ML19331B169

Sworn Testimony Stating That Plant Site Choice Is Contrary to Past Prohibitions & Site Plans Must Be Abandoned in Favor of Alternative Power Sources

ML19331B169
Person / Time
Site:	Midland
Issue date:	09/14/1971
From:	Huver C MAPLETON INTERVENORS
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DOChCT NU C CR UNITED STATES OF AMERICA & UE E Md$

ATOMIC ENfRGY COMMISSION BEFORE THE ATOMIC SAFETY & LICENSING BOARD

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In the Matter of Docket Nos. 50-329 50-330 CONSUMERS POWER COMPANY SWORN TESTIMONY OF Midland Plant, Units 1 & 2 CHARLES W. HUVER  ;

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STATE OF MINNESOTA ss:

COUNTY OF HENNEPIN I, Charles W..Huver, being first duly sworn, depose and say as follows:

CURRICULUM VITAE Date of births February 21, 1933 ,

S' s W ric a %}-

Place of births Detroit, Michigan Ar Marital Status: Married E '

I I971

• e<ro r p;,. rg -

Number of childrens 1 g *~*

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Citizenship: U. S. gl Education: ' Michigan State University Sept. 1951-Mar. 1955 B. S.~ Degree University of Wisconsin Sept. 1955. June 1957 M. S. Degree Yale University Sept. 1957-June 1961 Ph.D. Degree Special Study:

Michigan State University, Radiation Physics and Human Genetics, Sumer 1953 Kellogg Gull Lake Biological Station, Entomology and Parasitology, Summer 1954 Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Marine Embryology, Summer 1956 & 1957 University of Connecticut Marine Laboratory, Noank, Ecologic Survey of Long Island Sound, Summer '958 Friday Harbor Laboratory, NSF Conference on Comparative Endocrinology, June 1967 8007250[$-h i - . .

Scholastic Honors, Followships and Awards: l Bausch & Lomb Honorary Scienca Award, 1951 Dattle Creek High School General Henry H. Arnold Award, 1952, Hinman Scholarship, 1952 Superior Student Scholarship, 1955 Michigan State University W.A.R.F. Research Fellowship, 1955-57 Wisconsin Diological Division, Woods Hole Scholarship, 1956, University of Wisconsin American Cancer Society Atypical Growth Fellowship, 1958 N.S.F. Summer Fellowship, 1959; N.I.H.

Predoctoral Fellowship, 1959-61, Yale University Theodore Roosevcit Memorial Award, 1961, Lernor Marine LaScratory, Bimini, The Bahamas Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid, 1963, Dingham Oceanographic I4boratory, Marine Diological Laboratory, Woods Hole Lalor Fellowship, 1964, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole Minnesota Graduate School Grant, Sport Fishing Institute Grant, Clear Air Clear Water-Unlimited Grant, National Wildlife Federation Grant, Sierra Club Grant, 1965-67, University of Minnesota Visiting Professor, Summer 1967, Kellogg Gull Lake Biological Station American Cancer Society Research Grant, 1968-69, Kellogg Gull Lake Diological Laboratory and University of Minnesota Professional and Honorary Societies:

Sigma Xi, Minnesota Academy of Science Tau Sigma, Minnesota Com.nittee for Environmental Information .

Phi Sigma, American Society of Zoologists Beta Deta Deta, Great Lakes Research Foundation Phi Kappa Phi, International Oceanographic Foundation A.A.A.S., Society for Developmental Diology A.I.D.S., American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpecologists Am3rican Fisheries Society 4 American Littoral Society A.aerican Society of Limnology and Oceanography Citizen Organizations Concerned with the Environment Minnesota Environnental Defense Council Minnesota Environatental Control Citizens Association Metropolitan Clean Air Committee Clear Air Clear Water--Unlimited Muskies, Inc. ,

Nature Conservancy National Wildlife Federation The Wilderness Society m e

Positions Holds Fishery Aid, GS-4, U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service,

• Kodiak Island, Alaska, 1955 Teaching Assistant, Yale University, 1957-59 Instructor in Zoology, University of Rhode Island, 1961-62 Assistant Professor of Anatomy, University of Illinois, 1962-54 Associate Professor of Zoology, University of Minnesota, 1964-Curator of Fishes, University of Minnesota, IS66-Chairman, St. Paul Environmental Quality Advisory Board, 1970-Administrative Experier. e University of Illinois, Colle;e of Medicine, ifead of Histology Course--staff of 7 professors University of Minnesota, College of Biological Sciences, Departmental Director of Honors Program, Curator of Fishes-Head of Division of Fishes, James Ford Dell Museum of Natural History Courses Taught:

Yale University (Laboratory)

General Biology Colls and Tissues Vertebrate Embryology Comparative Anatomy University of Rhode Island (Lecture and Laboratory)

General Zoology Embryology-Histology Organic Evolution University of Illinois, College of Medicine, (Lecture and Laboratory) ,

Head of Staff of 7 profossors teaching course-Histology Neuroanatomy Gross Anatomy Organic Evolution Kellogg Biological Station, Michigan State University (Lecture and Laboratory) Field Ichthyology University of Minnesota (Lecture cnd Seminar)

Comparativo Anatomy The Development and Physiology of Fishes Fertilization and Early Devel;pment Developmental Biology Evolutionary Biology Marine Diology Current Problems in Environmental Biology 1

1 DIDLIdGRAPHY 1

Thesen: .

• Variation and speciation in coregonid fishes.

M. S. Thesis, University.of Wisconsin, Madison i

The formation of the teleost blastodisc. Doctoral Dissertation, Yale University, New Haven Technical Publications:

1956 The relation of the cortex to the formation of a {

perivitelliers space in the eggs of Fundulus heteroclitus.

Biological Bulletin, 111:304.

1960 The stage at fertilization of the egg of Fundulus neteroclitus. Biological Bulletin, 119:320.

1963 The formation of melanophores in aembryonic eggs of Fundulus heteroclitus. Copeia, 1963: 187-188.

1963 A chemical technique far dechorionating teleost eggs.

Copeia, 1963: 591-592.

1964 Comparative studies'of blastodisc formation in teleosts.

American Zoologist, 4:319-320.

1964 A quantitative study of DNA in the testis cells of Pandulus diachanus. American Zoclogist, 4:320.

1965 Occurrence of a northern pike in Fishet's Island Sound.

New York Fish and Game Journal, 12:113.

1966 The distribution of sex in the American eel, Anguilla rostrata. American Zoologist, 5:358.

1966 The effects of mersalyl on the formation of the teleost blastodisc. The Bulletin of the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory, 6: 23-24.

Pollution Studies and Reports:

1965 Comments on the expected influence of heated discharges from A. S. King Generating Plant Unit No. 1 on the aquatic life of Lake St. Croix. A report presented to the Minnesota. Water Pollution Control Commission, St. Paul, Minnesota.

1966 The water quality and uses of the Mississippi River between Anoka and Lake Pepin. A statement submitted on behalf of Clear Air Clear Water--Unlimited to the Hearing on Proposed Water Quality Criteria for the Mississippi River, Minnesota Water Pollution Control Commission, St. Cloud, Minnesota.

1967 A study of the effects of thermal ef fluents on the limnology of Lake St. Croix. A progress report on the preoperational phase of the study submitted to the Sport Fishing Institute and the National Wildlife Federation, Washington, D. C.

1968 Statement on water quality of Lake Superior. Submitted for a Public Hearing of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Duluth, Minnesota.

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1969 A critique of the Tsivoglou Report on Radioactive Pollution Control in Minnesota. Clear Air Clear Water--

Unlimited Newsletter, Soutn St. Paul, Minnesota.

1969 Biological effects of tritium. A report presented to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, St. Paul, Minn-esota.

1969 A critique of the permit for the Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant. Presented on behalf of the Minnesota Environmental Control Citizens Association to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, St. Paul, Minnesota.

1969 Perspective on the pollution of Lake Superior by taconite tailings. Proceedings of a Conference on Pollution of Lake Superior and its Tributary Basin, Minnesota-Wisconsin-Michigan, Vol. 40.

1969 A survey of pollution problems in Minnesota. A report submitted to Midwest Associates, Inc., Minneapolis, Minneso ta.

1970 Perspactive on the pollution of Lake Superior by taconite tailings. Twin Citian, March 1970, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

1970 Biological hazards of tritium. Presented at a Congress-ionr1 llearing on Atomic Energy Plants and their Effects on the Environment, New York, New York.

1970 Thermal and radioactive effluents and the effects on our waters. Minnesota Journal of Education, Vol. 51, No. 1, October 1970.

1970 Periphyton growth as an indux of aging in Lake Superior. Proceedings of a Conference on Pollution of . Lake Superior and its Tributary Basin, Minnesota-Wisconsin-Michigan.

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BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF TifERMAL AND RADIOACTIVE CFFLUENTS There has been much recent concern over the biological e

and public health effects of thermal and radioactive effluents because of changes in the methods of generating electric powers this has entailed a shift away from hydroelectric stations to large fossil-fueled plants, and more recently to nuclear fueled generating plants. These problems are of particular concern in relation to the application submitted by Consumers Power Company for the proposed Midland Plant Units No. 1 and 2 because of the unsuitability of the site from an environmental and public health viewpoint.

The proposed Midland Plant site is on the south bar. of

,e the Tittabawassee River which is a small stream already undetN heavy chemical effluent stress from discharges of the Dow \N Chemical Company (see "Dow fined $500 in fish kill case,"

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August 4, 1971, Midland Daily News). The site is particularly unsuitable because of the large number of permanent residents, estimated to be 41,000 in 1968, within a five mile radius of the plant site. The Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (letter to Hon. Glenn T. Seaborg of June 18, 1970) has pointed out enat the low population zone which has a radius of 1.0 miles contains 38 permanent residents and about 2,000 industrial workers mainly employees of the Dow Chemical Company. Thus, this is an unprecedented application in regard to the large population within the " low population zone" and in the five miles surrounding the two proposed giant reactors. It is apparent that a major compromise of public health and safety is represented by the proposed sita.

The liquid wasta disposal system of the two reactors is designed to collect, monitor, and process all wastes which are actually or potentially radioactive and to permit release of radioactive wastes to the Tittabawassee River. According to l

Appendix J, p. 99: "The major sources of radioactive liquid waste result from the water from the reactor coolant system that is removed and stored during reactor startup and during adjustments in the boric acid concentration of the reactor coolant system, from liquid samples of the reactor coolant system taken for chemical and radioactivity analysis, and from collection of leakage from operating systems."

Estimates of the activity of the primary coolant have been made according to an assuaption of 1% failed fuel. Based on this and other assumptions such as one refueling, four cold startups, two hot startups, and the draining of one steam generater, there would be 313,000 curies of gaseous activity, 41,300 curies of dissolved or suspended liquid activity, and 8,300 curies of tritium stored in the waste treatment system (Appendix J, p. 50). -It is estimated by the applicant (Appendix J, p. 51) assuming the operating cycle presented above that the maximum annual release from the facility would be 6,300 curies of tritium which would be 2.6% of the former 10 CFR Part 20 limits but 2.6 timss the new AEC revised limits for tritium. .

THERMAL EFFECTS l It is almost certain that the percentage of heated effluent from power plants receiving cooling treatment before l discharge will increase rapidly in the near future because of the increased size of generating plants under construction I today and the increase in number of nuclear plants under construction. According to a recent Department of the ,

Interior repcrt (Zeller, R. W., et al 1969. A survey of thermal power pla-t cooling facilities, Pollution Control Council, Pacific Nort*.. west Area, 54 p.), nuclear plants will add approximately 40 to 60 percent more heat to cooling water than fossil-fueled plants of similar generating capacity.

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At prosent, nuclear installations provide only a small

• l fraction (about it) of the nation's generating capacity but the Federal Power Commission has predicted that by 1980 the nuclear share is expected to constitute 30 percent of an esti-mated 530 million kilowatts. If this projected increase in the number of licht water reactors does in fact take place during the next 10 years, the thermal loading of our lakes and rivers will be a problem of major biological significance.

However, the,re are several indications that this pre-diction may not be realized. The impanding shortage of uranium as a fuel in the late 1970's, the slippage and reliability problems, and the increasing disparity in the cost of producing electric power by light water reactore as compared to fossil-fuel plants (See statements of Philip Sporn in Nuclear Power Economics - 1962 through 1967, Report of Joint Committee on Atomic Erergy, Congress of the United States, February 1968, 310 pp.) as well as the increasing public awareness and concern over the environmental and health hazards posed by this new technology will provide strong pressure- for increased research support for alternative power sources such as magnetohydrodynamics, geothermal power, and the fusion reactor.

What are some of the ecologic effects of adding waste heat to our waterways? The question of the effect of increased temperature on the availability of oxygen to aquatic organisms needs careful consideration. It is well established that warm water has less oxygen carrying capacity than cold water. For example, if water is heated,from 50 to a6' Fahrenheit, its dissolved oxygen capacity is decreased by 32.66% (Theroux, et al, 1943. Analysis of Water and Sewage, McGraw-Hill, Table 9,

p. 216). Diological activity such as respiration and bacterial decomposition is approximately doubled by a temperaturo rise of

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10* Contigrade according to Vant Hoff's Law. Gardncr (1926.

Report on the respiratory exchango in fresh water fish and with suggestions as to further investigations. Min. Ag. Fish.,

Fish. Invest., Ser. I, 3:1-17) confirmed this rule in his oxygen consumption studies of trout, grayling, cols and pike.%s Heated effluents, therefore, produce a major rise in the oxygen requirements of aquatic organisms while decreasing the amount of dissolved oxygen available to them. This relationship could have serious ecologic consequences in rivers carrying a high load of organic matter such as the Tittabawasseo and Saginaw Riverd downstream from the Dow Chemical Plant.

In extreme cases the heated offluent may kill fish directly. For example, Trembly (1960. Research project on effects of condenser dischargo on aquatic life. Progress Report, 1956-1959. Institute of Research, Lehigh University, 154 pp.) reported the heat death of walleyes in the lagoon below the Martin's Creek generating plant on the Delaware River. Instead of avoiding the heated water the walleyes woru imniobilized by it and turned belly-up in expiration. The large kills of adult striped bass on the Hudson River at the Indian Point I Plant do not appear to be caused directly by thermal pollution, but by overcrowding as a result of being trapped in the area of water intake strccture (Clark, J. R. 1969. Thermal pollution and aquatic life, Scientific American, Vol. 220:19-4 29).

Under conditions of thermally induced deoxygenation, hydrogen sulfide would be expected to be produced by anerobic bacteria in bottom mud. The toxicity of H 2 S is a serious throat to fishes, for Stroede (1933. Schwefelwasserstoff und Sauorstoff in unsorn naturlichen Gewassorn. Z. Fisch. 31:345-357) reported a tulerance of 1 ppm for trout. Hydrogen sulfido omorging from bottom mud could impose limits on many recroation-al uses. It is well known that human olfactory organs can

4 detcet hydrogen sulfido at great dilutions. A 1/100,000 dilution is most unpleasant and Moncricff has stated that a 1/10,000,000 mixture of H2 s and air is datectablo.

! A major undecirable effect of heated offlucnts is the i

stimulation cf tho growth of bluc grecn algae. Despite testi-mony to the contrary at the Prairie Is2and lioarings by NSP, ecologic consultant, Dr. Allan Brook, there is an abundanco of observations and data in tne literature supporting this I relationship. This ovidence has boon summari::ed by nuth i Patrick in Chapter 7 of Biological Aspects of Thorrnal Pollution, Some effects of temperature on freshwater algae 61-185 pp.

In extreme cases blue-green algae blooms can result in toxicity incidents of catastrophic proportions. Cattle, sheep, pigs, ducks, and other livestock have been known to

! die soon af ter drinking water that contained heavy algal growths. Professor G. W. Prescott (1948. Objectionable algae with reference to the killing of fish and other animals.

I Hydrobiologia, Vol. 1:1-13) has summarized many reports of deaths of fishes and other animals caused by decay of blue-green algae. Dr. Samuel Eddy and Dr. T. C. Olson of the University of Minnesota have studied similar incidents which

have occurred in Minnesota waters. Theso deaths are caused i

i by the release of a highly toxic substance by the blue green

., algao whose chemical characterization is still to be elucidated.

l l An additional serious set of problems expected to be l

p! caused by the tnermal stimulation of blue green algae growths I

J are those af fecting municipal water supplies such as filter-l 1l clogging and the imparting of obnoxious tastes and odours to 1

potable water.  :

l In most cases of heated offluent discharge the of fects i on fish are thought to be greater through sublethal offcets and ecosystura changos which may bo dif ficult to observo rather I than dircet lethality. occlinus in fish food organir.m

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I populations and increased prevalence of temperature-dependent diseases such as furunculosia and columnariu may have an important impact on the ccosystem. The ecosystem is moro vulncrabic than any one individual component.

The effcets of hcated effluent on fish and fishing would bc mixed. Judging from the study of the effects of the tiartin's l

I Creek generating plant on the Delaware River (Tromb1cy, F. J.,

1960. Rosearch project on ef fects of condenser discharge water lj on aquatic life. Lerigh University, VIII-7), in late fall and  !

I j winter the warm water would tend to attract and concentrate I

fish at the heated o9tfalls however, in the summer the thermal influence would repel gamefishes such as walleyes and small-mouth bass. Because the summer is the principal fishing period in most waters, heated effluents would generally be deleterious to gamefish angling. Decause rough fish such as carp and bull-heads are more heat-tolerant than most gamofish, thermal effluents would be expected to favor population shifts in favor of the more undesirable species of fish.

BIOLOGICAL CONCLNT*ATION OF RADIOISOTOPES ,

The science of radioecology, which is the study of the l interaction between radioactive environments and living organ-isms, is a relatively new science. It has been charged with the challenging task of providing a basis for prediction of the biological consequences of radioactivo contamination.

, Remarkable progress has been made in this field during the last t

ten years (see Polikarpov, 1966. Radioecology of Aquatic Organisms. Reinhold, p. 314).

f Thure are several sources of radioactive contamination, some natural and others manmade. It is the manwado sourecs that should be our principal concern, for as mon of a nuclear

ago we are morally responsible for the problens raised by nuclear technology.

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h Nuclear wuapons testing has been thu major contributior!

I to the distribution of fission products to the carth'u surface. I I

i Fortunatcly, in view of the well established evidence for l carcinogenic (Stewart and !!cwitt, 1965. In Current Topics in ,

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Radiation Research, North-llolland Publ. Co., Vol. I, p. 221) i 4 i and deleterious genetic effects (see 1957. I'f f ect of Radiation on Human Heredity, World Health Organization, p. 168) of even d

4 low-level radiation, the nuclear test ban treaty was signed 1

which prohibited the testing of nu: lear weapons in the atmos-I phere. Atmospheric fallout will continue for many years i,

because of the stratospheric reservoir of tritium, Strontium-90 and Cesium-137.

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j The most rapidly increasing source of radioactivo e

contaminants of the enviroment is the nuclear power industry.

It has been the policy of the Atomic Energy Commission to

, allow the use of the the " dilute and disperse" method to deal with low level wastes up to the limits specified in 10 CPR Part

20. While the applicants for a construction permit for the i

k proposed Midland facility have indicated that releases will be

1 a small percentage of these limits, the Public Health Service (1970. Public !!ealth Review Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station, U. S. Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare, pp. 2 t. 6) re-l si q gards similar postulated releaaes at unde. estimates: " Current b

.,  ; PWR operating experience indicates that the concentrations will Il be considerably higher and the applicant has not presented now l l i

design information to support the lower estimated dischargos."  !

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! Additonal support for the view that the actual liquid

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l d waste releases will be higher than predicted by the applicants '

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[ is to be found in a comprehensive survey of the nuclear power

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field (1969. The Costs and Benefits of Nuclear Electric Power Plants. Minncsota Committee for Environmental Information, I

! p. 1-2):

l-y "The boiling water reactor, becaune uteam flows directly '

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from the uranium fuel to the cicctrical-generating portion of

! the plant, does not contain gaseous wastos as easily as the I

pressurized water reactor. Conseguently, its releanen to the air are greater. Pressurized water rocctors, on the other hand, typically release more radioac*1vity to the water." -

"With the few small nuclear plants of which we have j cxperience, it is usually the caso that actual dischargos have h been higher than were predicted or sought by the manufacturer 1

and owner. The quantity of radiation released by cach reactor 4

has also tended to increase during the lifetime of the plant."

! It is the view of the Mapleton Intervenors that the proposed plant may, " emit radiation which would exceed maximum .

permissible exposure levels 14 'he current or proposed radiation standards, if one considers the reconcentration factor of certain radionuclides, such as, for example, Cosium-137 or **

Strontium-90."

This contention is supported by Pendleton and !!anson (1958. Absorption of Cesium 137 by components of an aquatic community. Proc. Second U. N. Intern. Conf. on Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy. Vol. 18:419-422) who studied the biological concentration of Cesium-137 in various trophic levels of an aquatic community. Water snails concentrated the isotope 600 tiLies while bullfrog tadpoles showed concentrations 2,600 times

greater than the medium. In the case of fish exposed at I

allowable drinking water standards which would concentrate the f radioisotope 3000 times, it was calculated that by conumnir.g only 20 grams of flesh one could obtain 40 u0 of activity, tho l 1 e i long term permissible body burden for man. l l t

An additional confirmation of the petitioners contention i i

l comes from the calculations of Dr. Arthur R. Tamplin of thu l Bio-Mcdical Division of the Lawrenco Radiation Laboratory. In 1

l a paper, entitled, "The regulation of man-made radiation in the b

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y biosphero", ruJd at the Nuclear Power and the Publie !;yr.ipmtium r I

[ held at the University of Minnesota, the following pr*sent.ition ]

l was made:

li "Let's look at the concentration in water. The !!PC ic I i

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based upon the calculation that a *50-lb. standard man con-f suming 2,200 g of watcr at the MPC per day would receive a dose , i 4

$ of 0.5 rad.

1 To begin with, a 75-lb. child drinking this much I l

,] water would get a dosage twice as high. He would be exceeding ,

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j' the guideline dosage and so would a 100-lb. pregnant woman.

. i j Man, woman,~and child has also been known to eat fish. The s e i

concentration of Os-137 in fich flesh, caught in a river, would I

be 1,000 times than the concentration in water. Thus a man eating 1-lb. of fish a week, grown in water at the MPC, would l

l receive a dosage of 15 rad /yr or 30 times tha ACC guideline ,i i  !

and 90 times the FRC guideline. If he were a 75-lb. child, the dosage would be 60 times the AEC guideline and 180 times the t l k FRC guidelino. In other words, most people would exceed the f

, guidelinos if they ate only one pound of fish a year." g i

SYNERGISTIC RELATIONfiiIPS BLT' EEN J THER 1AL I

AND RADIOACTIVE POLLUTION

) The question is somotimes asked if there are any I

! interrelationships between thermal and radioactive pollution.

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[l The answer is yes, there are several such relationships which I have boon described. J. J. Davis (1962. Accumulation of radionuclidos by aquatic insects. In Biological Probicms in N Water Pollution, 3rd Seminar, U. S. Dopt. of Health, Education L G  !

! y and Wolfare, pp. 211-224) found a closo positive correlation g 8

l4 between Columbia River tempcraturas and radioactivo levels of l I

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. innects: while Foster and McConnon (1962. Relationships betwven g Il '

h the concentration of radionuclides in Columbia River water er.d t' i il fish. In Biological Probicms in Water Pollation, Jrd Seminar, l4 U. 3. Ocpt. of health, Lducation and Welfare, pp. 216-224) have j

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!! found ulmilar correlat. ion between the rate at which p 12 wa; -

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~ 1l deposited in the floch of whitefish and the t emper.iture of

.the Columbia River. J.J. Davis and R.

P. For;ter (1958.

Bioaccumulation of radioisotopos through aquatic food chains, lI y Ecology, vol. 39:530-535) reported the remarkabic result of a 75-fold increase in the concentration of radmisotopos in '

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't the Columbia River minnow, Richardsoniun halteatun_ bothcon winter and lato summor. Fishes h.sve a concentration factor p]l l y for Strontium-90 of 20,000 to 30,000 according to tabic 24 ii ja in Polikarpov (1966. Radioecology of Aquatic Orrranisms, 16

! Reinhold) and a concentration factor of from 800-9,500 for f

u - j Cesium-137 according to table 23 of the same sourco. Duck i t ll  !

j  ! muscles have a concentration factor of 50 for Strontium-90

'! according to tablo 24 and of 2,000-2,200 for Casium-137 in table .

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! l 20 in Polikarpov's compendium of the literature of radioccology. ,-

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! 5 In winter both fish and ducks would be attracted to the radio-

' active heated effluent of a nuclear plant, providing an t

hexeclientopportunityforbiologicalconcentrationofradio-I j activity in the food chain of man.

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- - BIOLOGICAL HAZARDS OF TRITIUM l' '

Tritium is one of the heavy and unstable isotopes of

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hydrogen. It has a half-life of 12.26 years, an atomic weight j

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'l of 3, and decays with the omission of a weak p-particle.

l-4 18 gram of

• U was found in nature in minute quantities (3 x lo 1: before atomic q tritium por gram of hydrogen-1 in the atmosphere)

'fexplosionsandemissionsfromnuclearreactorsgreatlyincreased 1

g its prevalence in the environment.

Because tritium is the predominant isotopc released to l-i g .l ll the environment in the liquid waste discharges of boiling water

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! reactors (Abrahamson and Pcque, 1968), it requires c

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This is an especially i l} consideration of its biological offects. .

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[I serious matter for tharc is no practical method for filtering l

jorremovingtritiumfromtheliquidoffluentsofnuclearplants  !

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.I j radioactive wastes a short dintance uputream f rom t.h: publie

, water supply intakes of a major metropolitan area.

il In cognizance of the dominant position of this radio-y f ir.otope in tbc effluents of nuclear reactora, it would bo

fl l g irrespcnsible for personu charged with the protection of  ;

I public health or with providing consultation on the safety  !

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aspects of nuclear dischargos to ignore the biological effects il l j of tritium in the intracellular environ. nt. i fi There has been a tendency, especially among thoco l concernard with the promotion of the nuclear industry, to

? ignore or to minimize the biological significanco of tritium.  !

b l ll Itowever, there is now such a large body of evidence available  ;

I in the literature of radiation biology that to centinue to I

ignore tritium would be an admission of a serious lack of I

knowledge of nuclear safety. l Tritium generally enters the body in the form of l

, tritiated water (Ti!O) and is transported throt.gh a variety of ,

l metabolic pathways to become widoly distributed and incorporated, El into a wide array of biological molecules. It is now generally ,

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i recognized after the work of Robertson and Hughes (1959),

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'!, Goodheart (1961), Strauss (1953), and KEinkel (1962) that  !

1l h tritium incorporated into molecular species, such as nucleic  :

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acids, may produce a much greater amount of injury to the cell '

y 1 from ionizing radiation than a more generalized distribution il  !

y of equal amounts of encrgy from exogenous radiation.

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1: Because tritium becomes incorporated in the DNA moloculu Y

f, (among others) the problem of genetic mutation and chromosomo ,

b, damage has to be faced. For instanco, Gray (1959) has reported 0

j the romarkablo result that D-rays of the energy of tritium are about 2.5 times as ef fective in producing chroiaosume breaks ac 8

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y are y-rays. Assuming the ofton-hold view that chromonome break: ige in one of the main causes of cell le tha l i t.y, one would N h v

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t' expect that, tritium U-rays would be about 2.'s t.imeri au leth.1 N

ll per unit duso as y-rays.

ll i; it has been proposed that chromosome breakage is mainly i produced by densely ionizing secondary olectrons ac they near the end of their tracks (Wi bor, 1964). Chromosomo breakago would then bo moro influenced by the number of secondary

' olectrons por unit volume than to the total doso. Higs onurgy i

l electrons from X- or y-rays yield s,ccondary cloctrons that have i i

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-l energios of about 20 kov. Considering that the mean energy of

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1 B-rays is 5.7 key, then tritium should be about throo times  !

more likely than X- or y-rays to produce chromosome breaks i

d per unit dese. Data provided in Gray's table (1954) are in fairly good agreement with Wimber's above hypothosis on the l mechanism of the observed chromosome breakago by tritium. .

I I

l, In 1957 Furchner studied the internal toxicity of tritium :

ll l e to mice and demonstrated that tritium D-rays were about 1.7 l

lll times as effective as y-rays in producing mortality in mice.

l Consistent with the above findings, Furchner et al (1953) l' demonstrated that tritium B-rays woro more effective than  ;

h y-rays in causing damage to the bone marrow of rats. Simil.'rrly, lI

'l l Worman et al (1954) found that tritium B-rays were more effec- l l l i

y tive than y-rays in producing thymic and splenic atrophy in

• I the mouse. The deletcrious effects of tritium on the blood  ;

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forming organs should be studied in relation to the marked  ;

' i f riso in leukemia death rates experienced subsequent to nuclear j testing in the atmosphere.

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It remains to be dem nstrated which of the radioactive 81 p isotopes in the effluent and leakages from the llanford facilities

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S are of major significance in the relatively high malignancy i death rates in downstream populations as compared to unexponod .'

I populations in Orogon (Padoley, 1965). That tritium can cauuo ,

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increased tumor formation in mico has beun well demonstrated by Lacco et, d (1961) and liaserga g n (1H.2) . Upon injection ,

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I i ut./gm donc of !! -thymidine, they found t h.i t uigiuficaully' ,

i itd more of thesu nnimals died frein tumors than controls. 4 p i i Itadiation offects of tritium have been demonstrated to f h

J be more severo in tissucs and ec11s that are undergoing active i i], proliferation such as forming blood culls and certain of the it germ lino cells in the malo gonad. Dcnder et al (1962) treated I 3

I human loucocyte cultures with 1 uc of II -thymidine or ll3 -uridine ii per millilitor for only 25 minutoc; the leucocytes showed a i i.

' chromosome aberration frequency of between 3 and 7 timos that

( of control culturos. The remarkable finding of this experiment 1 was that it took a dosage of 24-103r of acute X-rays to produce  !

{ the same amount of chromosome damago as shown by the tritium-nucleosido treatment.

Rapidly proliferating germ line cells of the testos have

,I shown a high degroe of radiosonsitivity to tritium exposure.

hStudiesbyOakberg(1955) add Johnson and CronNite (1959) 3 I showed that the incorporaticn of li -thymidine into dureloping 0 mouse spermatogonia from doses as low as I uc/gm produced j! damage to spermatogonia and spermatocytes when examined 4 days I

.I after injection.

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i The few reports in which the damaging effects of triti-  ;

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't ated water and I! -thymidine are compared reveal a similarity j j of types of effects with tritiated water showing relatively l

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l, loss damage than li -thymidine. Painter et ja (19585 studied

.. f the relative influence of THO and II -thymidino on c:.. .powth h

inhibition of kloLa S3 cells in tissue culturo; the results l

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[ showed that approximately equal growth retardationn resulted ,

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from treatment with 5 uc/ml !! -thymidine and 5 mc/ml T!!O. In view of the high levels (ab9ut 2000 pe/1 in Upper fliusisulppi I

i River according to U. S. Geological Survey, 19Gd) of tritium

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.'! in many municipal water supplies duo to man's nucloor activities,' ,

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. is highly desirable that the relative biological damago of '

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,'f Tito and 11 -thymidine be better underntood so tha t intelligent i Yl water riuality deej sionn can' bc based upon the highly nuf ficient ,

3 3' laboratory experimonts with I! -thymidinc and living cella, tl I: Doubtless, the most serious type of biological d. mage  :

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1 I which has boon demonstrated for tritium is that of genctic 1

. mutations. The fact that certain tritiated compounds becomo ,

1 ll preferentially incorporated into DNA has led to the expectation ,

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] that tritium within the chrcmosomes may cauuo high mutation rates. This predicted increase in mutation rates has been .

I ll i,!

shown by Kaplan and Sisken (1960) and Stromnaos (1962) who  ;

induced sex-linked lethal mutations in Drosophila melanogaster l 1;, by means of tritium-nucleosides. Dominant letnals in mice I l t lending to a 30% reduction in reproductive rate of offspring I l 3

f of 11 -thymidine treated parents have bcen rcported by Greulich (1961). By means of injecting H3 -thymidine into the testos of i

,l male mico, Bateman and chandley (1962) found a definite increasee i

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ll in abortions and estimated that it of the tritium disintegra-l il l f, tions produced a dominant lethal mutation in the sperm. Even l I

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though this figure appears to be an overly high estimate of i

tritium-induced mutagenic activity, based upon genetic ' grounds d

i, caution should be taken in protecting municipal water supplies ,

'l l and wolls from contamination by tritium discharges.

] It is clear that based upon the biological evidence that .

I l tr.itium is a serious nuclear contaminant of the environment. l

' I When taken inside the body by injection or via drinking water I it can produce a variety of biological damage including chrom- .

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. osome breakago, geactic mutation, growth inhibition, haet.0- 1 l

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.g poietic deficiency, cancer, cellular and organismal death. .

i.

I It appears that the energy spectrum of the p cminsion of I il

, tritiam is such that it can create an inordinato amount of 4

!! dastage when the racioisotope is located within the structure 3

H g of the onA moleculo.

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Pt:11::1>1rr1VI; ON ltAul0ACTIVM CO;rrATflNATitHJ

.# l i t in order to view the problem of radioaelive ::ont.imination

in the perspectivo of the toxicity of other ha/.ardouu poluonn,  !

Dr. C. Rogors McCullough, formor Chairman of the Advisory ,

i l' Committco on Itoactor Safeguards, has used a quantitative "lluicvor, even alJouing for consid-

, approach to the probicm I ,

j i erable crror in the quantitativo assessment of this probicm, .

8 I it is still evident from Table 7.1 that radioactivo poisonu  !

" f e are more hazardous than chemical poisons by a factor of come- i i

thing like 10 6to 10 .9 This is such an enormous factor that  !-

'I i

!!'; radioactive poisons essentially must be considered a qual- I I

';t itatively new kind of problem. Furthermore, this implies that .

3 h the problem of keeping radioactive materials within the rcactor l'I '

Il and preventing the spread of radioactive materials over populous .

h areas is a very serious one."

i f ,

.I CONCLUS' ION l 1. The proposed Midland plant site represents a t

lj departure from past prohibitions against locating large nuclear h

[ reactors within populous metropolitan arcas and it is apparent l'

that a major compromise in public health and safety consider-t

^

ations would be made by locating these reactors at such a h;highlypopulatedurbansito.

p

2. Considering the very serious public health and 3

radioccological cencentration effects of radioactive releases and the unparalleled toxicity of those wastes, plans for the ,

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tiidland site should be abandoned and alternativo power sources

,- should be sought.

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ll LTTERATURR CITI:D '

n U. & Porjuc, R. E. (1960) . Jour. of t he- ili sm .

!l' l Abrahams:on, D.

Acad. Sci., 35:20.

,

11asorga, R . ,' l i sco , '!! . & Kis'ielinki,lW. (1962) Prac. Soc.

Expt. Biol. Med., 110:687j.

I Datcman,' A. J. & Chandley, A*.' C.[ (19G2) Nature, 193':705.

t

.f: Bla tz , 11.(1964) Introduction to Rarliologien t IIcalth, McGraw-liill, New York

,l  ;

d Fadelay, R. C. (1965) Jour. of Environ. IIcalth, 27:883. ['

4

Furchncr, J. E. (1957) Radiation Res., 6

483.

6

'; Furchnor, J. E., Storer, J. D., & Lotz, V. (1953) Los Alamos  ?

Sci. Lab. Rept. La-1544. i 9

Goodhcart, C. R. (1961) Radiation Res., 15:767. j

.l Gray,L.H. (1954) Radiation Ros., 1:189.

I:

,! Kaplan, W. D., & Sisken, J. E. (1960) Experientia, 16:67. .

K5nkel, H. A. (1962) Strahlentherapie, 118:46.

Il I

! Lisco, II. , Baserga, R. , & Kisieliski, W. E. (19Gl) Nature, I

!! 192:571.  ;

ilMcCullough,C. R., et al, (1957) Nuclear disaster effects, '

i- ch. 7 in Safety Asnects of Nuclear Reactors, The Gencva  ;

Series of tne Peaceful Uses of Atomic energy, pp. 188-189.

l Robertson, J. S. & Hughes, W. L. (1939) Proc. t;atl. Diophys.

d Conf. 1st, Columbus, Ohio, p. 27J. .

4 I

? Strauss, D. S. (1958) Radiation Res., 8:234.  !

p .  ;

J Tsivoglou, P. E. (1969) Radioactive Pollution Control in

!j Minnesota, Final Report, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

Document dated January 29, 1969. 8

'I l U. S. Geological Survcy. (1963) Unpublisited results of tritium '

I  !' monitoring in the Mississippi River at Anoka, Minnosota.

l n fWimber,D. E. (1964) Advancos in Radiation Diology, Vol. 1:35.  !

. 4 i Worman, F. C. V., Turney , D. F. & Lotz, F. (1954) Los Alamos i Sci. Lab. Rept. LA-1641. I 3

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