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Publicatie Laka-bibliotheek:
Radioactive Bioaccumulation in Clams along the Hanford Reach (2005)

AuteurNorm Buske
-
Datummaart 2005
Classificatie 3.01.8.43/28 (VS - LOCATIES - HANFORD)
Voorkant

Uit de publicatie:

SUMMARY

Public concern drives clean-up of the Hanford Site in eastern Washington state,
especially where radioactive groundwater seeps from the site into the river. In 
September2004, The RadioActivist Campaign (TRAC) collected riverbed water 
and Asian clamsfrom six locations along the Hanford Reach:

• Vernita (upstream background location, by a shoreline spring)
• N-Springs (which drain old N-Reactor waste disposal trenches)
• D-Island (sampled upstream of the D- and DR-Reactor discharge pipes)
• F (sampled near a spring below F-Reactor)
• Hanford Townsite (sampled at a spring fed from central Hanford)
• 300 Area (sampled near a spring at “Location 9”)

Asian clams (Corbicula sp.) are a recognized indicator of Hanford’s biological
impact on the Columbia River ecology. TRAC collected about 200 clams from 
eachlocation, and shucked these clams into a flesh fraction and a shell fraction. 
From each ofthe 6 locations, TRAC analyzed one clam flesh sample, one shell 
sample, and oneriverbed water sample, for both short- and long-lived 
radioactivity.

Based on these analyses, the present study finds that the biological effects of
strontium-90 seeping from N-Springs into the river have been under-reported 
in officialmonitoring. This finding raises concern for the adequacy of official 
Hanford Site monitoring.

This study confirms official reports that uranium seeping from Hanford’s 
300 Area contaminates nearby aquatic biota.

This is the first report of radioactive radium isotopes (radium–226 and
radium–228) from the 300 Area contaminating aquatic biota at Hanford. 
Although both radium isotopes are on the official Module-3 checklist of 
radioactive contaminants for aquatic biota, the monitoring agencies have failed 
to measure and report radium entering the river from the 300 Area. The impact 
of 300 Area on nearby river biota has thus beensystematically under-reported, 
by omission.

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