Metal burning in graphite-moderated reactors

Pinto beans, sweet corn, and zucchini squash (Cucurbita pepo var. black beauty) were grown in a randomized complete-block field/pot experiment at a site that contained the highest observed levels of surface gross gamma radioactivity within Los Alamos Canyon (LAC) at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Soils as well as washed edible and nonedible crop tissues were analyzed for various radionuclides and heavy metals. Most radionuclides, with the exception of {sup 3}H and {sup tot}U, in soil from LAC were detected in significantly higher concentrations (p <0.01) than in soil collected from regional background (RBG) locations. Similarly, most radionuclides in edible crop portions of beans, squash, and corn were detected in significantly higher (p <0.01 and 0.05) concentrations than RBG. Most soil-to-plant concentration ratios for radionuclides in edible and nonedible crop tissues from LAC were within the default values given by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Environmental Protection Agency. All heavy metals in soils, as well as edible and nonedible crop tissues grown in soils from LAC, were within RBG concentrations. Overall, the total maximum net positive committed effective dose equivalent (CEDE)--the CEDE plus two sigma for each radioisotope minus background and then all positive doses summed--to a hypothetical 50-year resident thatmore » ingested 160 kg of beans, corn, and squash in equal proportions, was 74 mrem y{sup -1}. This dose was below the International Commission on Radiological Protection permissible dose limit (PDL) of 100 mrem y{sup -1} from all pathways; however, the addition of other internal and external exposure route factors may increase the overall dose over the PDL. Also, the risk of an excess cancer fatality, based on 74 mrem y{sup -1}, was 3.7 x 10{sup -5} (37 in a million), which is above the Environmental Protection Agency`s (acceptable) guideline of one in a million. 25 refs.« less