713:...several sources of data, including reports required by PADEP, indicate that the wastewater resulting from gas drilling operations (including flowback from hydraulic fracturing and other fluids produced from gas production wells) contains variable and sometimes high concentrations of materials that may present a threat to human health and aquatic environment, including radionuclides....Many of these substances are not completely removed by wastewater treatment facilities, and their discharge may cause or contribute to impaired drinking water quality for downstream users, or harm aquatic life...At the same time, it is equally critical to examine the persistence of these substances, including radionuclides, in wastewater effluents and their potential presence in receiving waters.
295:
licensed material will be used, transported, stored, and disposed of in such a way that members of the public will not receive more than 1 mSv (100 mrem) in one year, and the dose in any unrestricted area will not exceed 0.02 mSv (2 mrem) in any one hour. They are required to secure stored licensed material from access, removal, or use by unauthorized personnel and control and maintain constant surveillance of licensed material when in use and not in storage. Federal and state nuclear regulatory agencies keep records of the radionuclides used.
28:
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the
Environment Agency in the UK. Licenses are required for access, transport, and use of radioactive sources. These sources are very large, and the potential for their use in a 'dirty bomb' means security issues are considered as important. There is no risk to the public, or to water supplies under normal usage. They are transported to a well site in shielded containers, which means exposure to the public is very low, much lower than the
238:
533:
Beta emitters, including H and C, may be used when it is feasible to use sampling techniques to detect the presence of the radiotracer, or when changes in activity concentration can be used as indicators of the properties of interest in the system. Gamma emitters, such as Sc, La, Mn, Na, Sb, Ir, Tc,
277:
of the formation, and this has been used since 1950. In a drilling context, these sources are used by trained personnel, and radiation exposure of those personnel is monitored. Usage is covered by licenses from
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) guidelines, SU or European Union protocols, and
443:
The US EPA sets radioactivity standards for drinking water. Federal and state regulators do not require sewage treatment plants that accept gas well wastewater to test for radioactivity. In
Pennsylvania, where the hydraulic fracturing drilling boom began in 2008, most drinking-water intake plants
294:
Use of these radioactive tracers is strictly controlled. It is recommended that the radiotracer is chosen to have readily detectable radiation, appropriate chemical properties, and a half life and toxicity level that will minimize initial and residual contamination. Operators are to ensure that
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The oil and gas industry in general uses unsealed radioactive solids (powder and granular forms), liquids and gases to investigate or trace the movement of materials. The most common use of these radiotracers is at the well head for the measurement of flow rate for various purposes. A 1995 study
427:
In hydraulic fracturing, plastic pellets coated with Silver-110m or sand labelled with
Iridium-192with may be added to a proppant when it is required to evaluate whether a fracturing process has penetrated rocks in the pay zone. Some radioactivity may by brought to the surface at the well head
534:
I, Ag, Ar and Xe are used extensively because of the ease with which they can be identified and measured. ... In order to aid the detection of any spillage of solutions of the 'soft' beta emitters, they are sometimes spiked with a short half-life gamma emitter such as Br...
228:
Radioactive sources are used for logging formation parameters. Radioactive tracers, along with the other substances in hydraulic-fracturing fluid, are sometimes used to determine the injection profile and location of fractures created by hydraulic fracturing.
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during testing to determine the injection profile and location of fractures. Typically this uses very small (50 kBq) Cobalt-60 sources and dilution factors are such that the activity concentrations will be very low in the topside plant and equipment.
557:
Jack E. Whitten, Steven R. Courtemanche, Andrea R. Jones, Richard E. Penrod, and David B. Fogl (Division of
Industrial and Medical Nuclear Safety, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards) (June 2000).
273:. The attenuation of these gamma rays gives an accurate measure of formation density; this has been a standard oilfield tool since 1965. Another source is americium berylium (Am-Be) neutron source used in
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The level of radioactivity in the wastewater has sometimes been hundreds or even thousands of times the maximum allowed by the federal standard for drinking water.
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701:
560:"Consolidated Guidance About Materials Licenses: Program-Specific Guidance About Well Logging, Tracer, and Field Flood Study Licenses (NUREG-1556, Volume 14)"
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engineer who works with this radioactive material for a living is exposed to less radiation than an individual who smokes 1.5 packs of cigarettes a day."
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to require community water systems in certain locations, and centralized wastewater treatment facilities to conduct testing for radionuclides.
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tools, and are removed from the borehole before any hydraulic fracturing takes place. Measurement of formation density is made using a sealed
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downstream from those sewage treatment plants have not tested for radioactivity since before 2006. The EPA has asked the
495:"A comprehensive study of the analysis and economic benefits of radioactive tracer engineered stimulation procedures,"
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are EPA's drinking water regulations for radionuclides? What are EPA's drinking water regulations for radionuclides?
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of both hydraulically fractured and non-fracked wells. The sources are lowered into the borehole as part of the
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were most commonly used by the oil and gas industry because they are easily identified and measured.
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200 millicuries (7.4 GBq) total, not to exceed 10 mCi (0.37 GBq) per injection
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200 millicuries (7.4 GBq) total, not to exceed 15 mCi (0.56 GBq) per injection
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100 millicuries (3.7 GBq) total, not to exceed 20 mCi (0.74 GBq) per injection
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50 millicuries (1.9 GBq) total, not to exceed 10 mCi (0.37 GBq) per injection
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Radiation
Protection and the Management of Radioactive Waste in the Oil and Gas Industry
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found that radioactive tracers were used in over 15% of stimulated oil and gas wells.
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The NRC and approved state agencies regulate the use of injected radionuclides in
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523:(Report). International Atomic Energy Agency. 2003. pp. 38–40
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600:"letter filed with Department of Environment, New Brunswick, CA"
748:"E.P.A. Steps Up Scrutiny of Pollution in Pennsylvania Rivers"
26:
572:
labeled Frac Sand...Sc-46, Br-82, Ag-110m, Sb-124, Ir-192
666:"Regulation Lax as Gas Wells' Tainted Water Hits Rivers"
269:
source. This bombards the formation with high energy
446:
Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental Protection
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257:Sealed radioactive sources are routinely used in
482:Environmental Control in Petroleum Engineering.
598:Dina Murphy & Larry Huskins (8 Sep 2006).
209:
8:
583:: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
695:"Letter to PADEP re:Marcellus Shale 030711"
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166:2012–14 Romanian protests against shale gas
458:List of additives for hydraulic fracturing
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438:hydraulic fracturing in the United States
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245:for the Lisburne 1 well, Alaska - the
233:Use of radioactive sources for logging
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562:. US Nuclear Regulatory Commission
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693:Shawn M. Garvin (7 March 2011).
664:Urbina, Ian (26 February 2011).
500:, Paper 30794-MS, October 1995.
605:. Penobsquis, CA government: 3
498:Society of Petroleum Engineers
463:Hydraulic fracturing proppants
365:Examples of amounts used are:
1:
484:Gulf Professional Publishers.
31:Shale gas drilling rig near
746:Ian Urbina (7 March 2011).
129:U.S. federal law exemptions
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275:evaluation of the porosity
651:, accessed 15 Sept. 2013.
298:As of 2003 the isotopes
286:Radiotracers and markers
253:used radioactive sources
727:Cite journal requires
629:Cite journal requires
493:K. Fisher and others,
480:Reis, John C. (1976).
254:
171:Anti-fracking movement
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150:Uses of radioactivity
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778:Hydraulic fracturing
432:Regulation in the US
280:background radiation
259:formation evaluation
97:Environmental impact
407:"Labeled" frac sand
752:The New York Times
670:The New York Times
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755:. Retrieved
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720:cite journal
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607:. Retrieved
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564:. Retrieved
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525:. Retrieved
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324:manganese-56
300:Antimony-124
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263:well logging
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251:density logs
243:wireline log
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187:
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149:
73:South Africa
42:drilling rig
757:23 February
675:22 February
415:Silver-110m
404:Iridium-192
336:silver-110m
328:scandium-46
316:iridium-192
267:caesium-137
177:FrackNation
68:New Zealand
772:Categories
469:References
393:Iodine-131
382:Iodine-131
360:iodine-125
356:hydrogen-3
348:Bromine-82
312:iodine-131
271:gamma rays
241:Composite
137:Technology
120:Regulation
54:By country
377:Activity
352:Carbon-14
344:xenon-133
332:sodium-24
308:cobalt-60
183:Frack Off
145:Proppants
106:Additives
39:Shale gas
647:US EPA,
579:cite web
566:19 April
452:See also
304:argon-41
158:Politics
20:Fracking
609:29 July
371:Nuclide
247:neutron
189:Gasland
78:Ukraine
707:11 May
527:20 May
418:Liquid
396:Liquid
342:, and
63:Canada
698:(PDF)
603:(PDF)
521:(PDF)
44:near
759:2012
733:help
709:2012
677:2012
635:help
611:2012
585:link
568:2012
529:2012
374:Form
249:and
702:EPA
385:Gas
350:,
310:,
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