Potential radiation dose in 2018 to individuals from the Portsmouth Site in Ohio was well under limits set by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency, according to new figures.
The Energy Department last week issued the latest version of its annual site environmental report for the former uranium enrichment complex in Pike County. The report says data from environmental monitoring showed a .92 millirem potential maximum annual dose per member of the public from radiation connected to the DOE cleanup complex.
That covers four separate pathways: radionuclides released into the Scioto River; from driving past the “cylinder yards” along the perimeter of the facility, twice per day, five days a week, 52 weeks per year; from exposure to soil, sediment, and biota; and from radionuclides in the air.
In its order on radiation protection for the public and the environment, the Energy Department sets a maximum annual public dose limit of 100 millirem per year from radiological operations. The EPA, meanwhile, sets the annual dose limit from airborne radionuclides at 10 millirem per year.
The Energy Department report notes that people in the United States on average receive an annual dose exceeding 600 millirem per year, divided roughly equally between natural background radiation and doses from medical procedures.
Potential exposure to radiation originating from Portsmouth has been a sensitive topic in Ohio in recent years.
Zahn’s Corner Middle School, located about 2 miles from the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, closed in May 2019 after samples collected in the area were found to contain enriched uranium and neptunium-237. The Energy Department said follow-up sampling showed solely trace levels of radioactive contaminants that were much too small to endanger human health.
Now, local officials want to build a new school to replace the existing site. These people say nobody wants to send children back to a building where radioactive contaminants were found, the Columbus Dispatch reported.
“The public will not accept sending their children to a school building they believe poses a risk of radioactive exposure,” the Scioto Valley Local School District stated in a letter to the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission. The Dispatch said it reviewed the letter.
When classes resume this fall, the school district plans to send Zahn’s Corner students to local elementary and high schools for in-person instruction, according to the Dispatch.
