Radiation hazards present themselves in many aspects of our daily lives. Most annual dental check-ups use X-rays as a preventive tool to identify potential dental health problems. Many medical procedures also involve radioactive material or X-ray equipment which play a major role in diagnosing and treating health problems. There is even a certain amount of radiation that occurs naturally in the environment.

Dental offices, hospitals and other industries using sources of radiation are very closely monitored to ensure that the use of radiation will not adversely affect workers, patients, the public or the environment. A recent Meharry Medical College study found Tennessee to be one of the safest places in the country to have a dental X-ray performed.

A by-product of some radiation uses is waste contaminated by radioactive material. Items such as contaminated clothing, gloves, etc., from nuclear medicine facilities, power plants and industry, are typically low-level radioactive wastes and must be disposed of in a specially designed landfill. Even though several new major facilities have been licensed since 1984, the volume of low-level waste in Tennessee has been reduced over the past few years. Additionally, because these wastes are pretreated for volume reduction and stabilization, it is much safer to dispose of them than in the past.

Oak Ridge Reservation

The 35,252-acre Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) houses three plant sites, whose missions are quite different from 20 years ago. These plants are involved in dismantling nuclear weapon components, processing and storing nuclear materials and in supporting the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in waste management, enrichment technologies and other nationally significant programs.

Over the course of nearly 50 years, operations at ORR have left a legacy of contamination that includes over 500 sites, on and off the reservation. Each of these sites is contaminated with some combination of radioactive materials, mercury and other heavy metals, asbestos, PCBs or volatile organics. In 1989, the ORR was placed on the federal Superfund National Priorities List.

Because of the magnitude of the ORR pollution problem, TDEC has established an office in Oak Ridge to provide oversight and to aid DOE in its cleanup efforts.

Through two major state-federal agreements, work is ongoing to achieve the ultimate goal of restoring the environmental integrity of the ORR. One agreement seeks to ensure that environmental impacts are thoroughly investigated and appropriate actions are taken to protect public health, welfare and the environment. The other allows state staff to have independent monitoring and oversight in all ORR program areas.

Significant progress has been made at all three ORR sites over the past few years. Among these is a significant reduction in the amount of hazardous and radioactive wastes DOE generates. Marked increases in fish populations have been documented in four streams on the reservation.

Corrective measures are being investigated by DOE to deal with contaminated ground water moving off the reservation toward public domain. Also, several environmental restoration milestones have been set to deal with complex and often controversial issues, such as mercury contamination in East Fork Poplar Creek.