Tritium with your sunflower seeds?
Dateline: 06/05/00
Every day, the U.S. Government helps people in ways we never read or hear about. For example, suppose your sitting in your house innocently eating sunflower seeds and suddenly realize you have also ingested radioactive tritium. Who you gonna call? Not Ghostbusters. As incredible as this event sounds, it really happened in May of 1997 and a government agency was there to help.
One of the jobs of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is to provide local officials immediate advice in dealing with events of accidental exposure to radiation or improper handling of nuclear material. Accidental radiation events occur almost daily and vary in seriousness from near disasters at nuclear power plants to hospitals giving patients the wrong atomic cocktail in preparation for an x-ray. No matter how severe or trivial, each incident reported to NRC is recorded in the Commission's Daily Events Report log. The log is a public document available online at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/DAILY/der.htm
From the NRC's Daily Events Log, comes the history of one of the more unusual cases of human interaction with a very common radioactive material -- tritium. An essential material in nuclear weapons, tritium paint is also used to make the hands of watches and clocks "glow-in-the-dark" and for the glowing gas digital displays we see everywhere. While trace amounts of tritium are found naturally in drinking water, exposure to extremely high or concentrated dosages can cause cancer, genetic effects and effects on fetuses. Here's what happened over May 10 - 11, 1997:
May 10, 1997 -- 3:24 pm: Officials of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection called the NRC to report that a person in Union, NJ might have accidentally ingested tritium gas or liquid while eating sunflower seeds.
- INDIVIDUAL INGESTED TRITIUM GAS OR LIQUID FROM EXIT SIGN TRITIUM TUBES -
THE NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION (DEP) WAS NOTIFIED THAT AN INDIVIDUAL IN UNION, NJ FOUND A 20 CURIE TRITIUM EXIT SIGN AND BROKE OPEN TWO OR THREE OF THE TUBES IN THE SIGN WHILE EATING SUNFLOWER SEEDS. THE INDIVIDUAL MAY HAVE INGESTED SOME OF THE TRITIUM GAS OR LIQUID WHEN THE TUBES BROKE OPEN. THE DEP IS SENDING A REPRESENTATIVE TO THE SITE OF THE INCIDENT TO OBTAIN SAMPLES OF URINE FOR ANALYSIS.
May 10, 1997 -- 5:10 pm: Representatives of the NRC, the EPA, the NJ Department of Environmental Protection and the Brookhaven National Laboratory hold a conference call to discuss the incident.
May 10, 1997 -- 10:00 pm: Another conference call is held.
May 10, 1997 -- 11:59 pm: NRC Commissioners call and hold a briefing on the incident for NRC staff and other involved persons and agencies.
May 11, 1997 -- 2:20 am: Brookhaven National Laboratory releases the results of their analysis of the victims' urine samples and suggests a course of medical treatment.
BIOASSAY RESULTS FROM BROOKHAVEN ARE AS FOLLOWS:
LOUIS, AGE 16 - 28.6 MICROCURIES PER LITER (EQUIVALENT TO APPROX 300 MR)
MIKE, AGE 18 - 0.07 MICROCURIES PER LITER
NICK, AGE UNKNOWN - 0.15 MICROCURIES PER LITER
DR GOANS, REAC, SUGGESTED THAT INDIVIDUALS DRINK 3 TO 4 QUARTS OF WATER PER DAY.
AN ADDITIONAL BIOASSAY WILL BE TAKEN LATER ON 5/11/97.
* (More conference calls and meetings are held during May 11, 1997) *
May 11, 1997 -- 10:00 pm: The NRC reports on the results of follow-up tests made during the day inside the residence where the tritium spill occurred.
A TOTAL OF 52 SMEARS WERE TAKEN INSIDE THE HOME WHERE THE TRITIUM SPILL OCCURRED AND IT WILL BE A FEW HOURS BEFORE ALL THE SMEARS ARE COUNTED. SO FAR, 19 SMEARS FROM UPSTAIRS WERE COUNTED AT LESS THAN 10,000 DPM. ONLY 6 OF THESE SMEARS COUNTED WERE GREATER THAN 1000 DPM. THE HIGHEST READING SMEAR SO FAR WAS 9000 DPM TAKEN FROM THE REFRIGERATOR DOOR. FIVE MORE URINE SAMPLES WERE TAKEN INCLUDING A SAMPLE FROM A FIRE CHIEF WHO HAD ENTERED THE BEDROOM WHERE THE TRITIUM SPILL OCCURRED.
In summary, the NRC found radiation dosages involved in the incident to be minimal and the victims were treated by simply drinking lots of water to flush any excess tritium from their bodies.
Sounds simple, almost minor now. But consider how the victims and their parents must have felt at the time. They needed help. And, as if often does, that help came from an agency of the U.S. government.
Tritium --
According to the Department of Energy, "Tritium, an essential material in
U.S. nuclear weapons, is an isotope of hydrogen that decays at a rate of
approximately 5 percent per year (a 12.3-year half-life). The United States has
not produced tritium since 1988, when DOE closed its production facility at Savannah
River. Current, short-term tritium needs are being met by recycling tritium
from dismantled U.S. nuclear weapons. Resumption of tritium production will be
essential for maintaining the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile and the U.S.
nuclear deterrent."
Reference Links
Health Effects of Tritium
"When it passes through a human body, it can produce permanent changes in cells. There are three principal potential health effects: cancer, genetic effects and effects on fetuses. " -- DOE, Savannah River Operations Office
The actual log of nuclear incidents and resolutions to them as recorded by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The official current law regarding all aspects of energy including nuclear energy and nuclear waste handling.
Nuclear Weapons Plants - Environment and Health Issues
Environment and health information related to nuclear weapons production. From Environment Guide Patricia Michaels.
Few people handle more nuclear material than the US Air Force. Guide Rod Powers has assembled this comprehensive list of nuclear safety manuals. Interesting.
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