anyone here in the nuclear game?
i have a job next week at an old nuke power station,doing investigation for "contaminated soil"
i,tl mean drilling about 5 meters into the ground and taking soil samples,i,m not too keen on the idea,just want to know how safe it is (or not) dont
really want to glow in the dark 
You too can look like hommer
from what i studied in physics this year i would say you should be ok but i could be wrong hope i am right but so i have learned something
Hope you dont dig or pull up anything nasty.
If its an old site, then they were probably not as stringent in what was done where as they are today.
Just Take great care, and follow the rules.
ditto about old site practises. I know where there is about 5 tons of asbestos buried underground locally! I'm sure nuclear is much more regulated though
I worked at hinkley point as a welder in 1991, had a nice little badge to wear - when it turned red, they sent me home
from what i have been told at collage, (which is probly lies but still) they say there is more radiation coming of stuff like granit and the like,
rather than off a nuclar power station
[Edited on 17/5/2005 by I love speed :-P]
I wouldnt worry about it. Just follow all the saftey precautions they outline for you. You would probably be exposed to more radiation going for an
X-ray. Especially if you are only going for a couple of days work.
David
I did a job once in Birmingham at an old ammunition works. Every trial pit I did had to be CAT scanned and mettled detected and gamma metered
first.
Then every sample got gamma metered and PID.
Never found anything on the Gamma meter though.
Could alays get the driller to handle the samples
You window(less) sampling?
Could always lay the liner out on the ground and scan that with a gamma meter...
btw also worked in a decommisiun power station near newark. still had substaions there. Tightest security I have ever seen. full on electric fences
with traffic light type warnings (ie jurrasic park). pisses on Bicester army baracks where I walked straight on without ID!
On further thought...
This should surely have had a risk assessment done, at the very least, or maybe a full on desk study/phase I report, so has it been made available?
I guess this would be classed as most definately a red site under BDA rules so you should start off with the full shebang: decontamination units, full
ppe, etc etc etc.
Guess speial rules may apply for nuclear stuff.
Which country are you in?
the area you will be drilling in actually been in use as the powere station, or for sheep grazing?
Whats the expected geology?
If in doubt,
DONT DO IT!!!
You have very little to worry about. I doubt that any other industry is so regulated as the nuclear industry. You should be working under supervision
if there is any doubt about the levels of contamination that may be present. The area will probably be surveyed before, during and after work. You
will be checked, as will any tools and samples you dig up and everything will be checked and checked again.
Occupationally exposed workers get more radiation from medical x-rays than they get at work and airline flight crews get more than that (don't
let me put you off flying).
I've been in the industry for over twenty five years and I still don't glow, although six pints gives me a nice feeling!
I have read the US Nuke agencies findings for Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant, probly the second most famous nuke plant event in history.
The radiation recieved by workers IN the containment area was roughly that of 2 dental x-rays. At the perimeter fence which surrounds the property the
dosage was roughly the same as crossing the street on a sunny day.
In other words don't sweat it.
cheers for your replies chaps,lawnmower,the samples are in clear plastic tubes when brought up and its in sunny oxfordshire,its going to be an
industrial estate,makes a change from houses i spose
quote:
Originally posted by mcig68
You have very little to worry about. I doubt that any other industry is so regulated as the nuclear industry. You should be working under supervision if there is any doubt about the levels of contamination that may be present. The area will probably be surveyed before, during and after work. You will be checked, as will any tools and samples you dig up and everything will be checked and checked again.
Occupationally exposed workers get more radiation from medical x-rays than they get at work and airline flight crews get more than that (don't let me put you off flying).
I've been in the industry for over twenty five years and I still don't glow, although six pints gives me a nice feeling!
Hi Browser,
It's a power station - Hunterston, in south west Scotland where the rain stopped today for a short break before returning with a vengeance.
Radioactive pigeons
Pigeons at Sellafield are so radioactive they are officially classed as low-level nuclear waste. MAFF has advised locals not to handle, kill or eat
any pigeons within a ten-mile radius of the site. Greenpeace had Sellafield pigeons analysed by an independent French radiation laboratory which found
their feathers were contaminated with caesium-137. BNF says the pigeons are becoming contaminated as they roost in the roof space of older buildings
on the site.
(Environmental Health News; 13 (11); 20 March 1998)
mmmmm ready microwaved pidgeons
Beats self basting turkeys hands down .
quote:
Originally posted by mcig68
Hi Browser,
It's a power station - Hunterston, in south west Scotland where the rain stopped today for a short break before returning with a vengeance.
quote:
Originally posted by Lawnmower
I did a job once in Birmingham at an old ammunition works. Every trial pit I did had to be CAT scanned and mettled detected and gamma metered first.
Then every sample got gamma metered and PID.
Never found anything on the Gamma meter though.
quote:
Originally posted by MikeRJ
quote:
Originally posted by Lawnmower
I did a job once in Birmingham at an old ammunition works. Every trial pit I did had to be CAT scanned and mettled detected and gamma metered first.
Then every sample got gamma metered and PID.
Never found anything on the Gamma meter though.
Did you check it had batteries in it?
been put back a few weeks,its amazing what you find deep underground isnt it? like a main sewer at 3m
I'm a bit late into thread but an answer to a question browser put earlier, AGRs can be refuelled on load but not full load as was originally
planned.
Cheers, John.