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US atomic waste dump in Marshall Islands to be investigated

bbc.com

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Re: US atomic waste dump in Marshall Islands to be investigated

#31
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>“I’m persuaded that the radiation outside the dome is as bad as the radiation inside the dome,” says Professor Gerrard. >“And therefore, it is a tragic irony that the US Government may be right, that if this material were to be released that the already bad state of the environment around there wouldn’t get that much worse.” Okay, so this begs the question: how bad is it already ? I don't see anyone wearing radiatio…

A lot of people misunderstand danger from radioactivity. From what I understand, brief exposure poses little risk, but prolonged exposure is the problem. In this case, if the dome leaks, it means that radioactive material gets into the food chain, thus causing prolonged exposure to whoever eats it. (Besides, if the dome were so toxic that you couldn't get close to it, there wouldn't be vines growing on the dome and t…

>>(Besides, if the dome were so toxic that you couldn't get close to it, there wouldn't be vines growing on the dome and trees next to it.)

I mean, I wouldn't be so sure about it. There was a whole document by IAA posted here about the recovery of radioactive material in some former Soviet republic, and the pictures clearly show the piece of metal in between some trees and greenery, even though it was giving off a lethal dose of radiation every few hours(the person who found it died because they spent few hours next to it, the other person had to spend over a year in hospital). My point is that even doses that are lethal to humans don't necessarily affect plant life as much.

Re: US atomic waste dump in Marshall Islands to be investigated

#32
post #5
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, just started watching it. I had no idea the Marshall Islands were settled thousands of years ago. Horrifying that they just detonated atomic bombs there and let people deal with the fallout...

Don't worry, a few were compensated $550/year for their troubles[0] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bikini_Atoll#Nuclear_test_site

[deleted]

Re: US atomic waste dump in Marshall Islands to be investigated

#33
> “The United States Government has acknowledged that a major typhoon could break it apart and cause all of the radiation in it to disperse.”

If this is true, why isn't the US government taking responsibility and fix this, RIGHT NOW? If you're just a typhoon away from spreading nuclear waste in the entire pacific, you better start working on a solid fix yesterday. This is beyond criminal neglect of your waste.

Re: US atomic waste dump in Marshall Islands to be investigated

#34

> “The United States Government has acknowledged that a major typhoon could break it apart and cause all of the radiation in it to disperse.” If this is true, why isn't the US government taking responsibility and fix this, RIGHT NOW? If you're just a typhoon away from spreading nuclear waste in the entire pacific, you better start working on a solid fix yesterday. This is beyond criminal neglect of your waste.

If you read the article to the end it is explained: the US gov does not believe that the dome contains any worse radiation than the surrounding area - which is already massively contaminated.

Re: US atomic waste dump in Marshall Islands to be investigated

#35

> “The United States Government has acknowledged that a major typhoon could break it apart and cause all of the radiation in it to disperse.” If this is true, why isn't the US government taking responsibility and fix this, RIGHT NOW? If you're just a typhoon away from spreading nuclear waste in the entire pacific, you better start working on a solid fix yesterday. This is beyond criminal neglect of your waste.

If you read the article to the end it is explained: the US gov does not believe that the dome contains any worse radiation than the surrounding area - which is already massively contaminated.

I can't seem to find numbers to support 'massively'. This article says its near what New York's Central Park has (which is a normal amount):

https://magazine.scienceconnected.org/2016/06/marshall-islan...

Re: US atomic waste dump in Marshall Islands to be investigated

#36

What I didn't get from any of the articles is how long the radiation is expected to be a problem. We are 60 years and its still very radioactive. How many more years before its not?

A quote from the article in my earlier comment; Some of the debris buried beneath the dome includes plutonium-239, a fissile isotope used in nuclear warheads which is one of the most toxic substances on earth. It has a radioactive half-life of 24,100 years.

By your logic, Bismuth-209 must be the most dangerous element on earth, with a half-life of 19 quintillion years.

Elements with longer half lives tend to be more 'stable'...

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