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U.S. Nuclear Cleanup Carries Major Risks
Roland Piquepaille writes "New Scientist reports in this pretty alarming article that there is a 50-50 chance of a major radiation or chemical accident during the cleanup of the dirtiest nuclear site in the U.S. There are indeed lots of things to clean at the Hanford complex in Washington state: 67 tons of plutonium and 190 million liters of liquid radioactive waste stored in underground tanks. A third of them, dating from the Cold War, have already leaked 4 million liters in the environment, contaminating the groundwater and a river. Meanwhile, officials at the DOE, who'll spend $50 billion between now and 2035 on this cleanup, seem less worried than the different specialists interviewed by New Scientist. Please read this overview for selected quotes from the article and from the Hanford site. You'll also find a slide from the DOE showing the timeframe for the cleanup."
are not legal for private ownership
please MOVE ALONG....
And everyone said nuclear power was "safe" and "efficient". So much for that. Sometimes I wish I didn't live in Washington State.
the nuclear waste cleans YOU up!
Weren't we telling the nuclear power industry 20 years ago "Hey, you know all that glowing stuff your reactors keep spitting out? You know you'll need somewhere to put it, right?".
And, as I recall, the industry said "Yeah, sure, we've got plans, no need to worry. Reactors in every state, money for everyone!". And there was much rejoicing, because the industry knew the problem, and would save us from it, regardless of whether it cost them an arm and a leg.
Yeah, so much for that. Letting capitalists handle any situation where the good of the people must be weighed against the almighty dollar is just a BAD IDEA.
Now, looking at all the glow-y stuff in your water, and the 3 headed pig on your dinner plate... who's for MORE deregulation? Anyone? Raise your hands...
-Cerv
If I knew the wedgies I gave you back in 6th grade would have resulted in this . . . I might have taken a moments pause.
Let's not forget that the government, and the energy/weapons mafia that pays it off, pretended for decades that Hanford was safe and clean. While it was spewing deadly poison all around the area, into the earth, water, and ecosystem, including the people. Those people who were working there, living the lie, fighting a Cold War for a company and a government that were killing them. Their bitter legacy will now cost us all billions of dollars, and threaten disasters that would cost billions more - and we don't even have words for the suffering, except maybe "milliChernobyl".
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make install -not war
Hanford isn't a nuclear plant, it was a nuclear weapons research facility that also mass-produced plutonium for nuclear weapons.
So the Weapons of Mass Destruction have been found! (Besides the Daisy Cutters ofcourse) At last. Too bad it's the wrong country. Maybe it's a wise idea to outsource the cleanup? Or are there enough unemployd poor people with childen nearby? They will do it.
-Sorry, it must be monday.
- Save a tree, eat more woodpeckers
The total mass of radionucliedes from Naturally Occuring Radioactive Materials (NORMs) put into the air by coal plants masses far more than the radionucliedes from Nukes- the nukes have higher activity for sure, but they are both Very Bad For You (tm).
0 1/05/2 9/ke052901s30057.htm
For a twist you never expected the U235 Isolation facilities in the US are far and away the SINGLE LARGEST SOURCE OF CFCs in the aptmoshpere. Check this out:
http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/20
Further, coal stack scrubbers are not 100% efficient & fugitive particles are certainly coming your way from a plant near (or not so near) you.
Oh Yeah, the federal coal plants, like the TVA's, don't even meet the bogus federal standards recently relaxed by Prez Bush.