High radiation found in wells outside limits of Test Site

Wednesday, March 1, 2000 | 10:58 a.m.

Nye County experts have discovered radiation in ground water outside the boundary of the Nevada Test Site that is 25 times higher than the federal drinking water limit.

Nye County officials announced today that they are investigating the source and the type of radiation that is causing the reading in one of eight wells that act as an early warning system to detect radiation that may be escaping the Test Site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Nye County Commissioner Jeff Taguchi said the reading on one well monitor may be a mistake. It could also come from radiation naturally occurring in Southern Nevada's rocks, he said.

"Scientists are trying to determine a source, whether it is from nuclear testing or a natural source," Taguchi said. "In the interest of public health and safety, we are informing the public about this preliminary finding."

Les Bradshaw, director of the county's nuclear waste division, and Nye County Manager Jerry McKnight were meeting today to map out a detailed plan for further studies.

The wells, designed to detect radiation from 928 nuclear warhead experiments conducted at the Test Site from 1951 to 1992, also would serve to detect any radiation coming from a proposed high-level nuclear waste repository being studied at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Yucca Mountain is the only site in the nation being considered as a repository for 77,000 tons of highly radioactive waste from commercial nuclear reactors and defense activities.

Farmers and ranchers living downstream from the Test Site have expressed concern that radiation could seep into the ground water that grows crops and supports Nevada's largest dairy, Ponderosa Dairy.

Neither the DOE's Nevada Operations Office nor the Yucca Mountain Project Office had heard of the preliminary finding, and DOE tests have not found any radiation in Nevada ground water.

"This is interesting to us," DOE spokeswoman Nancy Harkess said after learning of the report. "The DOE and the county have the same goal to protect the public. This is important to us."