Opinion ID: 61649
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Radiation Releases.

Text: FPL began operations at its St. Lucie nuclear power plant (“the Plant”) near Port St. Lucie, Florida, in 1976. During construction of the Plant in 1975, a wash trough, or “sink,” was incorrectly plumbed in the radiation control area. Unbeknownst to FPL, the sink diverted its wastewater directly into the standard sanitary sewage system. In 1978, the Plant began using the incorrectly-plumbed sink to rinse items such as respirators and mops, which had been exposed to radiation. From 1978 to 1979, the Plant’s standard sewage was deposited into a septic tank that was emptied daily and shipped by truck to the Fort Pierce Sewage Treatment Plant. In December 1979, the Plant started an on-site sewage treatment facility. On January 8, 1982, and June 22, 1982, sludge from the on-site sewage treatment facility was transported to unoccupied farmland located near “Glades Cutoff” road (“the Glades Cutoff site”). The sludge was dispersed onto a field at the Glades Cutoff site, which was licensed and regulated, but only for the disposal of non-radioactive sewage sludge. On September 10, 1982, the incorrectly-plumbed sink clogged, and FPL subsequently discovered the original plumbing error. FPL notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (“NRC”), the Florida Office of Radiation Control, and the 3 Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services (“FDHRS”) about the error and unmonitored disposals. FDHRS took soil and grass samples from various locations at the Glades Cutoff site. The presence of Cobalt-60, a radionuclide, was measured and recorded. NRC also took samples, and an aerial survey was performed by helicopter. FPL then removed contaminated soil from the Glades Cutoff site. Over the next two weeks, more samples were taken and additional contaminated soil was removed. In October 1982, FDHRS concluded: Based on the decontamination limit of five (5) picocuries per gram [pCi/g] averaged over one square meter . . . Florida Power and Light Company has achieved adequate decontamination. Post clean up maximum activities’ levels were no greater than one-half the decontamination limit. These data were from samples taken at the sites of greatest gamma exposure levels remaining after the decontamination. NRC opined: “it is unlikely that anyone received a measurable radiation dose.”