What are the contaminants of concern in Port Hope?
A10. The main sources of radiological contaminants of concern in Port Hope come from the historic low-level radioactive waste and are part of uranium’s decay chain. They include radium, radon and radon decay products, long-lived radioactive dusts and very small amounts of gamma radiation. These sources of radiation represented less than 1% of a Port Hope resident’s total sources of ionizing radiation each year (other than natural background and medical sources of radiation) throughout the time the nuclear industry was in the town. The main non-radiological contaminants of concern in Port Hope are uranium, ammonia, fluoride, which have come from the Port Hope conversion facility’s stack emissions, and arsenic, due to historic contamination. Other heavy metals are only found in trace amounts in Port Hope so are not considered contaminants of concern.
