Category Archives: Commentary

Health Risks of Plutonium Part II

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I’ve received comments about what I’ve written on risks from low levels of plutonium in the environment and that I would be comfortable visiting the wildlife refuge at the former Rocky Flats site with my family. One worrisome assertion was that plutonium “was designed to kill.” Plutonium was generated in large quantities in a natural underground “reactor” in Africa that was dubbed the “Oklo Phenomenon“ a bit under two billion years ago. I agree that plutonium and other elements (i.e., arsenic) are toxic at some exposure level, but I can’t think that Mother Nature designed them to kill.

Another commenter referred to “Mortality Among Plutonium and Other Radiation Workers at a Plutonium Weapons Facility” by Gregg S. Wilkinson, et al. (The copyrighted article is online in the February 1987 edition of the American Journal of Epidemiology.) The responder points out Rocky Flats workers with higher levels of occupational plutonium exposure had a somewhat higher incidence of a few types of cancers than were experienced by the general population. My primary focus was on the abstract of the report that says, “Mortality among 5413 white males who were employed at least two years…(at Rocky Flats) was investigated to measure risks from exposures to low levels of plutonium and external radiation. When compared with US death rates, fewer deaths than expected were found for all causes of death (and) all cancers…”  That remarkable result was reached despite the fact that 26 percent of the workers had body burdens of plutonium from occupational exposure.

I don’t read the report to be a basis for some of the dire warnings being issued about the risks to people who chose to spend a few hours visiting the refuge, since the average person working in the industrial area for at least two years was not at increased risk.  In fact, people visiting the area west of the former industrial area will be exposed to about the same amounts of plutonium as is in their back yards from worldwide fallout. Anyone wanting to minimize their exposure to plutonium should avoid mountains where snow washed out higher levels of fallout.

I will post dissenting comments if they are civil, to the point, and factual. Other than that, I intend to move on to subjects that are more enjoyable.

Where are New Jobs Created from “Green” Energy Investments?

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I recall speeches by politicians describing how investments in “green” energy technology would create jobs. I was mistaken when I thought the jobs would be created in the United States. A company named Evergreen Solar had received $43million from Massachusetts to begin its business, and had grown to become the third-largest maker of solar panels in the United States. The New York Times reports the company is now, “…closing its main American factory, laying off the 800 workers by the end of March and shifting production to a joint venture with a Chinese company in central China.” Solar power experts “say that after many years of relying on…the Middle East for oil, the United States now looks likely to rely on China to tap energy from the sun.”

If that story doesn’t outrage you, try this one. The Associated Press  reported, “General Motors is investing $540 million to build fuel efficient engines at its plant in central Mexico. Labor Secretary Javier Lozano says the plant in the city of Toluca …will provide 500 new jobs.” The United States bailed out GM with many billions of dollars, and I thought that was done to save jobs in this country.

Health Risks of Plutonium

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The people I worked with at Rocky Flats were experts on handling radioactive materials and limiting exposures and managing risks associated with plutonium and other radioactive and potentially hazardous materials. They were committed to controlling emissions to the lowest possible levels since, after all, many lived with their families close to (even downwind of) the Plant. However, an issue that continues to receive attention is the health risks of low-level plutonium emissions that occurred during the nearly 60 year operations and cleanup of the RF site. GotheBetterWay.org  opposes a proposed beltway that is proposed to be constructed near the Rocky Flats site, and mentions concerns about plutonium contamination.

In an exchange with a commentator, I used the comparative term “very little” to describe an average of 0.006 ounces plutonium per year emitted from routine operations that processed tons of the material at the RFPlant. This is equivalent to 0.2 ppm emission (99.999% capture) for a processing rate of one ton per year.  The commentator responded that “very little” was inappropriate, since his research found “billions of particles per acre.”

This “billions per acre” seems an impressive number until put it in context with concentrations of radioactive elements — and plutonium, in particular — from worldwide fallout (discussed in chapter 25 of the book on this site). The book, “Transuranic Elements in the Environment,” indicates measured fallout levels of plutonium per square kilometer in northern hemisphere soils ranged from 0.1 to 2.2 millicuries (mCi = 0.001 Ci). This is equivalent to some 10 to 300 million billion (i.e., quadrillion) atoms per acre from fallout alone, which is not connected with RFP operations. Epidemiological risk calculations suggested that exposure to fallout plutonium could result in up to 125 to 600 additional cancer deaths (of the US total 500,000 per year), but researchers could not preclude the possibility that no additional cancer deaths would result.

The health risk from radioactive materials like plutonium is an unresolved issue. I’ve posted a review of the book “No Place to Hide,” that discusses the continuing health risks created by historical atmospheric nuclear testing.

New Rocky Flats Links

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There have been two sites added to links. The first is for Homesteaders, which is a nonprofit organization of Rocky Flats employees. The organization is active in issues of importance to past employees, publishes a monthly newsletter, and hosts several social events.

The second new link is to a LeRoy Moore’s blog.  He provided an extensive review of the book about Rocky Flats,  and we exchanged several emails discussing his comments.  The entire lenghty exchange is on the left colum of his blog complete with misspellings and typos. 

The discussions include:

  • Risks from exposure to low levels of plutonium
  • Plutonium contamination downwind of Rocky Flats
  • The Grand Jury, the plea bargain, and the Congressional hearings
  • The firing of Rockwell by DOE
  • Contention that the raid and Grand Jury were part of a cover up to thwart Sierra Club lawsuits against DOE
  • Concerns there are 65 boxes of documents sealed by Grand Jury proceedings
  • My incorrect presumption that activists were paid

There are polite disagreements, but I believe they add value.

Tea Party Origins

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A Seattle blogger named Liberty Belle (Keli Carender) is credited with organizing a mid-February 2009 protest against the stimulus package that she originally called the “Porkulus Protest.” The protest gathering of about 100 people became known as a “tea party.”

CNBC’s Rick Santelli is widely acknowledged to have began the nationwide launch of the movement. He was being televised from the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange when he went into a rant about proposals that the government step in to help homeowners facing foreclosure. He said, “Do we really want to subsidize the losers’ mortgages? This is America! How many of you people (looking at the floor traders behind him) want to pay for your neighbor’s mortgage that has an extra bathroom and can’t pay their bills?” He went on to suggest that he would organize a Chicago Tea Party, where capitalists would dump “some derivative securities into Lake Michigan.” The video of his tirade became a YouTube hit, and the movement was born.

Tea party protests sprang up across the country, and MSNBC and other media outlets began running stories demeaning the gatherings.  I tolerated the frequent “insider joke” about “tea baggers” (apparently the commentators didn’t believe average people would know how to use the Internet to learn what that term means).  However, I stopped watching Rachel Maddow the night she said something to the effect that it was difficult to understand what the protestors were saying, because their words were muffled by their white hoods.

I’ve been an interested watcher of politics since the mid-1950s, and the criticisms by public officials against the Tea Party is the first time I can recall politicians demeaning a significant group of their customers, the voters. 

FBI Spy Plane Video

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The Energy Employees Claims Assistance Project had sent out a link to the video of the spy plane night time flyover of Rocky Flats that the FBI thought proved the Building 771 incinerator was operating illegally. I provided the link in the book about Rocky Flats on this site at the end of Chapter 14. The link is no longer active, and I’m asking for anyone who has an active link to email it to me at fdsmhobbs@aol.com.

For those who have not yet read the book, there was no proof found to support the allegations of illegal incineration, and it was not mentioned in plea bargain with Rockwell.  An expert reviewing the video told the investigators the heat from the stack was probably from the building heating systems.  The video is an important part of the story about the infamous raid on Rocky Flats, and I hope to find a copy to post.