Tuesday, November 19, 2024
NEW REPORT REVEALS LANL TRITIUM VENTING COULD HAVE TRIPLE THE RADIATION EXPOSURE TO INFANTS COMPARED TO ADULTS
Native-Led Nonprofit Tewa Women United Commissioned Two Reports
to Study Impacts. Finding: LANL Omitted Dose Calculations to
Infants & Children in Their Compliance Application
ESPANOLA, NM — The Native-led nonprofit organization Tewa Women United (TWU), based in Española, New Mexico, has released two independent scientific technical reports assessing the implications and adherence to regulations concerning Los Alamos National Laboratory’s (LANL) proposal to release tritium into the open atmosphere from four Flanged Tritium Waste Containers (FTWCs) located in Area G (TA-54), near White Rock, New Mexico.
These reports found that the concentration of tritium in the most loaded radioactive container, if vented during unfavorable weather conditions, could lead to radiation doses significantly exceeding the annual regulatory limit of 10 millirem established by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulatory radiation standards.
The author of one report, Bernd Franke, stated, “In the case of tritium, infants and small children get a radiation dose about three times greater than adults, with the same concentrations of tritium in air, water, and food.”
However, LANL’s application for venting did not include potential impacts of the tritium venting on infants or children; in effect, LANL did not consider them as “members of the public.” So far during the permitting process, the EPA has allowed LANL to ignore these vulnerable populations in their proposal….
Read full release.