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Radioactive Tritium from Nuclear Tests in Nevada Contaminating Groundwater

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posted on Oct, 21 2009 @ 12:07 PM
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www.abovetopsecret.com...
"Scientists have found radioactive tritium from nuclear tests in Nevada contaminating groundwater off the Nevada Test Site for the first time. However, state and federal studies indicated the contaminated groundwater would leave the nuclear site within 50 years. A groundwater sample taken in a new well drilled on Air Force land contained tritium at about 12,500 picocuries per liter, below the federal Environmental Protection Agency Safe Drinking Water Act limit of 20,000 picocuries per liter."


But hey, it's only SLIGHTLY radioactive-I'm sure it's perfectly good for you!



posted on Oct, 21 2009 @ 12:17 PM
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Originally posted by captaintyinknots
But hey, it's only SLIGHTLY radioactive-I'm sure it's perfectly good for you!


I hate to break it to you, but your environment is already radioactive, from Radon gas in your basement coming from concrete, to cosmic rays to potassium in your own body:


K-40 occurs in natural potassium (and thus in some commercial salt substitutes) in sufficient quantity that large bags of those substitutes can be used as a radioactive source for classroom demonstrations. In healthy animals and people, K-40 represents the largest source of radioactivity, greater even than C-14. In a human body of 70 kg mass, about 4,400 nuclei of K-40 decay per second.


So stop panicking and accept the Universe for what it is. In addition, the half0life of tritium is 12 years, so it'll all go away pretty soon.



posted on Oct, 21 2009 @ 12:24 PM
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Originally posted by buddhasystem

Originally posted by captaintyinknots
But hey, it's only SLIGHTLY radioactive-I'm sure it's perfectly good for you!


I hate to break it to you, but your environment is already radioactive, from Radon gas in your basement coming from concrete, to cosmic rays to potassium in your own body:


K-40 occurs in natural potassium (and thus in some commercial salt substitutes) in sufficient quantity that large bags of those substitutes can be used as a radioactive source for classroom demonstrations. In healthy animals and people, K-40 represents the largest source of radioactivity, greater even than C-14. In a human body of 70 kg mass, about 4,400 nuclei of K-40 decay per second.


So stop panicking and accept the Universe for what it is. In addition, the half0life of tritium is 12 years, so it'll all go away pretty soon.


Perhaps you should read the source before making snide comments. Couple of short quotes:
"a new well drilled on Air Force land contained tritium at about 12,500 picocuries per liter,"

"Tritium occurred naturally in lakes, rivers and public water supplies at between 5 and 25 picocuries per liter before nuclear weapons testing began in 1945 in New Mexico."

"The first nuclear experiment on western Pahute Mesa occurred in 1966. In total, the government tested 1,021 nuclear devices above and below ground at the Nevada Test Site from 1951 to 1992."

Yeah, sounds pretty natural to me. If you believe that, I've got this awesome bridge I'd like to sell ya...."



posted on Oct, 21 2009 @ 12:26 PM
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Originally posted by buddhasystem


So stop panicking and accept the Universe for what it is. In addition, the half0life of tritium is 12 years, so it'll all go away pretty soon.


Again, perhaps you should read the source material before commenting...
"However, state and federal studies indicated the contaminated groundwater would leave the nuclear site within 50 years."

So only the people that live there for the next 50 years should be concerned.......



posted on Oct, 21 2009 @ 02:38 PM
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I've been wondering myself about nuclear contamination in the las vegas valley water. I'm a native to vegas and lived there for 28 years. (1975 - 2004).



posted on Oct, 21 2009 @ 02:55 PM
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Originally posted by captaintyinknots
Perhaps you should read the source before making snide comments. Couple of short quotes:
"a new well drilled on Air Force land contained tritium at about 12,500 picocuries per liter"


I have every right to make "snide" comments in this thread because I'm educated in this subject and you aren't, and I dislike sensationalism.

Read this:
www.nrc.gov...

As an example, assume that a residential drinking water well sample contains tritium at the level of 1,600 picocuries per liter (a comparable tritium level was identified in a drinking water well near the Braidwood Station nuclear facility). The radiation dose from drinking water at this level for a full year is characterized as follows (using EPA assumptions):

* at least ten thousand times lower than the dose from a medical procedure involving a full-body computed tomography (CT) scan (e.g., 3,000 to 10,000 mrem from a CT scan vs. 0.3 mrem from tritiated drinking water)
* one thousand times lower than the dose from natural background radiation (e.g., 300 mrem from natural background radiation vs. 0.3 mrem from tritiated water)
* one hundred times lower than the dose from either dental x-rays or natural radioactivity (potassium) in your body (e.g., 30 mrem from potassium vs. 0.3 mrem from tritiated water)
* ten times lower than a round-trip cross-country airplane flight (e.g., 3 mrem from New York to Los Angeles and back vs. 0.3 mrem from tritiated water)


You can divide your 12,500 by 1600 and do the math. Basically, taking a single airplane flight will do as much damage.

The risk is negligible.

Not a newsworthy story...




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