By J.W. AHLEN and CHARLES R. BURNS
Dr. Ahlen, a bioengineer, is the Illinois Legislative Council's legislative staff scientist. Mr. Burns, a political scientist, is a research associate on the Council aff. The two men often function as a team on problems involving a mix of scientific and political considerations.

Hazards of plutonium, lethal by-product of nuclear power

8 State agencies are involved with proper handling of nuclear materials, but no one agency has ultimate responsibility for plutonium, and authority over shipment is termed 'practically nonexistent'

ILLINOIS has the largest investment in nuclear powered electric generating plants in the United States. Illinois' seven nuclear power plants (eight other plants are proposed) account for roughly 35 per cent of the electric power generated in Illinois. This "nuclear commitment" means that radioactive residue from nuclear power plants is being added to the list of hazardous materials that are transported, stored, and processed in the State.

The operation of a nuclear power plant is not simple, but the ingredients required to generate electric power, and the resulting by-products are simple and lew. Fuel (generally some form of uranium) and water for cooling the plant are the ingredients. Besides electricity, enormous amounts of hot water and fuel residue are produced. The term "fuel residue" does not convey the problematic nature of the most significant part of this residue— radioactive plutonium.

Minute quantities can cause cancer
Plutonium is a metal which is one and one-half times as heavy as lead. It is silver-colored, becoming yellow when it "rusts." Plutonium exists in nature in only very small quantities, but nuclear power plants can manufacture large quantities of this radioactive material. Yellow plutonium "rust" is a powder which can be carried in the air and easily inhaled into the lungs. Once in the lungs, plutonium is extremely toxic-Small amounts may cause quick death, and minute quantities can be lethal because of its cancer-producing radiation. In the lungs, plutonium dust causes inflammation that leads to swelling, hemorrhage, and death of the lung tissue. Death from suffocation can occur within weeks of the first exposure. Over a period of years, radiation from tiny amounts of plutonium embedded in the lungs can be responsible for the development of malignant tumors.

Plutonium is the material used in the atom bomb which destroyed Nagasaki at the close of World War II. Properly detonated, a sphere of plutonium no larger than a tennis ball can achieve "critical mass," and explode as an atomic bomb. Crude bombs can be fashioned from as little as 22 pounds of plutonium, but more sophisticated devices only require about 10 pounds of plutonium to cause a nuclear blast.

Homemade bombs not impossible
With seven nuclear power plants now operating in Illinois, the State is confronted with the presence of increasing quantities of a highly poisonous and explosive substance within its borders. Federal and State regulatory agencies must ensure that no one steals enough plutonium to detonate a homemade bomb or to blackmail the population by threatening to release plulonium into the atmosphere.

The processes involved in the chemical separation of plutonium from the nuclear fuel residue and the subsequent fabrication of a crude plutonium bomb are by no means simple, but mastering the techniques is not beyond the capabilities of an intelligent and determined individual. Even if individuals who were not able to make a bomb were to obtain plutonium, the threat of releasing quantities of plutonium dust into the atmosphere would present a critical problem.

Plutonium is being generated daily as nuclear fuel residue in the power plants operating in Illinois. Because the federal government no longer purchases all of the plutonium produced, nuclear fuel residue from Illinois power plants is being transported and stored for future use under industrial supervision. The

Illinois Issues/February 1975/39