ML22124A301
| 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 4
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.
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)
- Yangjian, China 6
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramsar,_Iran Ramsar's Talesh Mahalleh district is the most radioactive inhabited area known on Earth, due to nearby hot springs and building materials originating from them.
The Earths Nuclear Reactor ?!?
7 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_nuclear_fission_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.
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
0 1
3 0
4 6
29 5
21 1
7 2
2 0
0 0
0 50000 100000 150000 200000 250000 300000 350000 0
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 Number of liquid releases Year Number of Liquid Releases & Volume - Pilgrim Station Volume (gallons)
Number of Releases 15
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
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Tritium Activity Released (Curies)
Year Comparison of Annual Tritium Releases, Gas & Liquid - Pilgrim Liquid Releases Gas Releases Note: values in the blue call-outs show the activity of Tritium in the liquid release, in Curies 16
3.00 0.90 0.57 0.10 0.05 0.12 0.08 0.03 0.03 0.05 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.05 0.01 0.00 0
20 40 60 80 100 120 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Dose from ALL Radionuclides in millirem Year Comparison of Liquid and Gas Releases to Limits - Pilgrim Liquid Releases Gas Releases Note: values in the blue call-outs show the TOTAL whole-body dose for ALL radionuclides and ALL releases in that year NRC annual whole-body dose limit as found in 10 CFR 20.1301 EPA annual whole-body dose limit as found in 40 CFR 190 Typical whole-body dose from one transcontinential flight in the summer season (4 millirem) 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 Release Point Note: No H-3 (tritium) was detected in 2011, the year with the largest number of liquid releases Sample Point 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
24 0.1 18.6 50.0 26.9 25,271.0 68,450.0 0
10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000 70,000 80,000 H-3 K-40 Cs-137 Co-60 Ra-226 Th-232 Relative Risk (millirem per microCurie ingested)
Radionuclide Comparison of Tritium Risk to Other Radionuclides https://www.epa.gov/radiation/federal-guidance-report-no-11-limiting-values-radionuclide-intake-and-air-concentration
Popular shopping site Tritium activity not even listed No warning or precautions Found online Each watch contains 27,000 microCuries of H-3 25
26 More Discussion
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 (g)
Activity (pCi)
Daily Intake (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 (pCi/kg)
Ra-226 (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