Acid Canyon study area from the August 13, 2024 study by Dr. Michael E. Ketterer/LANL. Courtesy of NukeWatch NM
By Carol A. Clark
Los Alamos Daily Post
[email protected]
SANTA-FE – Nuclear Watch New Mexico issued the following press release on Thursday regarding plutonium contamination based on water, soil and plant samples collected from Acid Canyon in Los Alamos:
Today (Thursday), Dr. Michael Ketterer, professor emeritus of chemistry and biochemistry at Northern Arizona University, released alarmingly high results from samples taken along a popular hiking trail in the Los Alamos Town Site. This includes the discovery of some of the earliest man-made plutonium deposits.
On July 2 and 17, with support from Nuclear Watch New Mexico, Dr. Ketterer collected water, soil and plant samples from Acid Canyon at the Los Alamos Town Site.
In April, Nuclear Watch New Mexico released a map of plutonium contamination based on laboratory data. Today (Thursday), Dr. Michael Ketterer, professor emeritus of chemistry and biochemistry at Northern Arizona University, released alarmingly high results from samples taken along a popular hiking trail in the Los Alamos area, including evidence of some of the earliest human-made plutonium deposits.
On July 2 and July 17, with support from Nuclear Watch New Mexico, Dr. Ketterer collected water, soil, and plant samples from Acid Canyon at the Los Alamos Town Site, as well as soil and plant samples in Los Alamos Canyon at the Totavi gas station downstream from the laboratory. The samples were processed at Northern Arizona University and analyzed using mass spectrometry to measure the concentration of plutonium and determine its sources in the environment. For water samples, concentration is reported in picocuries.(1) per liter (pCi/L) and for soil and plants in picocuries per gram (pCi/g). The origin of the plutonium was determined by isotopic analysis of the ratio of 239Pu atoms to 240Pu atoms, which distinguishes it from fallout from global nuclear weapons tests.
Read the full press release Here. Dr. Ketterer’s methodology, findings and conclusions can be found at https://nukewatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Ketterer-AcidCanyon-13Aug2024.pdf
The DOE Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office (EM-LA) responded to the Los Alamos Daily Post’s request for comment, stating that “tThe sample results presented by Nuke Watch NM and Dr. Ketterer are consistent with EM-LA sample data publicly available in IntellusNM. EM-LA said there There are low levels of plutonium in Acid Canyon and these levels pose little or no danger to Los Alamos County residents and water users downstream.”
EM-LA added that LANL’s 2018 annual environmental report indicates that the radiation dose to a representative person at Acid Canyon is less than 0.1 mrem/year. That is 1,000 times lower than the DOE’s public dose limit of 100 mrem/year.
“The Department of Energy’s Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office (EM-LA) continues to collect and monitor sediment and water samples in the Acid Canyon area and results have consistently shown that plutonium levels remain very low and well within safe exposure limits,” an EM-LA spokesperson said. “The information presented today (Thursday) by Dr. Ketterer and Nuke Watch is consistent with Department data that has been publicly available for years and confirms Department findings that the levels observed continue to show that Acid Canyon remains safe for unrestricted use. EM-LA will continue to collect sediment and water samples to confirm that levels remain low and will remain committed to making the results publicly available.”
