ML19322C407
| ML19322C407 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Crane  |
| Issue date: | 08/02/1979 |
| From: | Bores R NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I) |
| To: | Galen Smith NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I) |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19322C406 | List: |
| References | |
| FOIA-79-543 NUDOCS 8001170120 | |
| Download: ML19322C407 (41) | |
Text
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August 2,1979 l
MEMORANDUM FOR: George H. Smith, Chief, Fuel Facility & Materials
(
Safety Branch FROM:
R. J. Bares, Radiation Specialist
SUBJECT:
RESIDENT WHOLE BODY COUNTING AT TMI r
e F
~
I isave reviewed 746 of the approximately 765 resident whole body count results from Helgesen.
In discussions with Mr. D. Pollard of Helgesen Nuclear Services on August 2,1979, I relayed the problems found in my limited review of the data and my concerns with the radium and cesium results indicated. Approximately 20 results sheets were either missing or needed recalculation as results of some rather gross cal-culational problems. Mr. Pollard said that these sheets would be t
reviewed and sent out yet today, hopefully (August 2).
As discussed with you, the problems with the results ranged from l
completely missing results for individuals to gross problems - r.o potassium as a result of analyzer problems, to misspelled names.
l incorrect ages, count times, etc.
I In my review of the whole body data taken as a whole, one of the conclusions that can be drawn is that no TMI related nuclides were i
identified. Approximately 28% of the individual results indicated small amounts of Cs-137 (generally 1 to 2 nanocuries with a similar size uncertainty). These levels, if real, can be generally attributed to l
residual cesium from fallout debris from nuclear weapons testing in the l
1960s. However, I will return to this point later.
(See Table 1 of i ).
i The only other radioactivity indicated besides natural potassium-40 was that of RaBC and the implied Ra-226. Approximately 61% of the 746 i
individuals counted had Ra-226 activity indicated (see Table 2 of ). The Ra-226 values were not measured, but were calcu-lated / inferred from the RaBC daughters and assumed that equilibrium existed between the radium daughters and Ra-226.
Dose comitments were then calculated for the Ra-226 burdens. The lack of equilibrium between RaBC and Ra-226 appears to be demonstrated in Attachment 2, which shows the original count and recount data for several individuals apparently with high radium burdens. The recount in each case, except for File 746, showed no radium activity higher than that of individuals counted at about that same time. As for File 746. I suspect that the recount of that individual was subject to the same phenomenon that had resulted in the previous anomalous type results.
8001170 \\
h In looking at the results of the whole body counts as a function of s
time (file number and counting sequence), one notes that as many as 15 or 20 counts in succession may have indicated the presence of radium, often correlated to wind speed and atmospheric stability.
Then when a new background was run, there was often an abrupt change in the pattern such that the next several counts showed no radium, but i
then a gradual radium pattern was reestablished. On several days, when i
the radium presence was particularly noticeable, the atmospheric stability was classified as moderately or extremely stable for most of the day and the wind speed was low.
Fu
[
gradually rather than randomly, and ind'Ther, the levels tend to change ependently of the age of the individual.
(One would expect larger radium burdens in older individuals than in children if the source is common such as a water supply.)
There also appeared to be no pattern based on geographical location of residence or on family relationships in those not counted in the same sequence.
(Attachments 3a, b and c, and also Table 3 of Attachment 1 show the fluctuations described.)
I have concluded that the bulk of the radium levels attributed to the TMI residents were the result of radon / daughter build-up in the whole body counter and the use of too few backgrounds.
In part, the latter was due to the desire to " push people through" so as not to force them to wait in line and further inconvenience / irritate them.
After having described the pattern of radium appearance, I return to the cesium once more to make one additional point. The cesium appearance mimics that of the radium in that-it too may appear in 8 of 10 counts on a given day after a new background. After a new background or on a day with less atmospheric stability, the frequency may be about 1 in 10.
In looking at the radium BC spectrum, one sees that the RaC (B1-214) has a 0.61 Mev gamma. Cs-137 has a 0.661 Mey gamma.
(At*schment 4) With only a slight gain shift using NaI detectors, the Rat peak can be misread as cesium-137.
Even though the levels of Cs-137 are not high enough to be of concern (residual fallout levels) the abrupt changes in the pattern of appearance dependent on counter backgrounds makes one suspect that most of the reported cesium levels are due to changes in the radon backgrounds and slight instrument gain shifts.
In conclusion, (1)(the data indicate no TMI related nuclides we're in the residents; 2) most of the radium attributed to the residents is probably due to the radon daughter background fluctuations and relatively infrequent counter background counts; and (3) the cesium levels are l
similarly due to background changes and possibly slight instrument gain shi f ts,
l In order to further try to pin down the radium problem, it is recommended that a number of individuals with reported radium levels of 15 - 30 l
l-
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nanocuries be selected and recounted in a more controlled manner.
I would suggest the University of Pittsburgh or ORNL rather than a portable facility, and that the count times be extended to get good statistics.
(A gross peak height of approximately 15 counts in a channel in six minutes would lead to a inferred radium-226 burden of about 10 nanocuries in the TMI setup.)
Factors to be weighed in making the above decision include additional costs for relatively low indicated levels of activity and dose commitment (once one assures himself of the lack of equilibrium between the RaBC and the inferred Ra-226), and the additional inconvenience and community upset resulting from the performance of the additional analyses.
R. J. Bores Radiation Specialist ec:
J. P. Stohr R. Gotchy M. Slobodien J. Kinneman t
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