Meat irradiation Plant- using Cobalt 60 - Township is allowing one to be built

[MelanieC]

I am so mad. This stuff is really scary.

Does anyone know anything about it. I have done a search for it, and there is a lot of conflicting info. Some say completely safe. Others say, accidents (like it getting flushed into the water system), unsafe etc.

It seems like our township was just trying to hide this. Next Wednesday the NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) is holding a meeting at our High School. I thought we moved to a nice small little town.


Melanie

 

[jfulcer]

Are you scared because of the facility or because of the meat?

You'd be surprised how toxic wastes are generated by normal businesses in your town, and how much easier it is to get into the ground. I did some searching and only found one incident of water being contaminated in 1998 - and this process has been used a long time, just not on meat. I would think that a facility such as this would have more checks and balances because it *is* using nuclear material. At least you can know that the Cobalt 60 method is the better of the two irradiation processes.

Good luck! Go to the meeting and get as much info as you can - it's best to be informed and not get upset at something you're scared of and don't understand...

 

[MelanieC]

Because of the plant. It is my understanding that meat that has been irradiated must carry a label (I will have to find out if that is the case or not). I am more worried about the cobalt 60 being brought into our town (what if the truck carrying the radiation had an accident), and just the fact that they are drilling holes into the ground and placing radiation into the grounds in our community.

 

[Towncrier]

We use cobalt-60 radioactive sources where I work in order to calibrate the medical equipment that we manufacture. I looked up a couple of articles on the manufacture of cobalt-60 sources on the internet just to verify what I know. Your concerns are valid and, as with most environmental issues, there are two very vocal sides to the issue of irradiation.

If it were me, I would much rather have a food irradiation plant in my community than to have the power lines that run over my backyard. Cobalt-60 radioactive sources are solid metal. They don't "leak out" into the environment, especially with the method in which they are manufactured. Cobalt-60 emits low energy gamma rays. The thing about the food irradiation plant is that, unless you plan to climb into the irradiation chamber, you will not be exposed to any additional radiation.

Believe it or not, we are constantly exposed to all sorts of radiation in our daily lives. If you happen to live in a brick home or if you spend a lot of time in airplanes, your radiation exposure will be even higher.

Here's the link that I mentioned earlier. You'll need Adobe Acrobat to read it:
http://www.health.qld.gov.au/phs/Documents/ehu/14776.pdf

Here's another article from the EPA:
http://www.epa.gov/radiation/sources/food_irrad.htm

Don't be too angry. Radiation is not all evil. Believe it or not, nearly all medical bandages (including the bandaids in your medicine cabinet) have been through an irradiation process in order to sterilize them.

Jeff brings up a valid point. Your local power plant is probably doing more harm to the environment in your neighborhood that the irradiation plant will ever do.

 

[dcg0317]

I work in a meat dept. We sold irradiated ground beef for about a month. It was clearly marked as irradiated ground beef. I don't think we sold any. Very expensive. The Co. no longers carries it.

 

[MelanieC]

Thanks everyone.

I sure hope that the NRC can ease my fears next week. I just wish it wasn't being built in my town, and I wish the township had informed us what was being planned.

Thanks,
Melanie