PUBLIC HEALTH ASSESSMENT

Plutonium 239 in Sewage Sludge
Used as a Soil or Soil Amendment in the Livermore Community

LAWRENCE LIVERMORE NATIONAL LABORATORY, MAIN SITE (U.S. DOE)
LIVERMORE, ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA

APPENDIX 4: OUTPUT FROM RESRAD DOSE ASSESSMENT

Click here to view Appendix 4 in PDF format (PDF, 159KB)

Figure A-1. RESRAD output showing soil guideline for Pu 239 based on all pathways/exposure routes (ingestion, inhalation, and external exposure) and a 100 mrem/year dose. The soil guideline is the Pu 239 concentration that is required to produce an annual dose of mrem/year. The initial concentration is 2.5 pCi/g. Exposure factors and model parameters are as described in the text.

Figure A-2. RESRAD output showing dose contributions from different exposure pathways or routes. These doses are based on an average soil concentration of 2.5 pCi/g Pu 239 and Pu 240. The total dose is 0.31 mrem/year as shown in Figure 2. Consumption of plants (food crops) accounts for about 65% of the total dose, soil ingestion about 26% of the dose, and inhalation of dust accounting for about 6% of the dose.

APPENDIX 5: GROSS ALPHA AND NUCLIDE-SPECIFIC MONITORING DATA

		CaRHB		LLNL +	LLNL +	LLNL GA	LLNL Pu 239	LLNL +
		digestor sludge		sewer effluent	dried sludge	digester sludge pCi/g or pCi/L	digester sludge	annual releases (Gross Alpha except 1973)
		pCi/g		pCi/L	pCi/g		pCi/L	Ci/yr
1960	Jan	0.15	wet wt.	<38
		0.15	wet wt.	<38
		0.15	wet wt.	<38
	Apr		wet wt.	<38
			wet wt.	<38
			wet wt.	<38
	Jul		wet wt.	<38
			wet wt.	<38
			wet wt.	<38
	Oct		wet wt.
			wet wt.
			wet wt.
1961	Jan		wet wt.	18.7*	<7.2
			wet wt.	18.7*	<7.2
			wet wt.	18.7*	<7.2
	Apr		wet wt.	18.7*	<7.2
			wet wt.	18.7*	<7.2
			wet wt.	18.7*	<7.2
	Jul		wet wt.		<7.2
			wet wt.		<7.2
		0.1	wet wt.		<7.2
	Oct	0.15	wet wt.		4.5
		0.15	wet wt.		4.5
		0.3	wet wt.		4.5
1962	Jan	0.15	wet wt.		4.6
		0.2	wet wt.		4.6
		0.15	wet wt.		4.6
	Apr	0.15	wet wt.		4.6
		0.15	wet wt.		4.6
		0.15	wet wt.		4.6
	Jul	0.15	wet wt.
		0.15	wet wt.
			wet wt.
	Oct		wet wt.
			wet wt.
			wet wt.
1963	Jan		wet wt.	8.9	6			1.10E-03
			wet wt.	8.9	6			1.10E-03
			wet wt.	8.9	6			1.10E-03
	Apr		wet wt.	8.9	6			1.10E-03
				8.9	6			1.10E-03
				8.9	6			1.10E-03
	Jul			6.1	6.7			1.10E-03
				6.1	6.7			1.10E-03
				6.1	6.7			1.10E-03
	Oct			6.1	6.7			1.10E-03
				6.1	6.7			1.10E-03
		11.1		6.1	6.7			1.10E-03
1964	Jan	23.9		29	12			6.40E-03
		11.6		29	12			6.40E-03
		21.9		29	12			6.40E-03
	Apr	0.15		29	12			6.40E-03
				29	12			6.40E-03
		296.9		29	12			6.40E-03
	Jul	173		92	34			6.40E-03
				92	34			6.40E-03
				92	34			6.40E-03
	Oct			92	34			6.40E-03
				92	34			6.40E-03
		94		92	34			6.40E-03
1965	Jan	84		20.4	39			3.60E-03
		39		20.4	39			3.60E-03
		52		20.4	39			3.60E-03
	Apr			20.4	39			3.60E-03
				20.4	39			3.60E-03
				20.4	39			3.60E-03
	Jul			5.4	60			3.60E-03
				5.4	60			3.60E-03
				5.4	60			3.60E-03
	Oct			5.4	60			3.60E-03
		23		5.4	60			3.60E-03
				5.4	60			3.60E-03
1966	Jan			6	42			3.00E-03
				6	42			3.00E-03
		64		6	42			3.00E-03
	Apr	8	est.	6	42			3.00E-03
		31	est.	6	42			3.00E-03
		26		6	42			3.00E-03
	Jul	7	est.	9	17			3.00E-03
		0.15		9	17			3.00E-03
				9	17			3.00E-03
	Oct			9	17			3.00E-03
				9	17			3.00E-03
		82	est.	9	17	pCi/g		3.00E-03
1967	Jan			154		12#		3.90E-02
				154				3.90E-02
				154				3.90E-02
	Apr			154				3.90E-02
		258		154				3.90E-02
		229		154		606#		3.90E-02
	Jul	154		30		240#		3.90E-02
		21		30		158#		3.90E-02
		147		30		133#		3.90E-02
	Oct	72		30		168#		3.90E-02
		34	est.	30		85#		3.90E-02
		50		30		15#		3.90E-02
1968	Jan	18	est.	11				6.00E-03
		15	est.	11				6.00E-03
		18	est.	11				6.00E-03
	Apr	27	est.	11				6.00E-03
		14	est.	11				6.00E-03
		14	est.	11				6.00E-03
	Jul			9				6.00E-03
		20	est.	9				6.00E-03
				9				6.00E-03
	Oct	5	est.	9				6.00E-03
		1	est.	9				6.00E-03
		16	est.	9				6.00E-03
1969	Jan	6		19**		6#		7.90E-03
		12		19**		5#		7.90E-03
		14		19**		3#		7.90E-03
	Apr	6		19**		8#		7.90E-03
		21		19**		13#		7.90E-03
		8		19**		11#		7.90E-03
	Jul					18#		7.90E-03
						20#		7.90E-03
						21#		7.90E-03
	Oct					23#		7.90E-03
						45#		7.90E-03
						39#		7.90E-03
1970	Jan		est.	7.6		22#		3.60E-03
			est.	7		22#		3.60E-03
			est.	4.6		17#		3.60E-03
	Apr		est.	3.5		16#		3.60E-03
			est.	20				3.60E-03
			est.	20				3.60E-03
	Jul		est.	8				3.60E-03
			est.	4				3.60E-03
			est.	<1.2				3.60E-03
	Oct		est.	<1.2				3.60E-03
			est.	4				3.60E-03
			est.	7				3.60E-03
1971	Jan							2.80E-03
						160		2.80E-03
						150		2.80E-03
	Apr					190		2.80E-03
						210		2.80E-03
						280		2.80E-03
	Jul					220		2.80E-03
						260		2.80E-03
						280		2.80E-03
	Oct					110		2.80E-03
						220		2.80E-03
						180		2.80E-03
1972	Jan					430		2.40E-03
						190		2.40E-03
						280		2.40E-03
	Apr					240		2.40E-03
						250		2.40E-03
						390		2.40E-03
	Jul					220		2.40E-03
						280		2.40E-03
						330		2.40E-03
	Oct					200		2.40E-03
						430		2.40E-03
						330	Pu 239 pCi./L	2.40E-03		Pu 238 pCi/L
1973	Jan				2.6	430	9.9	2.00E-04	Pu 239	3.2
					2.6	260	6.3	2.00E-04	Pu 239	2.2
					2.6	210	8.3	2.00E-04	Pu 239	3.6
	Apr					210	7.8	2.00E-04	Pu 239	3.6
						210	6.8	2.00E-04	Pu 239	2.5
						290	12	2.00E-04	Pu 239	2.3
	Jul					200	7.4	2.00E-04	Pu 239	1.9
						450	8.9	2.00E-04	Pu 239	2.2
						330	3.6	2.00E-04	Pu 239	0.87
	Oct					340	5.4	2.00E-04	Pu 239	0.89
						210	4.4	2.00E-04	Pu 239	0.63
						250	6.8	2.00E-04	Pu 239	0.67

CaRHB- LWRP digester gross alpha concentrations for the years 1960 through 1969 are from data sheets entitled "Gross Radioactivity in Sewage Samples: 1960-1969, published in the Radiological Health News, California Department of Health Services, Radiation Health Branch.

-CaRHB Measurements of "No Significant Activity" are reported in this spreadsheet as values of 0.15 pCi/g to facilitate data plotting.

-Values noted as estimated (est.) "When the counting rate of the sample is not equal to at least twice the 0.95 error, the value reported is the best available estimate, but is not statistically significant. Where the asterisk appears without a value, no activity was detected." (reported as 0.15 in this spreadsheet).

- The 1964 CaRHB report contains this note "Beginning May 1963 all sewage sludge has been reported in picocuries per gram of dry sludge. Before that date it was reported in picocuries per gram of wet sludge. The footnote should be corrected."

LLNL- All data labeled as LLNL data are from published annual and semi-annual reports for the years 1960 through 1973. These include reports published as the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory or the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, or the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. LLNL analyses of sludge from digester 1 are reported as pCi/L or pCi/g, as specified above.

* following value denotes "Limits of Detection".
** Maximum monthly average for 6 month reporting period.
+ 6-month or annual average values are shown as repeated values.
# Average of digester 1 and digester 2.

APPENDIX 6: EPA SOIL SCREENING GUIDANCE FOR RADIONUCLIDES

Click here to view Appendix 6 in PDF format (PDF, 142KB)

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