Nuclear Dump Leak In New Mexico Rekindles Debate Over Cold War-Era Waste
ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico — The radiation exposure of at least 13 workers at a nuclear dump in a New Mexico salt bed more than 2,000 feet below the ground has brought new attention to the nation's long struggle to find places to dispose of tons of Cold War-era waste.
The above-ground radiation release that exposed the workers during a night shift two weeks ago shut down the facility as authorities investigate the cause and attempt to determine the health effects on the employees. The mishap has also raised questions about a cornerstone of the Department of Energy's $5-billion-a-year program for cleaning up waste scattered across the country from decades of nuclear-bomb making.
With operations at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant on hold, so are all shipments, including the last of nearly 4,000 barrels of toxic waste that Los Alamos National Laboratory has been ordered to remove from its campus by the end of June. Other waste from labs in Idaho, Illinois and South Carolina is also without a home while operations are halted.
The dilemma about what to do with the nuclear waste is highly politicized.
The government spent an estimated $15 billion on a proposed nuclear waste dump at Nevada's Yucca Mountain that has not been completed. The Yucca site is fiercely opposed by Nevada lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
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http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/ff9f4cfa98154b1fb409a3d2af0847fb/US-Nuke-Dump-Radiation
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