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Great, I live a mile or two roughly downwind from a site at Los Alamos where the DOE is removing the nuclear and toxic waste dump used for weapons and research

Great, I live a mile or two roughly downwind from a site at Los Alamos where the DOE is removing the nuclear and toxic waste dump used for weapons and research waste here for 30-40 years. I’ve felt somewhat assured that they have the nuclear and toxic material secured, but realistically there’s no reason to believe they are doing a competent job.

blacksmith_tb 8y ago
There is a little Safecast[1] data from the area, which does show slightly higher levels, but nothing too crazy. You could add your own readings[2] to improve that (which has been on my list, downwind from Hanford). 1: http://safecast.org/tilemap/?y=35.665&x=-106.501&z=10&l=0&m=0 http://safecast.org/tilemap/?y=35.665&x=-106.501&z=10&l=0&m=... 2: https://github.com/Safecast/General/wiki/Safecast-Devices https://github.com/Safecast/General/wiki/Safecast-Devices
- code_duck 8y ago
  Interesting link, thanks. It looks like the readings are just along a major roads in Los Alamos? I had figured there must be some independent monitoring here, because many retired nuclear engineers live in the area of the community by the cleanup. With the history of the lab here, there are many sites that are contaminated, but most of them are within the lab bounds. Of course, dust doesn’t respect a fence. There have been some worrisome incidents, like when a water pipe burst in Los Alamos and sent water through an unregistered historic buried dumpsite that contained nuclear or toxic materials. I looked into rented a workshop across from an empty field with the fence around it, and looked into the history of the site. It had been the waste dump it for the first several years of the lab during the Manhattan project. It turned out they had cleaned up the site a few years ago. Would I have been exposed to any radioactive or toxic and dust if I had been there during that time? Who knows. It’s not clear if they would’ve told me if I was. At the end of the street there was a milling building for uranium, plutonium and beryllium and the water treatment facility for the site, which poured all of the water straight into the ground. They’be been cleaning that up recently. In my own work, I generally prefer to leave toxic debris undisturbed until I am ready to deal with it safely. Like asbestos, it doesn’t harm you when it’s sealed and undisturbed. It’s often worse to clean it up poorly than to leave it there.

blacksmith_tb 8y ago

There is a little Safecast[1] data from the area, which does show slightly higher levels, but nothing too crazy. You could add your own readings[2] to improve that (which has been on my list, downwind from Hanford). 1: http://safecast.org/tilemap/?y=35.665&x=-106.501&z=10&l=0&m=0 http://safecast.org/tilemap/?y=35.665&x=-106.501&z=10&l=0&m=... 2: https://github.com/Safecast/General/wiki/Safecast-Devices https://github.com/Safecast/General/wiki/Safecast-Devices

code_duck 8y ago
Interesting link, thanks. It looks like the readings are just along a major roads in Los Alamos? I had figured there must be some independent monitoring here, because many retired nuclear engineers live in the area of the community by the cleanup. With the history of the lab here, there are many sites that are contaminated, but most of them are within the lab bounds. Of course, dust doesn’t respect a fence. There have been some worrisome incidents, like when a water pipe burst in Los Alamos and sent water through an unregistered historic buried dumpsite that contained nuclear or toxic materials. I looked into rented a workshop across from an empty field with the fence around it, and looked into the history of the site. It had been the waste dump it for the first several years of the lab during the Manhattan project. It turned out they had cleaned up the site a few years ago. Would I have been exposed to any radioactive or toxic and dust if I had been there during that time? Who knows. It’s not clear if they would’ve told me if I was. At the end of the street there was a milling building for uranium, plutonium and beryllium and the water treatment facility for the site, which poured all of the water straight into the ground. They’be been cleaning that up recently. In my own work, I generally prefer to leave toxic debris undisturbed until I am ready to deal with it safely. Like asbestos, it doesn’t harm you when it’s sealed and undisturbed. It’s often worse to clean it up poorly than to leave it there.