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This centerfold examines conditions at the Fernald plant which led to off-site releases of uranium and other pollutants to neighbors of the plant. As is evident from internal memos by plant personnel (some of which are quoted here), maintenance of pollution-control devices was sub-standard, poor record-keeping on uranium releases was common, and large off-site releases were known to have occurred.
Airborne and liquid releases resulted in exposure to neighbors of the plant through inhalation, uptake through crops, ingestion of milk from livestock grazing on contaminated grass, ingestion of fish or drinking water from streams and rivers contaminated with radioactive releases, and through other pathways. Inhalation was by far the most important pathway. An analysis of inhalation doses to hypothetical populations resulting from these exposures appears in the chart below. Radon from the decay of radium-226 in the K-65 silos located on the site was the cause of the largest off-site doses. Inhalation of uranium dust was the next most important.
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Uranium and Radon Decay Products |
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| Scenarios: 1. realistic maximum inhalation exposure (within 1 mi. NE of site) 2. resident close to K-65 silos (1.2 mi. W of site) 3. ingestion of uranium-contaminated well water (within 1.2 mi. S of site) 4. realistic average inhalation exposure from 1960-1988 (2.4 mi. NE of site) 5. realistic low exposure to individual working outside area (5 mi. N of site) 6. garden irrigated with Great Miami River water (1.9 mi. SE of site) 7. garden irrigated with Great Miami River water further from site (6.2 mi. S of site) 8. child exposed from 1975 to 1988 (2.5 mi. NE of site) 9. child attending school near plant, (2.5 NE of site), living further away (6.2 mi. N) |
| Source: Killough et al., Fernald Dosimetry Reconstruction Project: Task 6: Radiation Doses and Risks to Residents from FMPC Operations from 1951-1988, Draft Report (Neeses, South Carolina: Radiological Assessments Coporation, 1996), p. 84. |
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| Source: Killough et al., Fernald Dosimetry Reconstruction Project: Task 6: Radiation Doses and Risks to Residents from FMPC Operations from 1951-1988, Draft Report (Neeses, South Carolina: Radiological Assessments Coporation, 1996), Summary, p. 4. |
Institute for Energy and Environmental Research
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March, 1997