Dickerson Power Plant Pollution? (Baltimore, Germantown: houses, to buy, university)

[BornToFly]

In the process of looking for property to buy, I came across some in southern Frederick county that looked like an ideal location for us. However, in doing some further research on the area (I've never been there,) I kept coming across references to the Dickerson Power Plant and the pollution of the area around it with arsenic and mercury. Trying to find more information on the actual impact to the area nearby and any continued issues related to it since the coal operations were ended, I am coming up with next to nothing useful to me in deciding whether the issues are significant enough to stay away from the area or not. Does anyone know more about this other than what I've found, which is simply the fact that the operators were found to be using unsafe practices that caused the release of pollutants into the environment.

Another thing that's confusing to me is I was quite sure I read something about Dickerson involving a decommissioned nuclear reactor where again there were questionable activities by the operators resulting in the workers, their vehicles, homes, and surrounding area testing as radioactive, but now that I am looking for more information on that, I am coming up with nothing. I can't even find any nuclear reactor ever having been registered in that area, around Dickerson. Does anyone here know if there was? I'd love to get to the library but realistically that's not going to happen so I figured I'd ask here in case locals have more information.

[North Beach Person]

The only nuke plant in Maryland is down below me in Southern Maryland (Calvert Cliffs). While it's had some issues, mostly over procedures and a couple safety ones not related to the reactor, over the years nothing entailed any radioactivity leaking or found in the surrounding environment.

[G1..]

Originally Posted by North Beach Person

The only nuke plant in Maryland is down below me in Southern Maryland (Calvert Cliffs). While it's had some issues, mostly over procedures and a couple safety ones not related to the reactor, over the years nothing entailed any radioactivity leaking or found in the surrounding environment.

Just some info for anyone...................

https://www.constellationenergy.com/...rt-cliffs.html


U.S. nuclear energy facilities are initially licensed to operate for 40 years and a Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) rule allows licensees to apply for initial and subsequent license renewals of up to 20 years each after the initial 40-year term. The NRC approved initial license renewal on March 23, 2000, authorizing Calvert Cliffs Unit 1 to operate through 2034 and Unit 2 to operate through 2036.

[Upminster-1]

I would not worry about arsenic or mercury. I would worry about PM-10 and PM-2.5 as Dickerson has three coal-fired units. And while modern technology takes out almost all of the larger particulate matter ( PM-10 ), there is still enough that gets into the air to disperse. So it depends on how close you are, what are the prevailing winds, and the humidity ( high humidity generally means it won't travel as far ). Ingesting PM-10 is not pleasant, but likely won't kill you. Ingesting PM-2.5 is much worse, and it will travel longer distances. But given dispersal over a large area, probably not a big threat.

From Wikipedia:

"The facility consists of three 182 MW coal-fired steam generating plants, two 147 MW gas and oil-fired simple cycle combustion turbines, and one 13 MW black start and peaking turbine. The three coal-fired units are base-loaded and went into operation in 1959, 1960, and 1962 respectively.[1] Condenser cooling for these units is accomplished with once-through cooling water from the Potomac River at a rate of up to 400 million US gallons (1,500,000 m3) per day. Coal is delivered to the Dickerson Generating Station by CSX Transportation train. The two combustion turbines are General Electric Frame 7F gas turbines which went into operation in 1992 and 1993, and are normally fired with natural gas from a Consolidated Natural Gas company pipeline which traverses the Dickerson site."

[MidValleyDad]

Originally Posted by North Beach Person

The only nuke plant in Maryland is down below me in Southern Maryland (Calvert Cliffs). While it's had some issues, mostly over procedures and a couple safety ones not related to the reactor, over the years nothing entailed any radioactivity leaking or found in the surrounding environment.

The only COMMERCIAL nuclear plant in Maryland. I know of at least two other reactors and have suspicions about a couple others. That said I have no concerns about any of the ones I know of or suspect.

Given the neighbors of the Dickerson plant and the political and economic power some of them wield I have very few if any concerns about the environmental effect they have. There are a lot of very expensive estates and horse farms around there. Those folks could cause a lot of trouble and get results from regulators that we normal people can only hope for if we have problems.

[G1..]

Originally Posted by MidValleyDad;66418723[B

]The only COMMERCIAL nuclear plant in Maryland. I know of at least two other reactors and have suspicions about a couple others. That said I have no concerns about any of the ones I know of or suspect.[/b]

a lot of trouble and get results from regulators that we normal people can only hope for if we have problems.

LOL, what you're saying is that there are "private" nuclear reactors around the state", please explain?

[westsideboy]

Originally Posted by G1..

LOL, what you're saying is that there are "private" nuclear reactors around the state", please explain?

Subbasement level 32 at Ft. Detrick?

Who knows what's out there at Detrick, X-Files field day.

[North Beach Person]

Originally Posted by westsideboy

Subbasement level 32 at Ft. Detrick?

Who knows what's out there at Detrick, X-Files field day.

That's the Men In Black DC field office. Everyone knows that.

[G1..]

Originally Posted by North Beach Person

That's the Men In Black DC field office. Everyone knows that.

LOL, he makes it sound like an episode of Young Sheldon.

[MidValleyDad]

Originally Posted by G1..

LOL, what you're saying is that there are "private" nuclear reactors around the state", please explain?

Mostly Government

NIST (National Institute of Standards & Technology) Has a Large Campus in Germantown. Since they also had/have a role with the Atomic Energy Commision. I WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED if there was a test reactor on that campus. There have been regular reports of a reactor at the Ordnance Test Center at Aberdeen proving Grounds. The Naval Ordnance lab at Indian Head is another possibility.

University of MD used to have a small reactor, I don't know if it is still active. I would not be surprised if the Naval Academy had a similar facility. Goddard Spaceflight Center at one time had a lead role in the SNAP program which was developing a small reactor to power spacecraft. Don't know if they had (or have) a test facility on site (Those reactors were also proposed to power lighthouses and navigation/weather buoys. The Coast Guard Yard at Curtis Bay was the major east coast supprt facility for buoys and navigational aids.

Fort Detrick ( I know it is mentioned elsewhere on this thread) is NOT on my list of suspect or potential sites. They did chemical and biological work but not nuclear.

And just to top things off The retired nuclear cargo ship Savannah is retired in Baltimore harbor. It (finally) had its [dead]reactor removed in a major operation last year.