Nuclear Wastes: Excerpt Number 2 from "The Beginning of the Path to Human Extinction, and How to Get Off It..."

 Excerpt Number 2---

No one gave too much thought to nuke waste at the beginning of the nuclear era. In the 1950’s, small amounts were put into 55-gallon drums and buried or placed in pools of water… as an interim storage solution. Larger amounts were placed in huge storage tanks, first single-shelled and later double-shelled. The 55-gallon drums soon were replaced with steel and concrete “casks”. The Fed Government tried to mandate a few permanent geologic storage sites in Kansas and Nevada over the years, but all were eventually terminated because of tech uncertainties or local opposition, or both. The Yucca Mountain repository site in Nevada was proposed in the 1980’s, and all work on it ended in 2011. It never came to be. Incredible!

So, you might ask, where are the tons of radioactive waste being stored currently? The answer is: on whichever site they are generated. Three-fourths of all States in the USA have such sites. All of the storage is temporary until the Feds locate a permanent site and get it built and operating. We have been generating nuclear waste since 1945, and still don’t have a permanent repository for it. The high-level waste remains radioactive for thousands of years.

For almost two decades just prior to 1975, Dow Chemical - a private contractor -operated the Atomic Energy Commission's Rocky Flats bomb factory in Colorado.  Because of Dow's improper storage of thousands of drums of oil contaminated with plutonium, those drums corroded and leaked plutonium into the soil, water, and air.  Dow also "disposed" of contaminated water by spraying it on fields surrounding the facility...claiming that was "irrigation".  A Whistleblower by the name of James Stone brought this all to light, and of course, he was fired or forced to resign.  In 1975, a new Government Department took over and a different contractor was hired.

Throughout the 1980's and culminating (in 1989) in an FBI raid on the Department of Energy (DOE) Rocky Flats nuclear bomb manufacturing facility, Rockwell International (the other private contractor) was illegally disposing of hazardous waste contaminated with plutonium.  Plutonium has a half-life of 24,000 years and is considered by many to be the most toxic substance on Earth.

The illegal disposal resulted in plutonium contaminating not only soil, but the air, the groundwater, and surface streams as well.  Over sixty pounds of the toxic substance were found to have accumulated in the ductworks of just one building of the plant.  The US EPA and the Colorado Dept. of Health both were prohibited by DOE from inspecting the key areas of the entire facility.  "National Security".  Meanwhile, plutonium was contaminating the air, soil, and streams that wound up in drinking water reservoirs.  Eventually, DOE succumbed to pressure and submitted a huge Report detailing the hazardous waste and what was done with it.  The FBI studied all 27 volumes of the Report, and even took water samples just offsite of Rocky Flats.  That all led to the raid on the facility...one Agency raiding another.

There's more to the story, going into the 1990's.  If interested, go online to YouTube and do a Search for "Rocky Flats"; you'll find several documentaries or clips.  In particular, look for PBS Frontline's--- Rocky Flats Secrets of a Bomb Factory.

In the 1970’s, I took an Advanced Ecology class of mine on a trip to visit the Hanford Site in the State of Washington. Back then, it was a nuclear production facility covering 586 square miles. In 1943, Hanford was the world’s first plutonium production plant, and part of the A-Bomb Manhattan Project. It generated a lot of high-level nuke waste over the years. At the end of the Cold War, it was decommissioned. Today, it’s the most contaminated nuclear site in the United States. When it closed down, it left behind 53 million gallons of liquid high-level radioactive waste and 25 million cubic feet of solid nuke waste.

In 1989, Hanford became the largest environmental/Superfund cleanup site in the country. In 2011 and 2012, it was discovered that several of the large tanks were leaking nuclear waste into both groundwater and surface water. During its operating years, the site used Columbia River water to cool its reactors. All of this resulted in nuclear contamination being detected over 200 miles from Hanford.

When my class and I were there, of course, we were not aware of any of these problems. We were given the typical tourist-type tour, and were impressed with how spiffy and clean everything appeared to be. So much for appearances.

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Plutonium is believed by many scientists to be the most toxic substance on Earth.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

"Paper Straws Are Not Enough..." - Necessary Precursors to Solving Our Existential Threats

 https://www.democracynow.org/2022/7/21/heat_wave_europe_climate_crisis_extreme

George Monbiot is right on the mark.  "Only 'System Change' Can Halt Climate Crisis."

Paper straws, recycling aluminum, recycling cardboard, using cloth grocery bags, etc. are all well & good, but they are orders of magnitude short of what's needed to deal with Climate Disruption.  Furthermore, solar panels and electric vehicles are in the same boat.  A paradigm shift in economics, ethics, and worldview is needed if we are to survive and thrive in the coming years.

Keep in mind, too, the Climate Crisis is only one of the existential threats we're facing.  Worldwide toxic pollution of our environment, ecosystem damage/destruction by human activities, the threat of nuke weapons & nuke waste, overpopulation, ecological overshoot, and more all are part of our predicament.

Those who cling to neoliberalism are burying their heads in the sand relative to the existential threats upon us.  For at least 50 years, the deniers have ignored warnings from credible scientists as to the Crisis once looming, and now here.  Amazingly, even now they deny reality.  Unfortunately, many of them are in positions of power.  Thus no significant mitigation is taking place.  Lots of talk, but actions which amount to only tinkering around the edges of the problem.

It's time to face the music, as follows.  While micro scale mitigation efforts certainly are helpful, they will not suffice.  Technology alone also will not suffice.  The problems are systemic, and massive; thus, macro scale intervention is required.  It will take national governments and intergovernmental associations in cooperation with each other to tackle the crises in any significant way.  So, what can be done?  Following are a few suggestions for a start.

First, where (in the USA) is the written plan to transition away from fossil fuels?  I don't see one anywhere.  That transition won't happen by means of magic, and without a plan, most likely it won't happen at all.  Some Leader or group of Leaders needs to get the ball rolling, ASAP.  You may be thinking:  but not everyone agrees we need to make that transition.  True, but after about 50 years of warnings from credible researchers, if the deniers of the existential threats can't see the light by now, they probably never will.  We can't wait for them.

Secondly,  the cleanup at well over 1,300 Superfund toxic sites (scattered ALL across the country) needs to be put back into high gear.  High level toxic wastes are leaking into our water, and/or our air, and/or our soil.  Our previous disaster of a President essentially shut down most of that program.  What's happening under Biden?  Is the National Priorities List (NPL) of sites being addressed?  The former plutonium production facility at Hanford, WA still is the largest toxic site (586 square miles) in the country.  Cleanup there has been going on for about 30 years...and counting.  Dozens of other contaminated sites are waiting to be added to the NPL.

This next suggestion is similar to the first, but more expansive.  Where is the written plan to convert our Boom-Bust, highly polluting, unsustainable economic system to one of sustainability?  Along with that, are Fed Gov't contracts going "Green"?  Are there any requirements for sustainability?  Who, or which Executive Branch Dept., is coordinating this country's transition to a sustainable future?  Anyone?  If not, exactly what is the plan for that necessary transition?  Is there even a broad plan, or do our Powers-That-Be think the "Market" will accomplish the task?  [The Market didn't pull us out of the Great Depression of the 1930's, nor did it put men on the moon, nor did it heal the massive Dust Bowl of the 1930's.  Government management did those things.]

Finally, it would seem the Executive Branch is in need of some new appointees and/or advisors who are competent in the area of sustainability science.  The current crop of advisors apparently is perplexed by the existential threats we're facing.  They seem to believe that we'll muddle through without a plan, without consideration of biophysical constraints, and that the status quo somehow will save us from catastrophe.  [I'm sure at least a few departments have people who are educated in the natural sciences (beyond the high school level), but apparently they are being ignored, or they're at an administrative level with no access to the Executive, or both.]

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well