If the lesion is not repaired, the cell can eventually divide and be carcinogenic. Therefore the body can accumulate large amounts of radiation over time without responding. Yankee Rowe reactor, routinely released radioactive waste into the Deerfield River. Citizens were shocked. Children swim in that river.
Agricultural land is adjacent to it.
In drought, farmers pump water from the river to irrigate their crops. The river is used for white-water rafting. Spit and spume from the rapids are dispersed into the air. Due to faulty fuel rods, over 20,000 curies of tritium, a dangerous enviro-toxin, were released during the 1960's and1970's. Before 1965, there was no requirement to quantify the amount of tritium released and therefore large, early releases are unrecorded.