Plutonium in the Savannah River Site Environment

The Savannah River Site has produced plutonium, tritium, and other special nuclear materials for national defense, other government programs, and some civilian purposes. Plutonium has been released to the environment during the operation of five reactors, two radiochemical processing facilities, and other supporting facilities. During the period 1954–1989, 140 GBq of plutonium were released to the atmosphere and 23 GBq were released to site streams and ponds. The maximum individual effective dose equivalent at the site boundary was estimated to be 120 μ.Sv from atmospheric releases and 2.4 microSv from liquid releases. The 80-km population dose was 7.1 person-Sv.