<story><title>The most radioactive spot in New York City can also fix your muffler</title><url>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/primo-autobody-repair</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>acidburnNSA</author><text>&amp;gt; One of the byproducts of their operation was a highly radioactive substance known as Thorium.&lt;p&gt;As a nuclear engineer, I find the use of &amp;quot;highly radioactive&amp;quot; to be an overstatement. Thorium and other TENORM [1] (and their secular equilibrium products) are among the lowest activity kind of radioactive thing there is. Otherwise, it would have all decayed away billions of years ago.&lt;p&gt;More radioactive = less stable = short half-life&lt;p&gt;Less radioactive = more stable = longer half-life&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.epa.gov&amp;#x2F;radiation&amp;#x2F;technologically-enhanced-naturally-occurring-radioactive-materials-tenorm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.epa.gov&amp;#x2F;radiation&amp;#x2F;technologically-enhanced-natur...&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>
<story><title>The most radioactive spot in New York City can also fix your muffler</title><url>https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/primo-autobody-repair</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>teruakohatu</author><text>As much as I like Atlas Obscura, this short article is quite close to blog spam. The references are much more interesting.&lt;p&gt;The amount of extra radiation the workers receive seems quite low compared to the rest of the population [1], maybe about the same as living in Denver, CO?&lt;p&gt;From 2012:&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.dnainfo.com&amp;#x2F;new-york&amp;#x2F;20121113&amp;#x2F;bushwick&amp;#x2F;epa-starts-radiation-abatement-at-former-atomic-bomb-project-site&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.dnainfo.com&amp;#x2F;new-york&amp;#x2F;20121113&amp;#x2F;bushwick&amp;#x2F;epa-start...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; The level of radiation for a worker would fall at 120 millirem (the unit used to measure radiation&amp;#x27;s effect on the human body) per year, 20 percent more than the recommended 100 millirem per year for an average person.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; “A cleanup is clearly warranted,” Brenner said. &amp;quot;But I can see why it might not be considered a super-high priority situation.”&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; A worker at Primo Auto Body, for instance, would raise his chance of contracting fatal cancer by 1 in 25,000, according to the information available.&lt;p&gt;From 2013 &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.dnainfo.com&amp;#x2F;new-york&amp;#x2F;20131022&amp;#x2F;bushwick&amp;#x2F;businesses-at-former-atomic-bomb-site-hurt-by-work-limit-radiation&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.dnainfo.com&amp;#x2F;new-york&amp;#x2F;20131022&amp;#x2F;bushwick&amp;#x2F;businesse...&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; The agency is finishing construction of thick raised concrete and lead floors in both Terra Nova and its neighbor, Primo Auto Body Shop, to protect workers from the radiation.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; &amp;quot;It&amp;#x27;s been a nightmare,&amp;quot; said Silvio Hernandez, the owner of Terra Nova, which has a storage facility and office at the site. &amp;quot;We were out of business for three weeks.&amp;quot;&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; The owner of Primo Auto Body said the construction had cost him significant business since only part of his space was functional.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; ...&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; The shielding, which Daly said should be completed in December, has been to guard against gamma radiation, levels of which Daly said were not high enough to spur immediate health problems but were &amp;quot;high enough to do something&amp;quot; at the two businesses.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt;  The EPA also tested a nearby daycare center and school but found no heightened radiation at those sites, Daly said.&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.epa.gov&amp;#x2F;radiation&amp;#x2F;radiation-sources-and-doses&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.epa.gov&amp;#x2F;radiation&amp;#x2F;radiation-sources-and-doses&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>