Radiation leaking- guess where ?
Aug 3, 2015 3:56:16 GMT -6
Nugget, Mystic Wanderer, and 6 more like this
Post by 727sky on Aug 3, 2015 3:56:16 GMT -6
Title of the article: This dome in the Pacific houses tons of radioactive waste — and it’s leaking
www.rawstory.com/2015/07/this-dome-in-the-pacific-houses-tons-of-radioactive-waste-and-its-leaking/
www.theguardian.com/world/video/2015/jul/03/dome-pacific-radioactive-waste-leaking-video
Black seabirds circle high above the giant concrete dome that rises from a tangle of green vines just a few paces from the lapping waves of the Pacific. Half buried in the sand, the vast structure looks like a downed UFO.
At the summit, figures carved into the weathered concrete state only the year of construction: 1979. Officially, this vast structure is known as the Runit Dome. Locals call it The Tomb.
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Below the 18-inch concrete cap rests the United States’ cold war legacy to this remote corner of the Pacific Ocean: 111,000 cubic yards of radioactive debris left behind after 12 years of nuclear tests.
Brackish water pools around the edge of the dome, where sections of concrete have started to crack away. Underground, radioactive waste has already started to leach out of the crater: according to a 2013 report by the US Department of Energy, soil around the dome is already more contaminated than its contents.
At the summit, figures carved into the weathered concrete state only the year of construction: 1979. Officially, this vast structure is known as the Runit Dome. Locals call it The Tomb.
ADVERTISEMENT
Below the 18-inch concrete cap rests the United States’ cold war legacy to this remote corner of the Pacific Ocean: 111,000 cubic yards of radioactive debris left behind after 12 years of nuclear tests.
Brackish water pools around the edge of the dome, where sections of concrete have started to crack away. Underground, radioactive waste has already started to leach out of the crater: according to a 2013 report by the US Department of Energy, soil around the dome is already more contaminated than its contents.
Today, the US government insists that it has honoured all its obligations, and that the jurisdiction for the dome and its toxic contents lies with the Marshall Islands. The Marshallese, meanwhile, say that a country with a population of 53,000 people and a GDP of $190m – most of it from US aid programs – is simply incapable of dealing with the potential radioactive catastrophe left behind by the Americans. “It’s clear as day that the local government will neither have the expertise or funds to fix the problem if it needs a particular fix,” said Riyad Mucadam, climate adviser to the office of the Marshallese president.
www.rawstory.com/2015/07/this-dome-in-the-pacific-houses-tons-of-radioactive-waste-and-its-leaking/
www.theguardian.com/world/video/2015/jul/03/dome-pacific-radioactive-waste-leaking-video