A Senior Engineer/Scientist/Tech Officer for Ontario Power Generation recently sent out a call for participants in what I think is a very cool program:
Do You Grow Fruits, Vegetables or Use Well Water?
If you live within 10 km of the Darlington or Pickering sites and grow fruits, vegetables or use well water as a drinking source, then our Environment Programs Department is looking for your support.
As part of the Radiological Environmental Monitoring Program (REMP), samples of air, rain water, drinking water, soil, fruits, vegetables and fish are taken in the communities around the Pickering and Darlington stations. These samples and their analyses are used to assess the dose impact to the public resulting from operations of our stations (which is quite low and well below regulatory limits).
Since the inception of this program, we have relied on the support of local residents to provide the above mentioned samples. Over the years, there have been new subdivisions built in previously uninhabited areas and therefore additional sample locations are desired to better represent these areas. Also, due to the mobility of local community members we are always looking for new participants to replace those who have moved out of the areas.
To that end, we are seeking participants who live within 10 km of Darlington or Pickering Station and can provide us with:
- Annual samples of fruits and/or vegetables grown from their own garden, and/or
- Monthly samples of well water that are used as a drinking source—sample bottle will be provided.
All samples will be collected by an OPG Health Physics Laboratory technologist during working hours with advanced arrangement of pick-up times.
The results are published every April 30 in an annual REMP report to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC). All names, addresses and contact information are confidential and will not be published. Participants will receive a letter every June summarizing the public dose impact in your area and a small token of appreciation.
I contacted the name provided, indicating an interest in participating, since I live within the desired radius at about 6 km from the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station. I haven’t really thought too much about the impact living near a nuclear generating station has on the food that is grown and eaten in this region, but participating in this program is likely to bring about some awareness on that front. I’ll be sure to share my findings here!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
That’s so cool! What a great program. Not many people realize the extent of the environmental monitoring that goes on around the nuclear plants. For example, did you know they routinely pick up road-kill to test radiation levels in wildlife?
And in case you (or anyone reading this) are worried about what the results will be: I would be incredibly shocked if anything you grow measures much above background levels of radiation.
What a fun program. I wish I lived closer to Pickering so I could participate!
Mel
@Melamalie, I’m still not sure if the program will need us to participate…they might already have enough coverage in our neighbourhood. We’ll see!