The plutonium produced during World War II and used to fuel the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 was developed at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation site in Washington State.
In the decades since that site has become a dumping ground for nuclear waste produced by the military; and now CBS News has released a report that calls the Hanford Reservation "the most contaminated nuclear site in the country," because large volumes of the toxic waste are leaking.
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The leaks are occurring as a result of worn out storage tanks that were designed and put into use in the 1940's. Whilst they may have been acceptable 70 years ago, they now prove a dangerous hazard, and one that must be addressed. (It should be noted that this military nuclear waste is stored differently than waste from nuclear power plants, which is much safer.)
Michio Kaku, a physics professor at the City University of New York, describes nuclear waste as a "witch's brew of chemicals" containing some of the most dangerous substances known to man. He explained that "we have 56 million gallons worth of this toxic stuff. To get this into perspective, to get your head around this, imagine 80 Olympic-sized swimming pools containing the most toxic substance known to science of which two Olympic-size swimming pools have leaked right into the ground and eventually into the water table and, perhaps, even into people's drinking water."
By. James Burgess of Oilprice.com
James Burgess studied Business Management at the University of Nottingham. He has worked in property development, chartered surveying, marketing, law, and accounts. He has also… More