For what it's worth this brine is potentially a monster source of lithium.
How is that relevant to the story about workers being exposed to brine, not being told it's radioactive and everyone is acting casually around waste management around brine?
Oil-and-gas wells produce radioactive waste
11–20 of 109 posts
Re: Oil-and-gas wells produce radioactive waste
#12"Radium, typically the most abundant radionuclide in brine, is often measured in picocuries per liter of substance and is so dangerous it’s subject to tight restrictions even at hazardous-waste sites. The most common isotopes are radium-226 and radium-228, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission requires industrial discharges to remain below 60 for each. Four of Peter’s samples registered combined radium levels above 3…
Nice to see some numbers. Lot's of articles leave out numbers, which really matter in thing like radiation where the detectable level is sometimes many orders of magnitude below the hazardous level. Ra-226 is mostly an alpha emitter and can't reach you through a piece of paper. Don't drink it though. Ra-228 is primarily a beta emitter which can't go through a metal tank. Also don't drink it.
> Ra-226 is mostly an alpha emitter and can't reach you through a piece of paper. Don't drink it though. Ra-228 is primarily a beta emitter which can't go through a metal tank. Also don't drink it.
What about being in constant contact with the skin via let's say you have a bit of it your shoes?
> the rest of the uniform hardly offers protection from brine. “It’s all over your hands, and inside your boots, and on the cuticles of your toes, and any cuts you have — you’re soaked,” he says.
Re: Oil-and-gas wells produce radioactive waste
#13Technically speaking they released concentrated naturally-occurring radioactive materials (NORMs). I only emphasize this because most people don't know how much radioactive stuff is natural. Doesn't mean it's not a hazard in concentration, of course.
Sounds like you're trying to correct something that is already correct in the article, as soon as in paragraph 4.
> The Earth’s crust is in fact peppered with radioactive elements that concentrate deep underground in oil-and-gas-bearing layers. This radioactivity is often pulled to the surface when oil and gas is extracted — carried largely in the brine.
Re: Oil-and-gas wells produce radioactive waste
#14Now measure coal waste.
There's a lot. A lot more than I imagined according to a DOE seminar I sat through.
It's interesting because an incredibly small fraction of coal (coal varies a reasonable amount in composition across geological regions) contains various radioactive isotopes with long high-lifes.
When you burn/combust coal, especially without care and consideration in the process, a lot of these small components are released in the air as particulates.
Now at first thought, it doesn't seem like much (were talking 1ppm/1ppb or less levels in some cases depending on the coal type/geological area), but when you consider the entire volume of coal combusted worldwide, that small fraction turns out to be more radioactive waste than is produced by all controlled nuclear energy in the world at the time (about 8-10 years ago).
I wish I still had the slide set with all the reference material and derivations.
Re: Oil-and-gas wells produce radioactive waste
#15Technically speaking they released concentrated naturally-occurring radioactive materials (NORMs). I only emphasize this because most people don't know how much radioactive stuff is natural. Doesn't mean it's not a hazard in concentration, of course.
Sounds like you're trying to correct something that is already correct in the article, as soon as in paragraph 4. > The Earth’s crust is in fact peppered with radioactive elements that concentrate deep underground in oil-and-gas-bearing layers. This radioactivity is often pulled to the surface when oil and gas is extracted — carried largely in the brine.
The article does a good job. I'm referring to the headline. For example, nuclear reactors produce radioactive material by fissioning barely-radioactive uranium into highly-radioactive fission products but take great care to not release it. Fracking releases naturally-occurring radioactive materials.
Also: "is peppered with" does not imply naturally-occurring. Someone biased to think all radiation is man-made could easily assume it's from us dumping waste.
Re: Oil-and-gas wells produce radioactive waste
#16For what it's worth this brine is potentially a monster source of lithium.
How is that relevant to the story about workers being exposed to brine, not being told it's radioactive and everyone is acting casually around waste management around brine?
I found it interesting. Maybe there’s an avenue to better remediation via using the waste as feeder to another chemical process, which ends in more value?
Re: Oil-and-gas wells produce radioactive waste
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
Nice to see some numbers. Lot's of articles leave out numbers, which really matter in thing like radiation where the detectable level is sometimes many orders of magnitude below the hazardous level. Ra-226 is mostly an alpha emitter and can't reach you through a piece of paper. Don't drink it though. Ra-228 is primarily a beta emitter which can't go through a metal tank. Also don't drink it.
> Ra-226 is mostly an alpha emitter and can't reach you through a piece of paper. Don't drink it though. Ra-228 is primarily a beta emitter which can't go through a metal tank. Also don't drink it. What about being in constant contact with the skin via let's say you have a bit of it your shoes? > the rest of the uniform hardly offers protection from brine. “It’s all over your hands, and inside your boots, and on the…
Alpha particles generally cannot penetrate the skin, much less clothing or shoes. Betas can get through skin but probably not shoes. There is some energy dependence. Secondary decays and energy transitions often emit gamma rays as well which can go through everything, but the majority of the energy with these nuclides are alphas and betas.
These are primarily dangerous because they're water soluble and present an ingestion and inhalation hazard. Once a large amount of a strong alpha-emitter is in your intestines it can really cause damage.
Re: Oil-and-gas wells produce radioactive waste
#18"Radium, typically the most abundant radionuclide in brine, is often measured in picocuries per liter of substance and is so dangerous it’s subject to tight restrictions even at hazardous-waste sites. The most common isotopes are radium-226 and radium-228, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission requires industrial discharges to remain below 60 for each. Four of Peter’s samples registered combined radium levels above 3…
Nice to see some numbers. Lot's of articles leave out numbers, which really matter in thing like radiation where the detectable level is sometimes many orders of magnitude below the hazardous level. Ra-226 is mostly an alpha emitter and can't reach you through a piece of paper. Don't drink it though. Ra-228 is primarily a beta emitter which can't go through a metal tank. Also don't drink it.
Did you read the article? it already mentions how its wrong to say its not harmful. You are making it sound like its harmless. Are you astroturfing?
Re: Oil-and-gas wells produce radioactive waste
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Ra-226 is mostly an alpha emitter and can't reach you through a piece of paper. Don't drink it though. Ra-228 is primarily a beta emitter which can't go through a metal tank. Also don't drink it. What about being in constant contact with the skin via let's say you have a bit of it your shoes? > the rest of the uniform hardly offers protection from brine. “It’s all over your hands, and inside your boots, and on the…
Alpha particles generally cannot penetrate the skin, much less clothing or shoes. Betas can get through skin but probably not shoes. There is some energy dependence. Secondary decays and energy transitions often emit gamma rays as well which can go through everything, but the majority of the energy with these nuclides are alphas and betas. These are primarily dangerous because they're water soluble and present an ing…
> These are primarily dangerous because they're water soluble and present an ingestion and inhalation hazard. Once a large amount of a strong alpha-emitter is in your intestines it can really cause damage.
So since the workers are getting it all over their hands and feet, which probably has sweat on it, would it pose a danger? Also, would getting it on wounds like cuts be dangerous as well?
Re: Oil-and-gas wells produce radioactive waste
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
How is that relevant to the story about workers being exposed to brine, not being told it's radioactive and everyone is acting casually around waste management around brine?
I found it interesting. Maybe there’s an avenue to better remediation via using the waste as feeder to another chemical process, which ends in more value?
Me too, but it's hardy relevant to the subject of the article, which is about contamination and people being affected by it, and the industry not taking the necessary precautions when dealing with waste.