Rocketdyne Well Shows Radioactivity

Federal officials have found high levels of radioactivity in deep groundwater at Boeing’s Rocketdyne field lab near Simi Valley, the site of a partial nuclear meltdown 45 years ago.

Although the contamination poses no risk to the public or the environment, officials said, the discovery of tritium, a radioactive form of hydrogen, warrants further testing to determine the scope of the problem.

The finding is significant because it could affect how the 2,700-acre site perched on a plateau in the Simi Hills is used in the future. Boeing Co., which owns the lab, wants to clean up the property and sell it, possibly to a housing developer.

“It means there’s more that needs to be done,” said Majelle Lee, a Boeing program manager. “They’ll have to drill more wells and do more testing.”

Groundwater samples taken in March by the U.S. Department of Energy showed tritium at 80,000 picocuries per liter, or four times the national drinking water limit. The contamination was caused by nuclear research conducted at the Santa Susana Field Lab.

But Energy Department Project Manager Mike Lopez said there was no reason to believe that the tritium, found in a deep well drilled into the bedrock, would harm people, animals or plants. He said the radioactive material had a half-life of 12 years, which means it would degrade to safe standards in 25 years.

Working on behalf of the federal government, Rocketdyne conducted nuclear testing on a 90-acre portion of the field lab from the 1950s to the late 1980s. The work included operation of small nuclear test reactors and recycling of spent fuel from nuclear fuel rods.

Although it was not widely publicized until 20 years later, a test reactor suffered a partial meltdown at the site in 1959. The company said later that there had been no danger to the public or workers.

But disclosure in 1989 of lingering, low-level contamination from past nuclear projects sparked a furor and led Rocketdyne to halt nuclear research there the next year. However, rocket engine testing is still conducted at the lab site.

The Energy Department-funded cleanup of buildings, soil and groundwater tainted by chemical and radioactive contamination is continuing in the energy research area.

Tritium was found in 1991 at the Brandeis Bardin Institute, a Jewish retreat on the lab’s western edge. The highest level was 5,400 picocuries per liter, well below the EPA’s limit of 20,000.

Water at Rocketdyne is not used for drinking, but the EPA standard serves as a comparison.

The contaminant was discovered again in 1993 in soil samples from Brandeis Bardin but at levels considered safe.

Boeing officials said they were not surprised by the latest finding because the samples were taken from deep wells close to where scientists once conducted nuclear research.

“This discovery supports the model that says the contamination doesn’t move far from the source,” Lee said. “The off-site samples have all been clean. We’re finding the highest concentrations at the source.”

Lopez said the public had no reason to fear that the tritium-tainted water would travel downhill from the lab to residential areas below, because the water was trapped deep in the rock under the lab. “It isn’t going anywhere,” he said.

However, anti-nuclear activist Dan Hirsch said he found it hard to believe that radioactive material was showing up at unsafe levels only now, considering that the cleanup had been going on for 15 years.

“It makes you wonder what else they’ve been missing,” said Hirsch, president of the Committee to Bridge the Gap.

The Energy Department will hold a public meeting Thursday in Simi Valley to discuss the findings. It will start at 6:30 p.m. at the Rancho Santa Susana Community Center, 5005 Los Angeles Ave.