The following video from KOATV New Mexico (channel 7) reports on the WIPP (Waste Isolation Pilot Plant) 26 miles Southeast of Carlsbad, New Mexico: [1]
Los Alamos National Lab sends some it's nuclear waste here. The 30000 55-gallon drums of radioactive plutonium contaminated waste sitting above ground under cloth tents, as mentioned in various news stories, was/is slated to be delivered to this Carlsbad WIPP site. Quoting the AP:
... The anti-nuclear watchdog group Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, however, said the fire appeared to be about 3 1/2 miles from a dumpsite where as many as 30,000 55-gallon drums of plutonium-contaminated waste were stored in fabric tents above ground. The group said the drums were awaiting transport to a low-level radiation dump site in southern New Mexico.
Lab spokesman Steve Sandoval declined to confirm that there were any such drums currently on the property. He acknowledged that low-level waste is at times put in drums and regularly taken from the lab to the Waste Isolation Pilot Project site in Carlsbad. [2]
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Thom Hartman's article corresponding to this video reads:
... Kevin Kamps, Nuclear Waste Watchdog at Beyond Nuclear joins Thom Hartmann. If Japan didn't have its hands full with one melted down nuclear plant at Fukushima - it certainly does now with another nuclear power plant on the verge of melting down. About 300 miles southwest of Fukushima sits the Monju nuclear reactor - a prototype fast-breeder reactor filled to the brim with plutonium - the deadliest element on the face of the planet. And last year - a 3 ton device of some sort fell into the Monju reactor blocking access to the nuclear fuel rods in the reactor core - and despite several attempts - has yet to be recovered. Another attempt will be made next week to clear the 3 ton object from the reactor - but critics caution that the procedure is extremely dangerous and could trigger an explosion in the nuclear fuel rods. One ominous sign of just how dangerous the situation is - a top manager at the plant just recently committed suicide. Think of the damaged Monju plant as a nuclear bomb just waiting to go off that could take out the city of Kyoto which is just 60 miles from the plant - and has a population of 1.5 million people. And Japan's largest city Tokyo is downwind from the crippled Monju plant. So what does this all mean? And what's the latest with the two nuclear plants that are in danger right here in the United States - in Nebraska?[1]
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Since the Thom Hartman interview with Kevin Kamps, the 3.3 ton device they mention was successfully extracted per NHK World in an 8 hour procedure, without incident. 6/23/2011 NHK World
Although it is a relief to hear that no accidents happened as feared with the heavy machinery extraction process, now the Monju reactor can be re-started after a 14 year idle period. Per The Japan Times:
... The agency hopes to resume test runs of the reactor at 40 percent of its output capacity by the end of March, aiming for full operation by the end of March 2014.[2]
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The original premise behind the operation of the (some would argue extremely dangerous) reactor is recycling nuclear fuel. The drawback is that Monju is cooled with liquid sodium, which back in 1995 caused a serious nuclear accident (fire) with this particular reactor when the sodium leaked out in to open air.
Source: SAFECAST.jp
Date: 6/29/2011
by: Marco Kaltofen
This is a gamma spectrum of dust wiped from a Tokyo rooftop. The detector is located at Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s Physics Department. The results are estimates because of the low weight of dust in the sample. The test found 51 +/- 17 kBq/Kg cesium-134 and 30 +/- 10 kBq/Kg cesium-137. This result is higher than for many soil samples around Greater Tokyo. This is expected since dust samples are less diluted by existing nonradioactive soil material. Not knowing the exact amount of surface area sampled, this measurement can not be directly compared to results given as Bq/square meter.
Gamma spectrum using WPI germanium detector
Almost all of the radioactivity in the sample is coming from cesium isotopes. Just as you would avoid breathing in dusts that contained lead or asbestos, one should avoid breathing in dusts that contain this much radiocesium. Parents are often advised to wash childrens’ hands to avoid ingesting lead in dust. This is also a good practice around dusts that contain radiocesium.
