Publication Laka-library:
A report on the TMI effluent & environmental monitoring (1987)
| Author | GPU Nuclear Corporation |
| Date | 1987 |
| Classification | 3.01.8.11/04 (UNITED STATES - SITES - HARRISBURG (TMI)) |
| Front | 
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From the publication:
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS Normal operations of a nuclear power plant result in small releases of radioactive products to the environment in the form of liquid and airborne effluents. A radiological environmental monitoring program (REMP) has been established to monitor radiation and radioactive materials in the environment around Three Mile Island Nuclear Station (TMI) which houses two pressurized water reactors designated as TMI-1 and TMI-2. The program evaluates the relationship between amounts of radioactive material released to the environment and resultant radiation doses to the public. This report describes radioactive releases and radiological environmental monitoring from 1974 through 1986 and assesses the health effects to the public. Semi annual effluent reports and annual environmental monitoring reports are submitted to the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Radioactivity releases to the environment are minimized through effluent controls, engineering designs, the reactor vessel and associated components, and the containment building. Continuous radiation monitoring instruments and laboratory analyses of effluent samples for liquid and airborne environmental release points are used to calculate the type and amount of radioactivity released. Noble gases are the predominant radionuclides in airborne effluents. They are readily dispersed in the atmosphere when released and because of their typically short half-lives quickly decay into stable (non-radioactive) forms. Tritium is predominant in liquid effluents. Quantities released are minute when compared to the natural cosmic ray production of 4 million curies per year. The discharge of iodines and particulates to the environment is small and minimized by factors such as their high chemical reactivity and solubility in water combined with the removal by airborne and liquid processing systems. All liquid and airborne effluent releases from normal TMI operations were far below federal regulatory release limits. Radiation doses to the public have been below all applicable regulatory limits and guidelines and significantly less than doses received from natural background radiation. The highest maximum hypothetical whole body dose from the combined liquid and airborne effluents in a year from normal TMI operations was 3.2 millirems (0.0032 rem). By comparison, the average person in the United States receives about 100 millirems (0.1 rem) per year from natural background radiation sources.
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