March 28, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

No radioactive waste problem found at Loring AFB storage sites

LIMESTONE — A study of radioactive waste sites at Loring Air Force Base’s weapons storage area found only naturally occurring levels of radioactivity, according to a report released Tuesday.

Tom Hess of the University of Maine’s Department of Physics and Astronomy presented the information to the Loring Readjustment Committee’s Environmental Committee.

Officials took 55 soil samples, 15 water samples and fish samples from a lake near the weapons storage area in east Loring, according to Charles Connell, Loring Readjustment Committee’s program director.

“The report confirms the premise we have been working on, that the only problem was a very low level of radioactive waste,” said Connell. “Beyond that, the report indicates, with a great assurity, that there are no other problems out there in that area.”

The results of the study concluded that no unknown waste sites exist and that material in the known sites is not mobile, the report said. The radioactivity at Loring AFB was consistent for Maine, said Hess.

“In our analysis, we found all the naturally occurring radionuclides (radioactive nuclides) samples and samples from the storage area,” said Hess. “Although this background appears slightly higher than in other areas of the state, it does not represent anything out of the ordinary.”

As an example, Hess explained that a comparison of Loring AFB samples with samples from Alfred, in southern Maine, showed an almost identical concentration of radionuclides.

Results from specific samples from within the storage area showed that there were no weapons material present. Water samples indicated no weapons material either, with the exception of amounts of tritium, according to the study.

“Our analysis showed small amount of both radium-226 and uranium-235. These results are consistent with the fact that the site is a low-level nuclear waste site,” Hess said. He said the soil and sediment samples were examined for gamma radiation.

The purpose of the study was to characterize the radiological background for the area, to determine if unknown low-level radioactive waste storage areas existed and to determine if the radioactive waste present was mobile, said Hess.


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