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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Environmental monitoring report: United States Department of Energy, Oak Ridge facilities, calendar year 1978

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:6224469

The Environmental Monitoring Program for the Oak Ridge area includes sampling and analysis of air, water from surface streams, creek sediments, biota, and soil for both radioactive and nonradioactive materials. A summary of the results of the program for calendar year 1978 is presented. Surveillance of radioactivity in the Oak Ridge environs indicates that atmospheric concentrations of radioactivity were not significantly different from other areas in East Tennessee. Concentrations of radioactivity in the Clinch River and in fish collected from the river were less than 3% of the permissible concentration and intake guides for individuals in the offsite environment. While some radioactivity was released to the environment from plant operations, the concentrations in all of the media sampled were well below established standards. The total body dose to an individual at the site boundary was calculated to be 6.4 mrem/yr. The maximum 50-year dose commitment to the critical organ of an individual from the aquatic food chain was calculated to be 35 millirem to the liver. The maximum dose commitment to individuals living nearest the site boundary from airborne releases, assuming continuous residence, was 0.14 millirem to the total body and 1.0 millirem to the lung. The average total body dose to an Oak Ridge resident was estimated to be 0.05 millirem; the average dose commitment to the lung of an Oak Ridge resident was 0.17 millirem. The cumulative total body dose to the population within an 80-kilometer radius of the Oak Ridge facilities resulting from 1978 effluents was calculated to be 5.6 man-rem. Surveillance of nonradioactive materials in Oak Ridge environs shows that established limits were not exceeded for those materials possibly present in the air as a result of plant operations with the exception of fluorides which exceeded the limits on two occasions.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, TN (USA); Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA); Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant, TN (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-26
OSTI ID:
6224469
Report Number(s):
Y/UB-10
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English