Radioactive Bioaccumulation in Clams along the Hanford Reach

Creator

• Hanford Action of Oregon
• Norm Buske, The RadioActivist Campaign

Files

Document Type

Report

Date

3-2005

Description

Public concern drives clean-up of the Hanford Site in eastern Washington state, especially where radioactive groundwater seeps from the site into the river. In September 2004, The RadioActivist Campaign (TRAC) collected riverbed water and Asian clams from six locations along the Hanford Reach:

• Vernita (upstream background location, by a shoreline spring)
• N-Springs (which drain old N-Reactor waste disposal trenches)
• D-Island (sampled upstream of the D- and DR-Reactor discharge pipes)
• F (sampled near a spring below F-Reactor)
• Hanford Townsite (sampled at a spring fed from central Hanford)
• 300 Area (sampled near a spring at “Location 9”)

Asian clams (Corbicula sp.) are a recognized indicator of Hanford’s biological impact on the Columbia River ecology. TRAC collected about 200 clams from each location, and shucked these clams into a flesh fraction and a shell fraction. From each of the 6 locations, TRAC analyzed one clam flesh sample, one shell sample, and one riverbed water sample, for both short- and long-lived radioactivity.

Based on these analyses, the present study finds that the biological effects of strontium-90 seeping from N-Springs into the river have been under-reported in official monitoring. This finding raises concern for the adequacy of official Hanford Site monitoring.

This study confirms official reports that uranium seeping from Hanford’s 300 Area contaminates nearby aquatic biota.

This research was completed money allocated during Round 1 of the Citizens’ Monitoring and Technical Assessment Fund (MTA Fund). Clark University was named conservator of these works.

If you have any questions or concerns please contact us at digitalrepository@clarku.edu

Publisher

Hanford Action of Oregon

Format

pdf

Keywords

nuclear weapons, nuclear weapons testing, environment, non-governmental organizations, United States Department of Energy, tribal governments, environmental cleanup, radioactive fallout, radioactive waste

Rights

Copyright belongs to the authors. Clark University was chosen by the non-profit peace and environmental groups as the conservator of these reports; our right to distribute these works ensures they remain available to the public in perpetuity as intended. Reuse at your own discretion with with due deference to copyright holders.

Location

Portland, OR

Recommended Citation

Hanford Action of Oregon and Buske, Norm, "Radioactive Bioaccumulation in Clams along the Hanford Reach" (2005). Hanford Action of Oregon. 3.
https://commons.clarku.edu/hanfordaction/3