has concluded that the worst-case "early" death toll from a nuclear accident could exceed 100 000 persons and property damage could exceed $300 billion at some locations. A sophisticated computer model called CRAC2 was used by Sandia National Laboratories to calculate a wide variety of possible accident consequences. In contrast, the last N R C safety study, issued in 1975, calculated a worst case scenario of 3300 early deaths and $14 billion in property damage. The N R C staff estimates that the probability of a severe nuclear power plant accident is 1 in 100 000 reactor years, or a 2% chance in the U.S. before the year 2000. Commenting on the report,
Markey: study raises serious issues
Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) said, "I think this raises the question of whether some plants in densely populated areas should be allowed to operate their full expected life."
STATES A growing amount of circumstantial evidence indicates that acid rain is a significant factor in the decline of spruce trees in the Green Mountains of Vermont, according to Hubert W. Vogelmann, botanist at the University of Vermont. Proving the effect of acid rain is extremely difficult, he wrote, but "mounting evidence indicates that acidic rainfall may be impairing forest productivity and killing trees in several regions." On Camel's Hump Mountain in northern Vermont, he found that nearly 50% of the trees have died since 1965. In addition, tree density, basal area, and seedling reproduction were reduced about 50%. He could find no diseases, insects, or changes in climate that could have caused the decline. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has found that striped bass in the Hud640A
Environ. Sci. Technol., Vol. 16, No. 12, 1982
son River contain dangerous levels of PCBs and dioxin. The average PCB level of 5.59 ppm was somewhat higher than the level found in 1981. Pregnant women, nursing mothers, women of childbearing age, and young children were advised not to eat any fish from the river. The dioxin level in 9 out of 10 fish was above the danger level of 10 parts per trillion set by the state but not above the danger level of 50 ppm set by the Food and Drug Administration. New York state has requested $27 million from EPA to clean up the Fort Edward area of the Hudson where PCB contamination is highest. Both houses of the California legislature have passed a bill that will establish an automobile inspection and maintenance ( I & M ) program. Since 1976, 20 other bills proposing I & M were defeated. This bill was developed and written by the communities that will be affected by it. EPA has indicated that the bill is sufficient to allow the sanctions imposed on California to be lifted. In air pollution control districts that do not attain the standards for ozone or CO, the new bill will require biennial inspections or tune-ups of automobiles that are 20 years old or less. The I & M program is expected to reduce CO by 480 tons/d. Utah Gov. Scott M. Matheson said that despite President Reagan's federalism plans for the states, adequate federal funding is "imperative" to solve the national hazardous waste problem. According to Matheson, "the highly touted new federalism cannot succeed when money for implementing federal programs is dramatically reduced as those programs are handed to the states." Important issues in the regulatory program of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act remain unresolved, he said. He believes that the exemption for small-quantity generators should be modified and that the total exemption from disposal requirements for mineral and energy producers should be reviewed.
SCIENCE Trihalomethanes (THMs) are not the only humic/fulvic acid chlorination breakdown products. Chlorinated acids are being found, too, Russell Christman of the Universi-
ty of North Carolina told a symposium on chemical effects of humics and effects on public health. Why were these chlorinated acids not found previously? Christman answered that chemists were seeking only simple volatiles; in other words, because there was a bias these acids were not sought originally. He added that thus far no health effects data on chlorinated acids are available. The acids found seem to have carbon compositions of less than Cg. "It has become increasingly important to test the potential of environmental chemicals for reproductive effects," say Joseph Borzelleca and Richard Carchman of the Medical College of Virginia, in a study done for EPA (Research Triangle Park, N.C.). These scientists examined Kepone, hexachlorobenzene, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, and several other organic chemicals for harmful reproductive effects. The emphasis was on mouse and rat male reproductive problems. The various compounds they studied generally showed at least some interference with male germ cell DNA synthesis, and, in some cases, abnormal sperm production. A new sampling method for toluene diisocyanate (TDI) vapors in workplace air has been suggested by C. Westerhoff and M. Ozkan of Uniroyal, Inc. (Middlebury, Conn.). Vapor is collected on a silica gel tube "spiked" with 0.5 mL of hydrochloric and acetic acids in a front section and 0.2 mL in a backup section. The inconvenience of obtaining an impinger sampler is eliminated. Analysis is by Marcali's colorimetric method. Presently, analysis must be done within two days of sample collection. The scientists say that this approach overcomes problems with N I O S H Methods 141 and 326 for TDI testing.
TECHNOLOGY Dry activated wastes at nuclear power facilities can be processed with a system consisting of two main operational components—a counterrotating shredder and a power wedge compactor. According to Delaware Custom Materiel, Inc. (State College, Pa.), developer of the system, the packaging efficiency of dry radioactive wastes is increased by a factor of two over
