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Technically speaking they released concentrated naturally-occurring radioactive materials (NORMs). I only emphasize this because most people don't know how much

Technically 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.

capableweb 7y ago
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.
- acidburnNSA 7y ago
  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.
  - jschwartzi 7y ago
    If we're using solutions full of this stuff as deicing brine, that's definitionally dumping waste.
  - firethief 7y ago
    I'm sure your terminology is right in the context of nuclear engineering, but I think the headline is right in terms of how most people will read it: oil wells produce radioactive waste in the same sense as they produce oil
- makomk 7y ago
  No, the article is misleading. Those radioactive elements aren't just deep underground - they're literally everywhere. The soil is naturally full of them. They've got this damning-sounding quote from an internal report that “almost all materials of interest and use to the petroleum industry contain measurable quantities of radionuclides”, but again, that's true of ordinary soil and all kinds of things. What the oil industry and its regulators mostly seem to worry about is their production processes inadvertently concentrating them in places like pipes. (Incidentally, rare earth production is particularly nasty because it involves taking feedstock that's already quite high in radium, thorium, etc and intentionally concentrating them.)
  - Turing_Machine 7y ago
    > that's true of ordinary soil and all kinds of things. Sure. If I remember right, someone who lives in Denver gets about double the average radiation dose because a) there are a lot of radionuclides in the Rocky Mountains (relative to other places) and b) Denver's altitude means that more cosmic rays reach ground level because there's less atmosphere to form a shield. If you told most people that (insert some activity) was going to double their radiation dose, they would freak, yet no one panics over the idea of living in Denver.
ComputerGuru 7y ago
We literally mine Uranium. How can people not realize this stuff can be found naturally on Earth?
- lostlogin 7y ago
  Or even better, the natural fission reactor found in Gabon. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_nuclear_fission_reactor https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_nuclear_fission_reac...
  - acidburnNSA 7y ago
    I'll raise you the hypothesized (and today largely doubted) terracentric georeactor published in PNAS: Deep-Earth reactor: Nuclear fission, helium, and the geomagnetic field, https://www.pnas.org/content/98/20/11085 https://www.pnas.org/content/98/20/11085 And don't forget the "Moon may have formed in a nuclear explosion" theory (uranium enrichment back then was well above 20%!): https://www.technologyreview.com/s/417259/moon-may-have-formed-in-natural-nuclear-explosion/ https://www.technologyreview.com/s/417259/moon-may-have-form...
- reaperducer 7y ago
  We literally mine Uranium. How can people not realize this stuff can be found naturally on Earth? The same way 30% of British children think that cheese is a plant, that fish sticks come from pigs, and 10% think potatoes grow on trees. https://www.bbc.com/news/education-22730613 https://www.bbc.com/news/education-22730613 Of course, with almond "milk" and soy "turkey" these days, I guess it's normal for them to be confused.
  - catalogia 7y ago
    Most of this is probably just kids taking the piss with adults who ask them dumb questions. > "Where do fish sticks come from? Do they think I'm retarded just because I'm five? Fuck it, I'll tell them it comes from pigs, I wonder if they'll be stupid enough to think I'm not fucking with them."
Merrill 7y ago
>What’s Lurking in Your Countertop? >But with increasing regularity in recent months, the Environmental Protection Agency has been receiving calls from radon inspectors as well as from concerned homeowners about granite countertops with radiation measurements several times above background levels. “We’ve been hearing from people all over the country concerned about high readings,” said Lou Witt, a program analyst with the agency’s Indoor Environments Division. https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/garden/24granite.html https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/garden/24granite.html
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
redprince 7y ago
The article actually picks up on that but the other way around: "There is a perception that because the radioactivity is naturally occurring it’s less harmful (the industry and regulators almost exclusively call oil-and-gas waste NORM — naturally occurring radioactive material, or TENORM for the “technologically enhanced” concentrations of radioactivity that accumulate in equipment like pipes and trucks)."
TheCoelacanth 7y ago
In the same way that oil wells don't produce oil. The headline is fine. Many definitions of "produce" fit what they are doing[1]. For example, "to compose, create, or bring out by intellectual or physical effort" or "to cause to accrue". [1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/produce https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/produce

capableweb 7y ago

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.

acidburnNSA 7y ago
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.
- jschwartzi 7y ago
  If we're using solutions full of this stuff as deicing brine, that's definitionally dumping waste.
- firethief 7y ago
  I'm sure your terminology is right in the context of nuclear engineering, but I think the headline is right in terms of how most people will read it: oil wells produce radioactive waste in the same sense as they produce oil
makomk 7y ago
No, the article is misleading. Those radioactive elements aren't just deep underground - they're literally everywhere. The soil is naturally full of them. They've got this damning-sounding quote from an internal report that “almost all materials of interest and use to the petroleum industry contain measurable quantities of radionuclides”, but again, that's true of ordinary soil and all kinds of things. What the oil industry and its regulators mostly seem to worry about is their production processes inadvertently concentrating them in places like pipes. (Incidentally, rare earth production is particularly nasty because it involves taking feedstock that's already quite high in radium, thorium, etc and intentionally concentrating them.)
- Turing_Machine 7y ago
  > that's true of ordinary soil and all kinds of things. Sure. If I remember right, someone who lives in Denver gets about double the average radiation dose because a) there are a lot of radionuclides in the Rocky Mountains (relative to other places) and b) Denver's altitude means that more cosmic rays reach ground level because there's less atmosphere to form a shield. If you told most people that (insert some activity) was going to double their radiation dose, they would freak, yet no one panics over the idea of living in Denver.

ComputerGuru 7y ago

We literally mine Uranium. How can people not realize this stuff can be found naturally on Earth?

lostlogin 7y ago
Or even better, the natural fission reactor found in Gabon. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_nuclear_fission_reactor https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_nuclear_fission_reac...
- acidburnNSA 7y ago
  I'll raise you the hypothesized (and today largely doubted) terracentric georeactor published in PNAS: Deep-Earth reactor: Nuclear fission, helium, and the geomagnetic field, https://www.pnas.org/content/98/20/11085 https://www.pnas.org/content/98/20/11085 And don't forget the "Moon may have formed in a nuclear explosion" theory (uranium enrichment back then was well above 20%!): https://www.technologyreview.com/s/417259/moon-may-have-formed-in-natural-nuclear-explosion/ https://www.technologyreview.com/s/417259/moon-may-have-form...
reaperducer 7y ago
We literally mine Uranium. How can people not realize this stuff can be found naturally on Earth? The same way 30% of British children think that cheese is a plant, that fish sticks come from pigs, and 10% think potatoes grow on trees. https://www.bbc.com/news/education-22730613 https://www.bbc.com/news/education-22730613 Of course, with almond "milk" and soy "turkey" these days, I guess it's normal for them to be confused.
- catalogia 7y ago
  Most of this is probably just kids taking the piss with adults who ask them dumb questions. > "Where do fish sticks come from? Do they think I'm retarded just because I'm five? Fuck it, I'll tell them it comes from pigs, I wonder if they'll be stupid enough to think I'm not fucking with them."

Merrill 7y ago

>What’s Lurking in Your Countertop? >But with increasing regularity in recent months, the Environmental Protection Agency has been receiving calls from radon inspectors as well as from concerned homeowners about granite countertops with radiation measurements several times above background levels. “We’ve been hearing from people all over the country concerned about high readings,” said Lou Witt, a program analyst with the agency’s Indoor Environments Division. https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/garden/24granite.html https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/garden/24granite.html

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

redprince 7y ago

The article actually picks up on that but the other way around: "There is a perception that because the radioactivity is naturally occurring it’s less harmful (the industry and regulators almost exclusively call oil-and-gas waste NORM — naturally occurring radioactive material, or TENORM for the “technologically enhanced” concentrations of radioactivity that accumulate in equipment like pipes and trucks)."

TheCoelacanth 7y ago

In the same way that oil wells don't produce oil. The headline is fine. Many definitions of "produce" fit what they are doing[1]. For example, "to compose, create, or bring out by intellectual or physical effort" or "to cause to accrue". [1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/produce https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/produce