Does anyone else feel helpless when reading stuff like this? Is there anything I can do to make things better in these scenarios?
Tell people around you to stop implicitly trusting centralized power.
U.S. put nuclear waste under a dome on a Pacific island. Now it’s cracking open
11–20 of 120 posts
Re: U.S. put nuclear waste under a dome on a Pacific island. Now it’s cracking open
#12The US needs to go in and clean up this mess and should feel very obligated to move quickly on this, but is hasn’t. See also this article from 2015 [1] and folks may enjoy this video for the visuals of it [2].
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/03/runit-dome-pac...
Re: U.S. put nuclear waste under a dome on a Pacific island. Now it’s cracking open
#13PDF of report done in 2013 [1] which basically says and leaks will rapidly dilute. The key to remember is the lagoon and surrounding areas are already far more polluted than what this dome may leak.
Besides, if ever want a real scare go look at the maps for all the chemical munitions dumped in our oceans that we know about [2] - does not include normal munitions and such.
So while it is a problem it is not the real problem that already exist.
[1] https://marshallislands.llnl.gov/ccc/Hamilton_LLNL-TR-648143...
[2] https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/decaying-weapo...
Re: U.S. put nuclear waste under a dome on a Pacific island. Now it’s cracking open
#14More FUD. Nuclear energy is the safest energy.
This is waste from nuclear weapons testing, it was concreted over as a "temporary measure" and now it seems like a more permanent solution needs to be found. Unclear why you believe nuclear energy (by which I assume you mean nuclear power generation) is relevant.
For the same reason many readers will assume this headline is about power: "nuclear waste" is a term generally associated with reactor byproducts or weapons decommissioning.
Previous articles about this dome have used terms like "radioactive contamination" or "fallout-contaminated soil" instead, which does not have the connotations of nuclear reactor programs. I suppose those terms don't "pop" as well in headlines.
Re: U.S. put nuclear waste under a dome on a Pacific island. Now it’s cracking open
#15The US needs to go in and clean up this mess and should feel very obligated to move quickly on this, but is hasn’t. See also this article from 2015 [1] and folks may enjoy this video for the visuals of it [2]. [1] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/03/runit-dome-pac... [2] https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=autMHvj3exA
"The US needs to go _____ and should feel very obligated to move quickly on this, but it hasn't."
Same old story. I think most of the world has given up expecting the U.S. to be any kind of responsible world citizen.
Re: U.S. put nuclear waste under a dome on a Pacific island. Now it’s cracking open
#16More FUD. Nuclear energy is the safest energy.
Can we ship all the nuclear waste to your house? Don't worry, it's the safest kind of energy there is.
Or maybe "safe" isn't the right term for something that also produces some of the most deadly substances that we know of? It's "safe" so long as nothing goes wrong, and everything is stored correctly. Of course, that regularly proves to not be the case: https://www.newsweek.com/ohio-school-closed-enriched-uranium...
Re: U.S. put nuclear waste under a dome on a Pacific island. Now it’s cracking open
#17Does anyone else feel helpless when reading stuff like this? Is there anything I can do to make things better in these scenarios?
Vote. As futile as it feels, that's all any of us can do.
Re: U.S. put nuclear waste under a dome on a Pacific island. Now it’s cracking open
#18The US needs to go in and clean up this mess and should feel very obligated to move quickly on this, but is hasn’t. See also this article from 2015 [1] and folks may enjoy this video for the visuals of it [2]. [1] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/03/runit-dome-pac... [2] https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=autMHvj3exA
There also the ~900 Tbq disposed by the then USSR in the Baltic, not to mention the vast quantities that ended up in the Arctic Ocean.
But definitely the US should improve that encasement or otherwise minimize the dangers.
Re: U.S. put nuclear waste under a dome on a Pacific island. Now it’s cracking open
#19Does anyone else feel helpless when reading stuff like this? Is there anything I can do to make things better in these scenarios?
Tell people around you to stop implicitly trusting centralized power.
How about it's never too late to work to rectify the mistakes of the past. We at least have to do our best as human beings. I can't do anything about something 1000 years ago, but I can help that person I saw on the street maybe, or I can add my voice to those who decry some terrible behavior of the government. I can vote. I can go to city councils and speak out.
Re: U.S. put nuclear waste under a dome on a Pacific island. Now it’s cracking open
#20Does anyone else feel helpless when reading stuff like this? Is there anything I can do to make things better in these scenarios?
Yes.
Plenty of people will offer things you can do, but really they're only things that will treat your feeling of helplessness and not things that have any significant chance of improving these scenarios.