3 ms·
This is, astonishingly, more cesium than Fukushima released. This must have been the entire inventory of multiple nuclear reactors accumulated over years. - "I
by perihelions 3y ago
This is, astonishingly, more cesium than Fukushima released. This must have been the entire inventory of multiple nuclear reactors accumulated over years.
- "In October 1986, a spill of a highly radioactive waste stream containing cesium (137Cs) and strontium (90Sr) occurred in the B-Cell of the 324 Building in the 300 Area of the Hanford Site. The spill is estimated to have contained approximately 1.3 million curies of radioactivity. An unknown fraction of this spill was lost to the subsurface through a leak in the sump in the floor of B-Cell."
https://www.pnnl.gov/main/publications/external/technical_reports/PNNL-21214.pdf https://www.pnnl.gov/main/publications/external/technical_re... ("Numerical Modeling of 90Sr and 137Cs Transport from a Spill in the B-Cell of the 324 Building, Hanford Site 300 Area")
- HPsquared 3y agoI'm amazed there can be such a large spill, at a highly monitored site no less, that goes mostly unnoticed.
- merpnderp 3y agoNuclear weapons sites had a lot more leeway from regulation and oversight than nuclear power sites.
- lazide 3y agoIt probably was - nuclear weapon fuel production and processing was mostly done at Hanford, and the things they’ve done to do it quickly and ‘easily’ have been pretty horrifying. Being able to classify everything has helped.