ML22124A301

Dialog Presentation for Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Regarding Pilgrim Liquid Effluent Discharges, April 25, 2022

ML22124A301
Person / Time
Site:	Pilgrim
Issue date:	04/25/2022
From:	Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards
To:
Sturzebecher K
References
Download: ML22124A301 (32)

Text

Discussion of the Pilgrim Liquid Effluent Discharges Dialog with the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (People of the First Light)

U.S. NRC Region 1 - Pilgrim Station 25 APR 2022

Greeting and Welcome!

2

Suggested Areas for Discussion

• About the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)

• Radioactivity and Our World

• Our Regulatory Approach to Effluents

• History of Effluent Releases at Pilgrim

• History of Environmental Monitoring Near Pilgrim

• Tritium in Perspective 3

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission

• Independent agency of the United States government

• 5 commissioners with one acting as Chairperson

• Functions:

• Overseeing reactor safety and security

• Administering reactor licensing

• Licensing radioactive materials (inc. industrial and medical)

• Radiation and radionuclide safety

• Managing the use, storage, and security of nuclear fuel The NRC's mission is to regulate the nation's civilian use of byproduct, source, and special nuclear materials to ensure adequate protection of public health and safety, to promote the common defense and security, and to protect the environment.

4

Radioactivity and Our World

• The earth itself is radioactive

• Our oceans are radioactive

• Our food contains naturally-occurring radioactivity

• Therefore, our bodies are also radioactive AND

• The earth is constantly bathed in radiation from the sun and from cosmic rays from deep space 5

A Few Places Have High Concentrations

• Ramsar, Iran

• Average of 1,000 mrem per year to inhabitants (max of 13,100 mrem/yr!)

• From Ra-226 brought up from the earth in hot springs

• 80x the world average for background radiation

• Kerala, India (thorium-containing sand)

• Guarapari, Brazil (thorium-containing sand) Ramsar's Talesh Mahalleh district is the most radioactive inhabited area

• Yangjian, China known on Earth, due to nearby hot springs and building materials originating from them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramsar,_Iran 6

The Earths Nuclear Reactor ?!?

A fossil natural nuclear fission reactor is a uranium deposit where self-sustaining nuclear chain reactions have occurred. The phenomenon was discovered in 1972 in Oklo, Gabon by French physicist Francis Perrin Oklo is the only known location for this in the world and consists of 16 sites with patches of centimeter-sized ore layers. Here self-sustaining nuclear fission reactions are thought to have taken place approximately 1.7 billion years ago, and ran for a few hundred thousand years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_nuclear_fission_reactor 7

Our Regulatory Approach to Effluents

• 10 CFR 20 (U.S. NRC)

• 40 CFR 190 (U.S. EPA)

• NPDES Permit (State of Massachusetts and EPA) 8

Regulations - NRC

• Radiation safety regulations apply to all types of NRC licensees (medical, manufacturing, power, etc)

• Radiation dose-based

• Absorbed dose is the best indicator of potential health risks

• Regulatory limits are not safety limits (10 CFR 20) 9

NRC - 10 CFR 20 10

EPA - 40 CFR 190 11

EPA - 40 CFR 190 H-3 (Tritium) not listed 12

Existing NPDES Permit 13

The History of Effluent Releases Publicly available at: https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/ops-experience/tritium/plant-info.html 14

Number of Liquid Releases & Volume - Pilgrim Station 35 350000 30 29 300000 Volume (gallons)

Number of Releases 25 250000 21 Number of liquid releases 20 200000 15 150000 10 100000 7

6 5

5 4 50000 3

2 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 Year 15

Comparison of Annual Tritium Releases, Gas & Liquid - Pilgrim 500 Liquid Releases Gas Releases 450 400 350 Tritium Activity Released (Curies) 300 250 200 Note: values in the blue call-outs show the activity of Tritium in the liquid release, in Curies 150 0 0.141 0.23 0 1.98 2.48 4.43 0.099 6.2 0.0039 3.56 0.0015 0.00082 0 0 0 100 50 0

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Year 16

Comparison of Liquid and Gas Releases to Limits - Pilgrim 120 NRC annual whole-body dose limit as found in 10 CFR 20.1301 100 Typical whole-body dose from one transcontinential flight in the summer season (4 millirem)

Dose from ALL Radionuclides in millirem 80 Liquid Releases Gas Releases 60 Note: values in the blue call-outs show the TOTAL whole-body dose for ALL radionuclides and ALL releases in that year 40 EPA annual whole-body dose limit as found in 40 CFR 190 20 3.00 0.57 0.05 0.08 0.03 0.02 0.02 0.01 0.90 0.10 0.12 0.03 0.05 0.02 0.05 0.00 0

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Year 17

A History of Environmental Monitoring Publicly available at: https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/ops-experience/tritium/plant-info.html 18

Radiological Environmental Monitoring Program

• Required as part of the facilitys license

• Results reported annually

• Objectives

• Evaluate the local environment to establish a baseline prior to operation

• Determine if any measurable radiation or radioactive materials are attributable to plant operation

• Determine if any measurable radiation or radioactive materials that are attributable to plant operation are commensurate with the reported effluents and meet design objectives 19

Samples and Monitoring 20

Sampling Results - Aquatic Edibles 2020

• Shellfish:

• Blue mussels and soft-shelled clams

• Natural K-40 detected, as expected

• No plant-related radionuclides, results similar to pre-operational period

• Lobster:

• Collected from outfall June, July, August, September

• Results same as shellfish

• Fish:

• Some species harder to collect as warm discharge water has stopped

• Results same a shellfish 21

Sample Results - Surface Water 2020 Sample Point Release Point Note: No H-3 (tritium) was detected in 2011, the year with the largest number of liquid releases 22

Tritium in Perspective

• A radioactive isotope of Hydrogen

• Produced naturally in the upper atmosphere when cosmic rays interact with Nitrogen atoms (along with C-14 and Be-7)

• Produced by reactors, however releases are at fractions of the natural background production rate [EPA fact sheet]

• Can be found at very low concentrations in lakes and streams (about 4 pCi/L)

• Radiation emitted as Beta particles of very low energy (cannot penetrate the skin surface)

• Rapidly incorporates with water molecules and cannot be removed

• Because water turns over rapidly in the body, tritium in the body is rapidly cleared from tissues [EPA fact sheet, 10-day biological half-life]

23

Comparison of Tritium Risk to Other Radionuclides 80,000 https://www.epa.gov/radiation/federal-guidance-report-no-11-limiting-values-radionuclide-intake-and-air-concentration 70,000 68,450.0 Relative Risk (millirem per microCurie ingested) 60,000 50,000 40,000 30,000 25,271.0 20,000 10,000 0.1 18.6 50.0 26.9 0

H-3 K-40 Cs-137 Co-60 Ra-226 Th-232 Radionuclide 24

• Popular shopping site

• Tritium activity not even listed

• Found online

• No warning or precautions

• Each watch contains 27,000 microCuries of H-3 25

More Discussion 26

Supplementary Slides 27

33 34 Where Does It Come From?

Primary Cosmic Radiation

• Supernova and solar wind

• Mostly protons and alpha particles Secondary Cosmic Radiation

• Formed in the upper atmosphere

• Mostly neutrons and protons

• Converted to electrons and gamma rays at the earths surface

• Higher doses at higher altitudes Cosmogenic Radionuclides

• Radioactive material produced when cosmic radiation reacts with the upper atmosphere

• C-14, H-3, Na-22, Be-7

• Continuously rain down to the earths surface Primordial Radionuclides

• Present at the formation of the earth

• Located in rocks and soil

• K-40, Rb-87, Ra-226, Uranium, Thorium

YOUR Body is Radioactive !

Nuclide Mass Activity Daily Intake (g) (pCi) (g)

Uranium 90 30 1.9 Thorium 30 3 3 K-40 17,000 120,000 390 Ra-226 0.000031 30 0.0000023 C-14 0.022 100,000 0.0018 H-3 6.0E-08 600 3.0E-09

YOUR Food is Radioactive !

Food K-40 Ra-226 (pCi/kg) (pCi/kg)

Banana 3,520 1 Brazil Nuts 5,600 1,000 to 7,000 Carrot 3,400 0.6 to 2 White Potatoes 3,400 1 to 2.5 Red Meat 3,000 0.5 Lima Bean 4,640 2 to 5 Drinking Water --- 0 to 0.17