The U.S. put nuclear waste under a dome on a Pacific island. Now it's cracking open. [View all]

[Eugene]

Source: Washington Post

The U.S. put nuclear waste under a dome on a Pacific island. Now it’s cracking open.

By Kyle Swenson May 20

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Enewetak Atoll was subjected to repeated blasts during the testing, and inhabitants were forced to relocate before the explosions began. Beginning in 1977, 4,000 U.S. service members began collecting an estimated 73,000 cubic meters (2.58 million cubic feet) of tainted surface soil across the islands, according to the Marshall Islands’ government.

The material was then transported to Runit Island, where a 328-foot crater remained from a May 1958 test explosion. For three years, the American military dumped the material into the crater. Six men reportedly died during the work. Locals took to calling it “The Tomb,” the Guardian reported.

In 1980, a massive concrete dome — 18 inches thick and shaped like a flying saucer — was placed over the fallout debris, sealing off the material on Runit. But the $218 million project was only supposed to be temporary until a more permanent site was developed, according to the Guardian. However, no further plans were ever hatched.

In 1983, the Marshall Islands signed a compact of free association with the United States, granting the island nation the right to govern itself. But the deal also settled “all claims, past, present and future” tied to the nuclear testing and left the dome in the care of the island government.

According to a 2017 report by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the fallout included plutonium-239, an isotope that is one of the world’s most toxic substances, and one with a radioactive half-life of 24,100 years.

The staying power of that material is the problem. It’s still there, only 18 inches of concrete away from waters that are rising.

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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/05/20/us-put-nuclear-waste-under-dome-pacific-island-now-its-cracking-open/