Re: Nuclear power plant denies it was source of Strontium-90 found in flesh of fish caught in Vermont river
Re: Nuclear power plant denies it was source of Strontium-90 found in flesh of fish caught in Vermont river
There are a few possibilities :
1. It was from the plant
2. It was from nuclear testing 50 years ago.
3. It is form another source. (waste dumping/spills/agricultural tracer/cancer treatment)
The fact that it was a trace barely detectable doesn't help. Also it certainly doesn't warrant shutting down the plant as was mentioned in the article if it was indeed the source, It warrants fixing it of course.
There are far worse contaminants in that water at concentrations people should be worried about.
Connecticut River Fish Tissue Contaminant Study 2000
Presentation (10/30/06) (PDF) (65 pp, 4.7MB)
- Chapter 1 - Table of Contents and Introduction (PDF) (62 pp, 2.7MB)
- Chapter 2 - Mercury (PDF) (56 pp, 5MB)
- Chapter 3 - PCBs and Dioxins (PDF) (58 pp, 2.5MB)
- Chapter 4- Organochlorine Pesticides (71 pp, 2MB)
- Chapter 5 - Weight, Length and Condition (PDF) (24 pp, 673K)
- Chapter 6 - Smallmouth Bass Age, Total Hg, and Coplanar PCB TEQs (PDF) (35 pp, 1.2MB)
- Chapter 7- Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations (PDF) (17 pp, 152K)
- Chapter 8 - Bibliography, Internet Resources (PDF) (24 pp, 279K)
We have disproportionate scrutiny of nuclear facilities - which is good in a way I guess because it keeps them safer - but also because it is sensational a lot more is missed. Especially from other forms of power generation and point sources of environmental pollution.
Even the hydroelectric that Vermont also relies upon is not without environmental costs;
dams thought to be the leading cause of aquatic extinctions.
Vermont Yankee is a 620 MW electrical output facility.
One 500 megawatt coal-fired power plant produces approximately 3,700,000 tons of CO2, 10,000 tons of sulfur dioxide SO2, 500 tons of small airborne particles, 10,200 tons of nitrogen oxide (NOx), 720 tons of carbon monoxide (CO), 220 tons of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and
225 pounds of arsenic and three pounds of mercury.
With environmental controls 125,000 tons of fly ash are produced along with 193,000 tons of sludge from the smokestack scrubber each year. This will contain lead, mercury, cadmium and depending on the coal deposit used varying trace amounts of uranium and thorium.
In the U.S., more than 75% of this waste is disposed of in
unlined, unmonitored onsite landfills and surface impoundments.
