The Nuclear Gorge
The Nuclear Gorge
I remember the US government promised no leaks and cleanup , like, 12 years ago.. Hanford still leaks.. Interesting report.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162- ... esh-leaks/
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162- ... esh-leaks/
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firstonlastoff
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Lots of truth & some sarcasm embedded in this response! A factor really helping/hindering (?) this situation is the low precipitation in the Tri-City region. Yes the tanks are leaking, and yes they do contain nasty long lived radionuclides that generate high energy fission products (you also don't want to be near the vents of these tanks which aren't releasing radionuclides but rather the danger is that the emissions are anoxic, and the site guards have real weapons, but I digress. However, the research that generated the contents of these tanks lead to many other discoveries & uses, and in reflection, both good and bad. And certainly when that Hanford facility was in its peak, different fears consumed the minds of the human race, and most certainly planetary conservation wasn't on the minds of many at that time (hell, look at what happened to the great Lakes over the past 50 years for entirely different reasons, and hell again, look at any developing nation on this planet whose economy has gone 'nuclear'). I digressed again. Someone stop me! Back to that precipitation thing, as long as the Tri-city region doesn't experience major flooding from storms, the real leak is in fact slow. (However, if that region does get major precipitation, don't sail in the gorge for a few months.) Assuming there isn't major precipitation, the hero to the rescue is glacier recession, possibly another bad thing but arguably just another turn in the history of the planet though the contributing factorS may be different in this climate change relative to those that have happened over the past 4+ billion years, also becomes our friend on this issue. The glacial-melt waters dilute the radionuclides as they flush this 'leakage' from the Tri-city region, arguably making the smelly urine in your just peed-in summer wetsuit at your favourite 'Nuclear Gorge site' more unfriendly to the crowd trying to enjoy tasty Oregon IPAs than the less than one radionuclide on average that floated downstream past you while you enjoyed your session (check the actual numbers if you doubt that one). Climate change in that region is a short term fear (eg. at least out to 1 million years, likely well beyond that based on the half-life of some of those nasties!), but that fear (for humans) assumes the human race doesn't itself participate in this planet's 5th major extinction event which IS occurring now! (Note: this planet's planetary 'near extinction events' appear in the plate tectonic fossil record as being survived by single cell organisms and reptiles).
