way being protected by the EPA. See below fotogs of mountaintop removal. These were once the same exact mountains we've been backpacking thru and camping on for the last hundred plus years, before that a millenium of camping by other sorts(called Indians). So, the basic question is, where is the EPA? And who controls it? All this for a few short hours of television and electric lights(and computer use)?
Oh, and some motard will chime in with, "Well, they reclaim the land afterwards and fix it." Don't listen to them. They are wrong. Here's the thing: The same mountains you love to visit and hike thru, the Citico or Slickrock wilderness, Standing Indian, the AT, all could be ruined either inside their boundaries are all around their boundaries. Call it "national security" and bulldoze the Smokies. Why not?
http://www.worldchanging.com/MTRCM%20West%20Virginia.jpg
http://www.treehugger.com/google-earth-mountain-top-removal.jpg
Alligator
11-14-2010, 21:11
Pleast try to dial it in to uranium issue that was presented in the first post. Thanks.
Pedaling Fool
11-15-2010, 09:20
Hopefully there will be more information coming out soon, but as of now the article left open many questions. However, here's some stuff that's interesting to look at http://johnsoncitypress.com/News/article.php?ID=83401
This is an excerpt from the above link, it includes the NFS spokesperson's response and note the last sentence by the professor that conducted the tests, this kind of goes to one of the obvious questions in a roundabout way (What levels -- other than above normal?):
NFS spokesperson Lauri Turpin said company officials received a copy of Ketterer’s report through a third party Thursday afternoon. She said because of this, NFS officials have only had an opportunity to take a preliminary look at the report and she would be unable to comment on the report in its entirety, but said the report does not provide any new conclusions that have not previously been public knowledge.
Turpin also said NFS does monitor and sample materials it releases into the environment. These releases, she said, are well under the mandated limits.
“NFS regularly monitors and samples anything that we release into the environment, and our data shows that our environmental discharges are about a thousand times less than what we could release according to our federal and state regulations,” Turpin said.
Turpin also said uranium ratios rather than concentrations of materials are used in Ketterer’s report, something that Ketterer also states in the report. Turpin said concentrations, which is how materials are measured by regulators, are needed before any environmental impact could be determined.
“It’s important to know what the concentrations or amounts of material is to make any sort of determinations on impact,” she said. “I think from the results of the study, because he only provided ratios, it would be impossible to determine any environmental impact based on his information.”
Based on NFS-collected data regarding material release amounts, it could be concluded that such releases have no impact because of the small amounts detected, Turpin said.
Ketterer said his work with analysis on enriched uranium in the area is far from complete, with a final report coming in the future. In August, he was in the area to collect water, sediment and soil samples in proximity to NFS, the majority of which have not yet been analyzed. Ketterer also said he received no payment from any group to conduct the study and complete the report, adding that he felt the public needs to know more information about the enriched uranium contamination.
“The reason that I’m doing this is out of scientific curiosity,” Ketterer said. “It’s a scientifically interesting forensic puzzle, and I think it’s an important one too because I’ve been learning that there’s essentially no data in the public domain about what kinds of contamination may exist in the offsite environment.”
Ketterer also said according to Environmental Protection Agency standards, water studied for the purposes of his report would be fine for consumption.
Also waiting to hear from NRC, since it's foolish to just go off Company statements. Here's something, nothing very direct, but a little history.
http://ads.johnsoncitypress.com/www/delivery/lg.php?bannerid=284&campaignid=235&zoneid=41&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fjohnsoncitypress.com%2FNews%2Fart icle.php%3FID%3D83401&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fsearch%3Fhl% 3Den%26rlz%3D1R2ADFA_enUS342%26q%3Duranium+found+i n+nolichucky+river%26aq%3Df%26aqi%3D%26aql%3D%26oq %3D%26gs_rfai%3D&cb=5d0c5300c5
http://www.nrc.gov/materials/fuel-cycle-fac/fuel-fab/nfs-faqs.html
http://ads.johnsoncitypress.com/www/delivery/lg.php?bannerid=554&campaignid=479&zoneid=40&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fjohnsoncitypress.com%2FNews%2Fart icle.php%3FID%3D83401&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fsearch%3Fhl% 3Den%26rlz%3D1R2ADFA_enUS342%26q%3Duranium+found+i n+nolichucky+river%26aq%3Df%26aqi%3D%26aql%3D%26oq %3D%26gs_rfai%3D&cb=4f583feb96
Pedaling Fool
11-15-2010, 09:24
BTW, I'm not saying that because the levels are safe that there's no problem. When dealing with nukes any problem, no matter how small, needs to be dealt with.
fredmugs
11-18-2010, 13:43
That does explain the rat sized mice at Uncle Johnny's.
Turpin also said uranium ratios rather than concentrations of materials are used in Ketterer’s report, something that Ketterer also states in the report. Turpin said concentrations, which is how materials are measured by regulators, are needed before any environmental impact could be determined.
“It’s important to know what the concentrations or amounts of material is to make any sort of determinations on impact,” she said. “I think from the results of the study, because he only provided ratios, it would be impossible to determine any environmental impact based on his information.”
Thanks for the update. Hopefully this makes what I was saying earlier more clear for those that took chemistry too long ago to remember.
BTW, I'm not saying that because the levels are safe that there's no problem. When dealing with nukes any problem, no matter how small, needs to be dealt with.
Absolutely. If there's one thing we need to do right 100% of the time, it's anything nuclear. Little problems can't be ignored for any length of time because they may hint at a very dire problem.
Tennessee Viking
11-19-2010, 17:14
If Miss Janet can live there for years, then anyone can live in Erwin. Besides the AT is upstream from NFS.
If Miss Janet can live there for years, then anyone can live in Erwin. Besides the AT is upstream from NFS.
Is she extra sensitive to enriched uranium?
Buhzerker
12-11-2010, 00:06
I live in the area and there is a Problem there. Lot's of people die of some strange sort of Cancer in Erwin, I wouldn't work there for any amount of money. I do have Friends who do though.
Buhzerker
12-11-2010, 00:08
The Appalachian mountains you guys so love to visit and backpack thru are in no way being protected by the EPA. See below fotogs of mountaintop removal. These were once the same exact mountains we've been backpacking thru and camping on for the last hundred plus years, before that a millenium of camping by other sorts(called Indians). So, the basic question is, where is the EPA? And who controls it? All this for a few short hours of television and electric lights(and computer use)?
Oh, and some motard will chime in with, "Well, they reclaim the land afterwards and fix it." Don't listen to them. They are wrong. Here's the thing: The same mountains you love to visit and hike thru, the Citico or Slickrock wilderness, Standing Indian, the AT, all could be ruined either inside their boundaries are all around their boundaries. Call it "national security" and bulldoze the Smokies. Why not?
http://www.worldchanging.com/MTRCM%20West%20Virginia.jpg
http://www.treehugger.com/google-earth-mountain-top-removal.jpg
New Word for the Day.. "MOTARD" I love it.. lol:banana:D:-?
Pedaling Fool
02-16-2011, 16:42
Any update to this story?
I thought about this as I was reading about radioactivity and was surprised to learn that people living near coal-fired power plants are exposed to more radiation than those living near a nuclear power plant that meets government standards. http://www.ornl.gov/info/ornlreview/rev26-34/text/colmain.html
We should have went nuclear years ago. Forget the CO2, burning coal on such large scale is dirty stuff....but seriously any update to the nuclear issue in Erwin?
Any update to this story?
I thought about this as I was reading about radioactivity and was surprised to learn that people living near coal-fired power plants are exposed to more radiation than those living near a nuclear power plant that meets government standards. http://www.ornl.gov/info/ornlreview/rev26-34/text/colmain.html
We should have went nuclear years ago. Forget the CO2, burning coal on such large scale is dirty stuff....but seriously any update to the nuclear issue in Erwin?
We Erwinites got a calendar from NFS (Nuclear Fuel Services) in December that included a letter letting us know how much they are dedicated to their jobs, the community and the quality of life around here...
Pete Moss
03-24-2011, 10:08
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42248569/ns/local_news-nashville_tn/
I dont know if these charges are going to be related to this, but apparently TVA is in HOT WATER LITERALLY!
sheepdog
03-24-2011, 10:23
It's from MSNBC how true can it be??
It's from MSNBC how true can it be??
Extremely accurate, I'd say.
Pete Moss
03-24-2011, 10:35
It's from MSNBC how true can it be??
I know, I know...every media source puts its own spin on things, but this is pretty straight forward stuff. Charges will be filed today against TVA.
Again, it could be about this, it could be about numerous other issues TVA has had like the ash spill.
Hopefully there will be more information coming out soon, but as of now the article left open many questions. However, here's some stuff that's interesting to look at http://johnsoncitypress.com/News/article.php?ID=83401
This is an excerpt from the above link, it includes the NFS spokesperson's response and note the last sentence by the professor that conducted the tests, this kind of goes to one of the obvious questions in a roundabout way (What levels -- other than above normal?):
NFS spokesperson Lauri Turpin said company officials received a copy of Ketterer’s report through a third party Thursday afternoon. She said because of this, NFS officials have only had an opportunity to take a preliminary look at the report and she would be unable to comment on the report in its entirety, but said the report does not provide any new conclusions that have not previously been public knowledge.
Turpin also said NFS does monitor and sample materials it releases into the environment. These releases, she said, are well under the mandated limits.
“NFS regularly monitors and samples anything that we release into the environment, and our data shows that our environmental discharges are about a thousand times less than what we could release according to our federal and state regulations,” Turpin said.
Turpin also said uranium ratios rather than concentrations of materials are used in Ketterer’s report, something that Ketterer also states in the report. Turpin said concentrations, which is how materials are measured by regulators, are needed before any environmental impact could be determined.
“It’s important to know what the concentrations or amounts of material is to make any sort of determinations on impact,” she said. “I think from the results of the study, because he only provided ratios, it would be impossible to determine any environmental impact based on his information.”
Based on NFS-collected data regarding material release amounts, it could be concluded that such releases have no impact because of the small amounts detected, Turpin said.
Ketterer said his work with analysis on enriched uranium in the area is far from complete, with a final report coming in the future. In August, he was in the area to collect water, sediment and soil samples in proximity to NFS, the majority of which have not yet been analyzed. Ketterer also said he received no payment from any group to conduct the study and complete the report, adding that he felt the public needs to know more information about the enriched uranium contamination.
“The reason that I’m doing this is out of scientific curiosity,” Ketterer said. “It’s a scientifically interesting forensic puzzle, and I think it’s an important one too because I’ve been learning that there’s essentially no data in the public domain about what kinds of contamination may exist in the offsite environment.”
Ketterer also said according to Environmental Protection Agency standards, water studied for the purposes of his report would be fine for consumption.
Also waiting to hear from NRC, since it's foolish to just go off Company statements. Here's something, nothing very direct, but a little history.
http://ads.johnsoncitypress.com/www/delivery/lg.php?bannerid=284&campaignid=235&zoneid=41&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fjohnsoncitypress.com%2FNews%2Fart icle.php%3FID%3D83401&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fsearch%3Fhl% 3Den%26rlz%3D1R2ADFA_enUS342%26q%3Duranium+found+i n+nolichucky+river%26aq%3Df%26aqi%3D%26aql%3D%26oq %3D%26gs_rfai%3D&cb=5d0c5300c5
http://www.nrc.gov/materials/fuel-cycle-fac/fuel-fab/nfs-faqs.html
http://ads.johnsoncitypress.com/www/delivery/lg.php?bannerid=554&campaignid=479&zoneid=40&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fjohnsoncitypress.com%2FNews%2Fart icle.php%3FID%3D83401&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fsearch%3Fhl% 3Den%26rlz%3D1R2ADFA_enUS342%26q%3Duranium+found+i n+nolichucky+river%26aq%3Df%26aqi%3D%26aql%3D%26oq %3D%26gs_rfai%3D&cb=4f583feb96
How dare you try to use facts, common sense and logic in this discussion?
KNOXVILLE (AP) — Federal prosecutors are filing charges related to the only U.S. site where a nuclear reactor is under construction, officials said Thursday.
Tennessee Valley Authority spokesman Scott Brooks told The Associated Press that the charges prosecutors are announcing Thursday relate to the utility's Watts Bar facility in Spring City, which is north of Chattanooga.
A U.S. Attorney's office statement said prosecutors won't discuss the case until a news conference later Thursday in Knoxville. The TVA inspector general is expected to attend.
Brooks told the AP he didn't know much about the charges because the inspector general works independently from the Knoxville-based utility. Brooks did say the case is not directly related to the abrupt departure of the former construction site manager at Watts Bar.
A Nuclear Regulatory Commission letter in January cited TVA "errors and omissions" in a project fire protection report and excessive delays in providing information. The letter called on TVA to promptly supply information for its review of an application for a reactor operating license.
Soon after the letter was received, site vice president Masoud Bajestani abruptly left his job overseeing the construction project. TVA wouldn't provide details about his departure, calling it a personnel matter, but the utility has contended it wasn't related to the NRC letter.
TVA said in February that it was addressing the NRC concerns and still expected to have the reactor completed on time in 2012.
TVA is spending $2.5 billion over five years to build the 1,200-megawatt reactor, which is expected to supply electricity to 650,000 homes. The Watts Bar Unit 1 reactor started operating in 1996.
TVA, the nation's largest public utility, supplies power to customers in Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.
Snowleopard
03-24-2011, 12:32
The OP's original link didn't work for me, but here's a pdf of the report:
http://www.southernstudies.org/images/sitepieces/ketterer_uranium_report.pdf
My summary: the ratios of different uranium isotopes were measured. These measurements show the presence of enriched uranium in ratios that don't exist in nature.
My conclusion: This plant is releasing enriched uranium into the environment. This appears to be in violation of the plant's permit. Concentrations were not measured. I find this extremely disturbing. A plant that is not supposed to be leaking this uranium into the environment is leaking. This leakage appears to have continued over a period of time.
Leafty asks, "...how bad is it?" That's not known, but it seems clear that the plant is not operating in a safe manner and is not monitoring it's releases. Potentially, it could be very bad. Ask again in 30 years and we can look at the cancer rates.
This leakage has been found in the Old Nolichucky River, Nolichucky River, Davy Crockett Lake and Martin Creek.
This study is
ongoing, and complete results are not yet available, given the open-ended scope/magnitude of
the question, and the absence of publicly available information regarding environmental
contamination and releases from a facility that has been operating for more than 50 years.
EPA: probably the NRC is the agency in charge here. The NRC has a reputation of not being neutral and of being largely a captive of the nuclear industry. Near here, the NRC just renewed Vermont Yankee's permit for 20 years despite a history of repeated leaks of radioactive water. VT Yankee may be similar to this case -- the leaks may not be dangerous themselves but are indicative of a very dangerous level of mismanagement.
I agree with Rain Man that the people in charge at the Erwin plant and those who profit from it should get serious jail time.
Ah! CRUD (Chalk River Unidentified Deposits) strikes again!
Don't worry, what could happen?
http://www.rob-clarkson.com/duff-brewery/blinky/01.gif
I think the fish has eyelids and the kid doesn't.:-?
Anyone see any other mutations?
the goat
03-24-2011, 15:45
i love uranium, it's delicious!
Pedaling Fool
03-24-2011, 15:46
I just now heard something on Fox news, kind of sounds like two different stories here. Some inspector (I think) is accused of lying (sounds like something to do w/ quality assurance). That's serious, nukes in general is very serious business and if true I hope all involved are shot...or whatever:D
Skidsteer
03-24-2011, 20:23
Wow..................