HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0212.206 1996-1998 Testimony to the Hawaii County Council in opposition to Bill No.
62 and }tesolution No. 71
1 have long stood for a Nuclear-Free be Independent Hawaii
and Facific region. I am the co-author of a book, The Dark Side
of Pax•adise (Hawaii in a nucleax• world! and I was sentenced to 3
years in federal prison for a 1984 swim for peace in Hilo Bay.
T}rat swim was part of a non-violent effort to uphold the spirit,
if indeed not the letter, of Hawaii County's Nuclear-Free law,
against nuclear warships entering our waters.
I want to bring to your attention several nuclear matters
related to Hawaii which may be of interest.
The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission has determined ~t off- 65
sites around the world tested for plutonium radioactiv~p Y
contamination from atmospheric nuclear weapon testing,--~~re sam~1=~
taken fx•om the windward side of the Big Island ranked ~iiiinbe~ UNS}.
A copy of the AF.C study is attached to my testimony. C-.3-'herd
appears to be a correlation between our high rainfall.,and ~llocit
being brought down from the upper ,jet stream winds trgarelipg weft
t.o east from nuclear weapon tests at Johnston Island ~YIp m'x~1-es
south and the Marshall Islands further west. -r
Some of you may ask, what is plutonium' It is one of the
most. potent carcinogenic substances known. A piece, less than
one-millionth of a gram, smaller than a grain of pollen, is
capable of producing cancer if inhaled or ingested. Flutonium
has a half-.life of 24,000 years, which means it is potentially
toxic for at least. a half million years.
In 1978, the Hawaii Constitutional Converition passed, and
the voters ratified the following amendment to the State
Constitution, Section 8, Article 12: "No nuclear fision power
plant shall be constructed or radioactive material disposed of in
the State without the prior approval by a two-thirds vote in each
house of the legislature."
In 198}, Hawaii County passed an historic Ord. No. 665.
Hawaii County became the first municipality in the U.S. to pass a
NO NUKES law, declaring itself a nuclear-free zone of peace.
Today, more than 250 other municipalities in the U.S. have
followed our example. The purpose of the law is: "to maintain a
clean and healthy environment for present, and future generations
in the County, to protect the health and safety of the residents
of the County from rad.iat,ion exposure resulting from dangers of
accidents involv9ng the transportation or storage of nuclear
materials ur the development, of nuclear reactors, and to protect
the general health, safety, comfort and welfare of the citizens
of the County.
Specifically, the law prohibits the transportation and
storage of radioactive materials, and the locating or building of
a nuclear energy facility which utilizes nuclear material within
the County. It appears that in 1981, then Council Chair
Yamashi.ro tried to write a major loophole into the law to exempt
virtually all commercial nuclear faciltites, the equivalent of
exempting smokers from no smoking laws, but he may have failed ta._
Comm. Na.
Comm N0.1.1111.3.2k.
To: Preseilks;:i
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fliTi 7 lin 10 Li 7
iief•
COUNTY OF HAWAII
CaLJN.
• ,
cover all of his technical tracks. Under the law, a nuclear energy
facility which utilizes nuclear material is prohibited. Sind
the definition of nuclear energy includes the energy released by
radioactive decay, it would appear that any irradiation plant
using nuclear material such as Cobalt 60 is technically a nuclear
energy plant and would still be prohibited in Hawaii (7ountp under
1981, urd. No. 66b, sec. 1.
Wes:
TUWARD A ?SEW VIS1Z)N FUR HAWAII
Hawaii is currentl}- at the dead-end of the colonial sugar
plantation era. Whether we will continue down other dead-end
paths of cash export crops, or move toward restoring a self-
reliant and self-sufficient Hawaii, is up to each of us. One
thing is certain. We can no longer allow people with vested
business and political interests to make decisions for us. The
time for new vision and action is urgently upon us.
1•he crimes and failures of a colonial "grab it and growl'
economy are plainly visible. Greedy businessmen systematically
displaced the Iianaka Maoli people from their native lands and,
with the assistance of the L'.S. military, overthrew the
independent nation of Hawaii. Instead of the life of the land
being perpetuated in righteousness, as called for in the State
motto, Lhe life of the land has been abused.
'Today, colonized minds and colonial thinking advocate more
cash crop exports as solutions to the ills of dependency and
abuse created by 100 ,years of plantation sugar exports. Even
with massive federal subsidies, Hawaii sugar could not compete on
the world market and make a profit. What makes people think that
irradiated tropical fruit from Hawaii will be any different? If
anything, irradiating any Hawaii products will hurl, not help,
the marketing of a1.1 Hawaii products. Will the $2 million County
subsidy being pushed by the Famashiro administration and what
appears to be the cast ma.iority of this council turn into $20
million, $200 million or more taxpayer dollars down the road^.
A11 hc,alth and safety issues aside, where is the economic
analysis, market study and business plan to .justify tax dollars
going to this dubious food .irradiation project? No economic
,iustifi.cat.ion has been put forward to date.
It's time to take the colonial chains from our brains, and
the land out, of the hands of corporate agribusiness. Instead of
exporting more cash crops and importing what we eat, it's time we
feed ourselves.
A food irradiation plant and eucalyptus plantations are
steps away from sovereignty, self-sufficiency, and a sustainable
future. It's time we make an about face, make things pono, and
restorer a vision of hope. ~W~7^""0
J"im Albertini
farmer
Y.O. Box AB
Eurtistown, HI 96760
Phone 966-76222
- 444 - - -b JRE VOL. 241 FEBRUARY 16 197
LETTERS TO NATURE
PHYSICAL SCIENCES The sites in Table 1 were grouped into ten degree latitude
_ bands and the deposition values averaged. We plotted these
- averages against the sine of the latitude and made straight line
Global Inventory and Distribution extrapolations to zero at the poles. The average activities per
of Fallout Plutonium sq°~ ~ m each ten degree latitude band are given in Table 2
The error term associated with the average for each ten degree
PLUlntvttrvt isotopes, Pu-239,240 and Pu-238 in particular, latitude band is simply the standard deviation when two or
have been injected into the stratosphere as a result of atmo- more sites are located in the same band. R'here only one site
spheric nuclear weapons tests, and have reached the grotmd is represented or the value was derived by extrapolation, as
as particulate fallout. An accidental stratospheric injection of average error for other bands in the hemisphere was applied.
Pu-238 in 1964 resulted in almost athree-fold increase in the The distribution pattern for weapons' plutonium shows
global fallout of this isotope, and we now desaibe the accumu- heaviest deposition in the Northern Hemisphere temperate
laced fallout and geographical distribution from this unexpected latitudes and a minimum in the equatorial region. There is a
release as well as from weapons testing.
On April 21, 1964, a Transit navigational satellik was
. ~ Crunched from Vandenbuig Air Force Base in Califor7»a The Tabb 7 Pu laotopes in Soil Collected 1970-77
payload included a Systems for Nuclear Auxiliary Power-
generator, SNAP-9A, coetaining 17 kCi or about 1 kg of
- - Ptt-2381•x. Because the rocket failed to boost the satellik into a~ "
orbital Sight, the payload re-entered the atmosphere in the ra...,r ,a« lea ~ i'~.ie' «-,af.aN r«o«.-"wo
Southern Hemispheres''.
r«rra .«a.ae.<.
Subsegt7ent st2tospheric checks'-6 indicated that the
- :.el.•a fuel. ,a.a o. as o.e« (0. rani
gehaator cmnpkkly burned up during rG<n[ry apd tamed o<+ r.+... a1«.. ».a u o.ao o.elo w.oai
W M1a[W.. al«Y. N.a Ta O.lf 0.030 O. de
_ mto small particles at an altitude of about 50 km*. Conxntra. :<.x.m y!t°lt M.1 M 1.! 0.0% 0.01t
lions of the SNAP Pu-238 in the stratosphere were meativrabk al's » o.» o.m: o.mx
+en•f +°v° N.a lsa a.1 o. o,a o. as
8t the and Of 1970 when it was estimated that less than a kCi etlrar °n• ,a l.s a. ma o. e1o
rcmelned above 12 km'. Attem is to measure the ° r1°' N•a w >_a o.o« 0.ou
p ground oe.n reaar ».a » l.a o. m+ o. oo+
-depos/tlOn Ink OII a COntiaUOUS basis nSing a global fBIIOUt @ rOS'+'• eic"'• n.a N 1-+ o.exa o.mr
a..rey rice N.1 n a.s o. as, o. ml
network were 1nISUC02ast•Ula. We finelly used soil sampling l0 ,~,r x
R. ru4 is:e us o. toiaNO u:oa
obtain integrated fallout samples, having previously demon- oa elee•. N.f N 1., o. Nl o. m.
~ strafed that soil at properly selected sites serves as a good w 1al~Lm• a. sa.s 1as i:i o:o s o:us
indiCatO[ of cumUlatlve fallOUl+. aaee~r. alt. s1.e N l.a o.o« e.ou
r r sixr, s. r. N.s 9o a.s o.aax o. ols
The SSraLOSpherlC IllvenLOrlCS Clearly IndlCBfed that by sale ,m eiey 0c. ae,+ ao a.a o. Na o.on
oN os°c• ppn. ,s.a la -1.5 O.Na o.ov
mId-1970, 95°fo Of the SNAP Pu-238 Was deposited On the w alee•aa«, m. ».x n :.a o.oN o.0v
resccecl a«..° »s » l.s o.ma o. all
Earth's Surface. IL was Important t0 find OU[ hOW It Was au sw«, m. ».x N l.x 0.e» 0.0»
distributed and to record the gro7md deposit. Knowledge of 0° oueafe• e.°- as.a ua x.a e.oN o, a>
x«« sarw ssa i.s e,0aa 0.01.
- the fate of this debris is pertinent to studies of nuclear explosions 0° nun. x. x as o. n o1a o, m1
M!1•t« Lb[. ll.a N La 0.0» 0.011
a the upper atmosphere and the use of nuclear power sources x100•,111., - s » o.» o. oa. 0.oa
oar. aro, rase., eta. v.s xa: t.o °,oN e. ms
171 spaCC. r w1•es• s•r. M.x a o.w o.ou o. ms
L7 October 1970 tmtil January 1971, 65 sites around the ~(voN«.•e.a. war 10pe•1°"LLa io:i b'!a o:ia o: owoa o: ~i
world were sampled by HASL personnel and scientists from a„era• .eaee. 1a o.» o. wa i0. non
other wuatries; soils were collected from undisttubed areas. s°+e«• e«a•o•..•
Each sample consisted of ten 8.9 ctn diameter cores taken to
x«r• 1+vee• t.a N a.u o.ou °.oss
30 cat depth, representing a surface area of 622 sq. cm. The le«u rl« 1.5 n. e.u e. olo o. m,
measured Pu-238 included that from weapons testing plus r.~ lo."M°'aa. 1 i:i ii oo°:esa o°: o~ox o: o~oa
the SNAP-9A contribution. The Pu-239,240 was assumed t0 u.l a o.» o. oea o. ol!
ac.as.u. nave. 1a.a 1« o.° o. m, o. ma
be entirely derived from weapons testing. rw.ra.c. srwl• u.l lm ~o.u o.oN o. ms
«m«t. e.aa.e°y v., n e.la o.aN o. ox:
]n order to meassue the total Pu-238 with a counting error a•.er.1a. Are..au. a.: 11+ o.1a o.oa o. oft
(G) of less than OI CQUSI to t 10% 1,000 g aliquots of soil °a,,,,°1,°° ~
.,o,,,, ;o;; 1;; o:;; ms a: e,i
' - -wee required. M acid kaCh771g prOOedUrelO USCd t0 Y«al w N ae.a° _ n.! 1« a. a1 e. ass o-1«
w«u aer« sa «a• n,a e.N e.01a 0.a»
accommodak this large size sample was found to be equally •..o.aa. aaa« asraes• ,a., as o. nos o-mx
b A[[le• Mtsb x1,0 ,f 0.» O.OM 0.051
efficimN' to complete dissolution. r«.as« ra.l~es e..ae.e ».o ° o. as o.oN
- The soil data arc given in Table 1. The weapons Pu-238 „'°,v
is. r~«ea.~ ii:i 1101 au o:oio o:oNl
' -contnbution was obtained by multiplying the Pu-239,240 a«•a.w ».s x o.» o.oos +•°a'
e. atra« ae•11•eueem ,0 e.K o.0a
-vetoes by 0.024 (the average weapons Pu-238 to Pu-239,240 a..c..w .,a..r ».o lu o.a o.eu o.oso
atati0 -found for six ao0s Collected before fallout from the ""°sa° o'!°O' e1r u.e » o.« o. o1a a:o»
r wa.ea x. a.alw af.a ' 1» e.» o. olo o.aet
3NAP-9A). These sotlt were sleeted to cover a range Of aN1•ar ».a a o.» o.ao.
-le•ti•11• «mer• sa.a tm o.u e.ou
ladtudea from 71° N t0 33° S and the standard deviation Of natl. ...1« rea al.f 1N e. se e. nos °.0s,
thu''pvtrage ratio was 12° The SNAP•9A Pu-238 is '°`1'1" a1.s u a.x o.ooa °a'
f /o• r ra.ea orgawu u.s a« e.s, o.ma o. ale
-[hGn %~ply fhC d$ellnCG betWxn the total IDeasurtd Pn-238 r wa°a o, eress«r u.a s, o. r. e. oo, o. °+s
and thrweapoas Pu-238. °*s' .°ea_a.... u.s as te.vt te.ooN re. man
-
~i
'NATURE VOL. 241' FEBRUARY 18 1973 ~ - - ~ ~ - ~ - ~ 446 -
la 2 Average lathudinal Distribut, of Cumulative Pu-239,240 o VOkhok, H. L., IEC Report HASL•127, 1 (1970).
T~ and Pu-238 Faudui Hardy E., and :y, P. W., Prue. Finbon. Platonium Symp.,
LA•4736 (1971).
~ a 10 Chu, N. Y., Atm/. Chem., 43, 449 (1971).
mCi r k~ 238 t' Hardy, E. P., Krey, P. W., and Volehok, H. L., USAEC Report
H°~- lot' HASL-250 (1972).
sphere band° Pu-239,240 Weapons SNAP•9A Harley, J. H., Proc. Fmiron. P/uronium Symp., LA-0756 (1971).
plor[hern 80-7U (0.36±0.05) (0.009±0.001) (<0.001)
70-60 1.6 ±1.0 0.038±0.025 0.026±0.015
60-50 1.3 ±0.2 0.031±0.004 0.013±0.004
50-40 2.2 ±0.5 0.053±0.011 0.026±0.011
40-30 l.a ±0.6 o.oaz±o.ola o.ozs±o.ols EleCtroII Microscopy of
30.20 0.96±0.07 0.0]3±0.002 O.oll±0.004
zo-lo o.za±o.lo 0.0o6±o.ao2 o.ao3+o.ooz MOIIOlIIO1CCU11I Layers
Io-o 0.13±0.06 o.ao3±o.001 <o.aol of Thorium Atoms
5ou[hern 0.10 0.30±0.20 0.007±0.005 0.010±0.007
10.20 0.18±0.05 0.004±0.001 0.036±0.021 LNACFS of heavy atoms in single molecules have recently been
20.30 0.39±0.16 O.IXN±0.004 0.070±0.042 obtained with scanning transmission electron microscopes as
t 30--00 0.40±0.12 0.009±0.003 0.06]±0.020 well as conventional electron microscopes in both bright and
40-50 0.35±0.21 0.008±0.003 0.069±0.038 dazk-field o ration[-`. Because of the random orientation
50.60 (0.20±0.09) (0.005±0.002) (0.044±0.023) Pe
60.10 (0.10±0.04) (0.002±0.001) (0.022±0.012) of isolated molecules on the specimen support, only a few of
70-80 (0.03±0.01) (0.001 ±0.001) (0.008±0.005) them show the true interatomic distances in parallel projection.
80.90 (0.01±0.004) (<0:0p1) (0.004±0.002) A)so molecules coWd stack ilteroselve during preparation.
Finally, the limited depth of focus of electron microsco
Results in parentheses were derived by extrapolation; error terns Ace at
are standard deviations. 100 kV when viewing atoms' makce it necessary to obtain a Hat
specunen.
slight rise in the Southern Hemisphere temperate zone which, To overcome these diflicultie it is aeccesary to prepaze
at its peak, is about one-fifth of the Northern Hemisphere monomoleculaz films 6-30 A thick. Such monolayers of atoms
maximum. The SNAP-9A Pu-238 has an entirely different can be formed on ligttid-air interfaces in Langmuir troughs
distribution pattern. Most of the SNAP debris has deposited and it is possible to obtain different molecular structures with
in the Southern Hemisphere where the maximum fallout is the molecule tagged with heavy atoms. For electron micro-
2.5 times that in the Northern Hemisphere. -
Tabla3 Inventory of Pu-239,240 and Pu-238 Fallout ~ -
kCi deposited -
Pu-238
Pu-239,240 Weapons SNAP-9A - 1
- Northern Hemisphere 256±33 6.1±0.8 3.1±0.6 TE - ~0 Oi0~
Southern Hcmispbere 69±14 1.6±0.3 10.8±2.1
Global 325±36 7.7±0.9 13.9±21 ~ O/ 1" O ~
O O
ac• Q
The average and extrapolated activities per sgttare km fot
each ten degree latitude band were multiplied by the latitude ~i
band area to calculate the total deposit in kCi. Theo. values M
- were then surnmed to obtain the inventories in Table 3. The
errors were propagated by conventional means.
The total Pu-239 deposit was 326±36 kCi and the weapons
' Pu-238, 7.1±0.9 kCi. Ottr estimate of the SNAP-9A Pu-238 " ~ ~ ` ~ ~ ~ '
deposit, 13.9±2.2 kCi, is in reasonable agrcement with the 10 ZO 30 40 50
16 kCi we would expect to have fallen out based on the strato- ~ A2(molecule
. spheric inventory. Over 75°,0 of the total SNAP Pu-238 deposit
is in the Southern Hemisphere whereas only about 20% of the FYe• 1 Isotherm of thorium-bexafluoracetylacetonate at 3° C.
t total weapons Pu-238 fallout occurred in that hemisphere. P•o.c., Point of collapse.
This accidential release of Pu-238 almost tripled the global
deposit of this plutonium isotope by 1970. The distributions emtrast trmst'ar
and inventories of the weapons Pu-238 and Pu-239,240 are in
reasonable agreement with estimates based on Sr-90 deposition 10096
and Pu-239,240 to Sr-90 ratio measurements".
E. P. F txDV
P. W. Kaev 50%
H. L. Vo[,cttott
Health and Safety Laboratory,
US Atomic Energy Com»ursion, ~ y
.Vew York, New York 10014 t [
t t
Received October 3; revised November 3, 1972. • - - vv 3~G,~ '3f~:~
Finney, J. W., New York Times, May 24 (1964). v` i
' Hazley, J. H., USAEC Report HASL-149, 138 (1964). ~ _
Korsrnayer, R B., Nuclear Safety,-S, 303 (Summer, 1964). ~%-~`~tv° fmttsler '
` Krey, P. W., Science, 158, 169 (1967). IWIehOtt
a., ' Tekgadas, K., USAEC Report HASL-104, 1 (1969).
w ° Feely, H. W., Friend, J. P., Seitz, H., Martin, J. D, and Erlcback, Fig. 2 Phase contrast transfu functions for C,=1.32 mm, C.=
W. E., DASH 2/66-3, March (1971). 1.62 mm, 1L=0.037 A (100 kV) and Maxwellian velocity dis[ri-
r Kleittman, M. T., USAEC Report HASL-245, 1 p971). button at T=2,900 K.
.--ti