PUBLIC HEALTH ASSESSMENT
PADUCAH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT (U.S. DOE)
PADUCAH, MCCRACKEN COUNTY, KENTUCKY
EPA FACILITY ID: KY8890008982
May 21, 2002
Prepared by:
Energy Section
Federal Facilities Assessment Branch
Division of Health Assessment and Consultation
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
This public health assessment addresses potential off-site exposures to radioactive and non-radioactive substances released from the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. It does not address on-site exposures of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant workers to radioactive or hazardous materials. Workers may be expected to be exposed to radioactive and hazardous materials that have been used at the site at higher levels than the general public. Workers should be trained in the use and safe handling of hazardous materials, and their exposures should be monitored.
Since 1997, the United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC), which currently operates the gaseous diffusion plant, has been required to meet worker safety and health standards developed by the Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA); the plant also must meet standards developed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Before the plant was privatized, however, the facility was subject to the U.S. Department of Energy regulations and standards but was exempt from external regulation and enforcement.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), is responsible for researching potential health hazards experienced in the workplace and for providing recommendations for exposure standards to OSHA. NIOSH is research-oriented, and is not a regulatory agency. NIOSH has conducted studies of workers in the gaseous diffusion plants at Oak Ridge, Paducah, and Portsmouth. For further information about worker studies, contact the NIOSH Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies, in Cincinnati, Ohio, at (513) 841-4400.
Some of the terminology used in this document reflects the latest terminology and definitions as used by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) starting with ICRP Publication 60: 1990 Recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection, Oxford (UK): Pergamon Press; 1991.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION, EXPOSURE PATHWAYS, AND POTENTIALLY EXPOSED POPULATIONS
HEALTH OUTCOME DATA EVALUATION
APPENDIX A: DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
APPENDIX B: DESCRIPTION AND TABULATION OF COMMUNITY HEALTH CONCERNS
APPENDIX C: HEALTH GUIDELINES, COMPARISON VALUES, AND EXPOSURE FACTORS
APPENDIX D: ESTIMATION OF EXPOSURE DURATION FOR GROUNDWATER PATHWAY
APPENDIX E: EXPOSURE TO AIRBORNE RADIONUCLIDES
APPENDIX F: EXPOSURE TO AIRBORNE HYDROGEN FLUORIDE
APPENDIX G: AIRBORNE TRICHLOROETHYLENE DISTRIBUTION AND POTENTIAL OFF-SITE EXPOSURE
APPENDIX K: ATSDR GLOSSARY OF TERMS
Table 1. Groundwater contaminant sources at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant
Table 2. Off-site groundwater contaminants
Table 3. Groundwater contaminants detected off site, comparison values, and locations
Table 4. Groundwater contaminants (on and off site) excluded from further analysis
Table 7. Airborne releases (from PGDP processes) and major release sources
Table 10. Summary of completed and potential exposure pathways for airborne contaminants
Table 13. Summary of potential exposure pathways for off-site surface water contaminants of concern
Table 18A(2). Average concentrations of PCBs in biota (fish and game) near PGDP (in µg/g or ppm)
Table 18B. Maximum concentrations of radioactive contaminants in biota near PGDP (in pCi/g)
Table 19. Average food consumption rates for children and adults
Table 23. Probabilities of Occurrence for Different Magnitude Earthquakes
Table 24. Summary of completed and potential exposure pathways for each contaminant
Table 26. Range of Possible Exposure Doses to Hexavalent Chromium
Table 27. Estimated lead doses in adults and infants from various water concentrations
Table 28. Maximum estimated annual committed effective doses for radiation exposure near PGDP
Table 29. Range of sample detection limits for vinyl chloride in residential well water
Table 30. Agencies that may be contacted for other concerns
Table A-1. County population data table
Table A-2. Length of residence in current household, 1990: Ballard, McCracken, and Massac Counties
Table A-3. County housing and socioeconomic data
Table A-4. City or town population data table
Table A-5. Length of residence in current household, 1990: cities of Paducah, Metropolis, and Joppa
Table A-6. City or town housing and socioeconomic data
Table A-7. Census tract population data
Table A-8. Census tracts: length of residence in current household, 1990
Table A-9. Census tract housing and socioeconomic data, 1990
Table C-1. Dose equations and factors used in calculating exposure doses at PGDP
Table D-1. Estimated plume migration rates based on plume locations for different time periods
Table E-1. Annual radionuclide emissions for selected isotopes and years
Table H-1. Maximum estimated airborne hexavalent chromium concentrations
Table I-1. Maximum estimated nickel air concentrations for different weather years and distances
Table J-2. Estimated Bladder Cancer Crude Incidence Rates per 100,000 Population
Figure 1. Plant location and vicinity
Figure 2. Property boundaries and other features
Figure 3. Pathways to exposure from contamination
Figure 4. TCE concentrations in residential wells
Figure 5. Tc-99 concentrations in residential wells
Figure 6. TCE and Tc-99 groundwater contamination, 1997
Figure 7. Areas of contamination and potential human exposures
Figure 8. Effects of lead on children and adults--lowest-observable-adverse-effect levels
Figure A-1. Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (demographics)
Figure D-1. TCE isocontours (1991-1995) and contaminated off-site well locations
ABS |
Absorption factor |
ACT | Active Citizens for Truth |
Am-241 | Americium 241 |
AT | Averaging time |
ATSDR | Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry |
BW | Body weight |
Bq | Becquerel |
BTU | British Thermal Unit (unit of heat) |
ºC | Degrees Celsius (or Centigrade) |
CAP-88 | Clean Air Act Assessment Package, 1988 (air model) |
CERCLA |
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act |
CF | Conversion factor |
Ci | Curie |
CREG | ATSDR's Cancer Risk Evaluation Guide |
CST | Central Standard Time |
CVs | Comparison values |
DL | Detection limit |
DNAPL | Dense nonaqueous-phase liquid |
DOD | U.S. Department of Defense |
DOE | U.S. Department of Energy |
DOT |
U.S. Department of Transportation |
d | Day |
ED | Exposure duration |
EF | Exposure frequency |
EMEG | ATSDR's Environmental Media Evaluation Guide |
EPA | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |
ESADDI | Estimated safe and adequate daily dietary intake |
ºF | Degrees Fahrenheit |
FFOU | Federal Facilities Oversight Unit |
g/sec | Grams per second |
GIS |
Geographic information system |
HF | Hydrogen fluoride |
ICRP | International Commission on Radiological Protection |
IDLH | NIOSH Immediately Dangerous to Life and Health |
IR | Ingestion rate |
ISC | Industrial Source Complex (air model) |
KDAQ | Kentucky Division of Air Quality |
KDEP | Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection |
kg | Kilogram |
KOW | Kentucky Ordnance Works |
KRCP |
Kentucky Department for Public Health's Radiation Control Program |
KY | Kentucky |
L | Liter |
LMES | Lockheed Martin Energy Systems |
LMUS | Lockheed Martin Utility Services |
LOAEL | Lowest-observed-adverse-effect level |
µ- | Micro- |
mCi | Millicurie |
MCL | Maximum contaminant level |
mg/kg | Milligrams per kilogram |
mg/kg/day |
Milligrams per kilogram per day (also mg/kg/d) |
µg/L or µg/kg | Micrograms per liter or micrograms per kilogram |
mg/m3 | Milligrams per cubic meter |
mrem | Millirem |
MRL | Minimal risk level |
mSv | Millisievert |
MW | Monitoring well |
NA | Not applicable |
NAAQS | National Ambient Air Quality Standards |
ND | Non-detect or Not Detected |
NE |
Northeast |
NESHAP | National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants |
NHANES | National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey |
NIOSH | National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health |
NOAEL | No-observed-adverse-effect level |
NOx | Nitrogen oxides |
Np-237 | Neptunium 237 |
NPL | National Priorities List |
NRC | U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission |
NT | Not tested |
NW |
Northwest |
ORGDP | Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant |
ORNL | Oak Ridge National Laboratory |
OSHA | Occupational Safety and Health Administration |
PAHs | Polyaromatic hydrocarbons |
PCBs | Polychlorinated biphenyls |
PGDP | Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant |
PHA | ATSDR public health assessment |
pCi | Picocurie |
PN | Perimeter north (monitoring station) |
ppb |
Parts per billion (equivalent to µg/L or µg/kg) |
ppm | Parts per million (equivalent to mg/kg or µg/ml) |
Pu-239 | Plutonium 239 |
RGA | Regional Gravel Aquifer |
RMEG | ATSDR's Reference Dose Media Evaluation Guide |
Rn-222 | Radon 222 |
SO2 | Sulfur dioxide |
SSAB | DOE's Site Specific Advisory Board |
SWMUs | Solid waste management units |
Tc-99 | Technetium 99 |
1,1,1-TCA | 1,1,1-trichloroethane |
TCE | Trichloroethylene |
Th-230 | Thorium 230 |
TNT | Trinitrotoluene |
TVA | Tennessee Valley Authority |
U-234, U-235, U-238 | Uranium 234, uranium 235, uranium 238 |
UCRS | Upper Continental Recharge System |
UF4 | Uranium tetrafluoride |
UF6 | Uranium hexafluoride |
USACE | U.S. Army Corp of Engineers |
USEC | United States Enrichment Corporation |
WAGs | Waste area groups |
WKWMA | Western Kentucky Wildlife Management Area |
yr (or y) | Year |
# | number |
<; > | less than; greater than |
& | and |