River Bend Power Plant

River Bend is a nuclear generating facility located in St. Francisville, Louisiana, approximately 30 miles north of Baton Rouge. The facility came online in June 1986 with a single General Electric reactor that has a generative capacity of just under 1 gigawatt. It is owned and operated by the Entergy Corporation's nuclear division.

In September 2008, Entergy filed an application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the construction of a new “simplified boiling water” reactor with a 1.5 gigawatt capacity. Review of the application will not be completed until March 2010 at the latest.

Nuclear power has its dangers, but for the most part is cleaner than coal or oil. Workers are not exposed to emissions that can include mercury, sulfuric acid and CO2. However, one toxic hazard that is common to virtually all power generation facilities is asbestos.

Asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) were a form of insulation that was commonly used almost every industry between the 1860s and the early 1980s. These were found in virtually any area in which heat, flame, electricity and corrosive chemicals were likely to cause injury and property damage. As these materials aged, they became “friable,” which is a crumbling state in which asbestos fibers are released into the environment. These fibers were then inhaled and ingested by employees; they could also become lodged in hair and clothing, where family members were subjected to secondary exposure as these fibers were introduced into the home.

Puerto Rican doctors carried out a study in 2003 that confirmed statements on the part of industrial health and safety experts, who had for many years said that power plants pose some of the highest risks of asbestos exposure of any industry. This study examined the chest x-rays of 1100 power plant workers. Over 1300 of these subjects were found to have “abnormalities” that indicated the early stages of asbestos disease.

Asbestos is an excellent flame retardant as well as an excellent form of electrical insulation. This is especially true of the “blue” crocidolite variety. Such asbestos was used in several places:

• electrical cloth
• fire doors
• pipe and conduit lagging
• work surfaces
• turbines

Crocidolite is considered an exceptionally potent form of asbestos; its hard, spear-like fibers can drill straight through lung and other tissues, causing cells to mutate at the DNA level and become malignant.

The tragedy is compounded when one considers secondary exposure to family members. This resulted when power plant workers unwittingly brought asbestos fibers home in their hair and on their clothing.

Diagnosing mesothelioma historically has been a challenge to medical personnel. Early symptoms are similar to those of several other respiratory diseases; by the time more specific symptoms begin to appear (usually years after initial exposure), the cancer has reached its final stages. Most patients who are diagnosed at this point do not survive more than two years at the outside.

Those who were employed at Hayden as well as spouses and children should tell their family physicians about any asbestos exposure they may have experienced. Newly-developed diagnostic tools now enable pathologists to detect the markers of mesothelioma during its early stages when the treatment, like mesothelioma chemotherapy, is far more likely to be effective. Medical professionals such as Dr. David Sugarbaker of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, MA. can administer such treatments.

Because of its resistance to heat, flame and electrical current, the naturally occurring fibrous mineral known as asbestos could frequently be found within numerous job sites across the country. Although asbestos' abilities as an insulator undoubtedly protected people from injury and even death, the eventual consequences of its use were devastating, and far too many employees developed serious illness and even died due to exposure to asbestos. The reason so many workers have died from illnesses including pleural plaques and lung cancer is that when humans inhale or ingest particles of asbestos, the mineral infiltrates the lungs; once there, the sharp, microscopic spikes damage cells. In addition, mesothelioma, a rare but deadly cancer affecting the cells that line the chest cavity, is linked with mild to moderate inhalation of asbestos particles.

Because statistics have demonstrated the relationship between inhaling asbestos and conditions like lung cancer, present-day laborers are protected by laws that prescribe how asbestos is used. However, in the past, laborers without respiratory equipment commonly toiled in areas where asbestos dust filled the air. Family members were also subjected to asbestos exposure if companies didn't provide workplace-only uniforms, because workers inadvertently transported asbestos dust home in their clothes and hair.

Men and women who were employed at this site at any time in the past, as well as their family members, should learn more about these health conditions and inform their healthcare professionals about their history of exposure to asbestos, because the signs of diseases such as mesothelioma are often difficult to distinguish from those of less serious conditions.

Sources

“River Bend Nuclear Power Plant, Louisiana.” U.S. Department of Energy. September 5, 2008.
http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/nuclear/page/at_a_glance/reactors/riverbend.html

“River Bend Station.” Entergy Nuclear.
http://www.entergy-nuclear.com/plant_information/river_bend.aspx