Talk:Vera, Spain
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Spain Program Palomares, Spain
On January 17, 1966, two U.S. Air Force planes collided during a mid-air refueling near the coast of Palomares, Spain. Two nuclear weapons fell into the sea, and two broke up on the ground. The non-nuclear detonations of two of the weapons dispersed plutonium contamination across 558 acres. The U.S. Department of Defense remediated the site within weeks of the accident. Since that time, DOE and its predecessor Agencies have funded a portion of the costs of environmental monitoring of the area and medical surveillance of the residents and, when requested, provided scientific and technical assistance.
The Hall Otero Agreement of 1966 mandated the program between the United States and Spain. The major goal of this agreement is the investigation of various health and safety aspects of plutonium contamination in an arid rural environment.
In 1996, Centro de Investigaciones Enérgeticas, Medioambientales y Technológicas (CIEMAT) finished an estimation of new plutonium inventory in the valley close to the impact point of the second bomb, which suggested the presence of significant residual contamination 5 times higher than the previous estimation.
In 1997, DOE signed a 10-year Implementing Arrangement to conduct further studies with CIEMAT, DOE's counterpart in Spain. Annex I of the Implementing Arrangement specifies that CIEMAT will have the primary responsibility, and DOE will support CIEMAT, as appropriate, in conducting related activities.
A program review conducted in 1998, after nearly 34 years of program operations, recommended the continuation of the program.
Since 1966, approximately 150 residents of Palomares receive complete physical examinations and radio-bioassays of plutonium collected in urine each year. The study, so far, involves a total of 1029 people who received more than 4,000 medical and dosimetric examinations. Results from medical examinations do not show morbidity induced by radioactive agents. About 5 percent of the people studied had positive values for plutonium at no significant risk levels.
Radioactivity levels in most food products do not exceed lower limits of detection. Plutonium levels in the air also show low concentration values well within internationally acceptable limits.
The present socio-economic situation of the Palomares area is one of continuous and growing economic development that involves high technical agricultural practices and a strong and stable development of tourism. This situation, together with the higher plutonium inventory estimate mentioned above, could lead to a change in the radiological exposure of the population. For this reason, from 1998 to 2002, CIEMAT took steps to purchase land parcels (about 23 acres) to restrict the use of land that showed residual contamination. In addition, the Spanish nuclear regulatory body, Consejo de Seguridad Nuclear, accepted CIEMAT's research plan in December 2003. The Spanish Government approved the research plan in 2004, and CIEMAT started the land expropriation process.
The research plan has two main phases: the first is an intensive surface radiation survey; and the second is a 3-dimensional radiological mapping of the expropriated lands.
In September 2005, DOE and Spanish Government representatives met in Madrid to analyze the current socio-economic reality of Palomares and decided on a joint effort to achieve a resolution of the radiological situation in Palomares. Consequently, DOE and CIEMAT signed Project Annex II, an agreement to develop a 3-dimensional radiation survey of Palomares' residual contaminated zones and final radiological management of these zones, as established in the research plan approved by the Spanish Government. CIEMAT will consider site restoration options upon completion of the survey in 2-3 years. This cooperation allows a move forward toward achievement of the final resolution for the Palomares accident site.
CIEMAT contact for Palomares project information:
Ms. Isabel Redondo Director, Unity of Communication and Public Relations, CIEMAT Phone: +34 913466355 Fax: + 34 913466740 E-mail: isabel.redondo@ciemat.es
CIEMAT contact: Teresa Mendizábal Director Energetic, Environmental and Technological Research Center, CIEMAT Avda. Complutense, 22 28040, Madrid, Spain Tel: +34 91 346 67 13 Fax: +34 91 346 67 14
DOE contact:
Mohandas Bhat Office of International Health Studies U.S. Department of Energy Phone: (301) 903-1719 Fax: (301) 903-1413 Email: mohandas.bhat@hq.doe.gov
Link to CIEMAT: http://www.ciemat.es/
87.223.247.52 08:23, 1 July 2007 (UTC)Pedro I hope it helps in the development of the truth.
[edit] Interwiki
Please ensure that interwiki links do not point to articles that they should not. I fixed it now, across all languages. FractalFusion 03:01, 13 November 2007 (UTC)
