
US atomic waste dump in Marshall Islands to be investigated - michaelmachine
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50951981
======
satori99
ABC Australia visited this island in 2017, and created a photo essay with some
very clear images of its current state and its precarious location.

[https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-27/the-dome-runit-
island...](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-27/the-dome-runit-island-
nuclear-test-leaking-due-to-climate-change/9161442)

~~~
remarkEon
>“I’m persuaded that the radiation outside the dome is as bad as the radiation
inside the dome,” says Professor Gerrard.

>“And therefore, it is a tragic irony that the US Government may be right,
that if this material were to be released that the already bad state of the
environment around there wouldn’t get that much worse.”

Okay, so this begs the question: how bad is it _already_? I don't see anyone
wearing radiation suits, walking on the dome. What radiation levels are
apparent there now?

~~~
gwbas1c
A lot of people misunderstand danger from radioactivity.

From what I understand, brief exposure poses little risk, but prolonged
exposure is the problem. In this case, if the dome leaks, it means that
radioactive material gets into the food chain, thus causing prolonged exposure
to whoever eats it.

(Besides, if the dome were so toxic that you couldn't get close to it, there
wouldn't be vines growing on the dome and trees next to it.)

~~~
gambiting
>>(Besides, if the dome were so toxic that you couldn't get close to it, there
wouldn't be vines growing on the dome and trees next to it.)

I mean, I wouldn't be so sure about it. There was a whole document by IAA
posted here about the recovery of radioactive material in some former Soviet
republic, and the pictures clearly show the piece of metal in between some
trees and greenery, even though it was giving off a lethal dose of radiation
every few hours(the person who found it died because they spent few hours next
to it, the other person had to spend over a year in hospital). My point is
that even doses that are lethal to humans don't necessarily affect plant life
as much.

------
cobalt
I was literally just watching this video on the subject:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=autMHvj3exA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=autMHvj3exA)

~~~
mehrdadn
Wow, just started watching it. I had no idea the Marshall Islands were settled
thousands of years ago. Horrifying that they just detonated atomic bombs there
and let people deal with the fallout...

~~~
kylek
Don't worry, a few were compensated $550/year for their troubles[0]

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bikini_Atoll#Nuclear_test_site](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bikini_Atoll#Nuclear_test_site)

------
discordance
Decades after their nuke testing there, the US then used Kwajalein as target
practice for their ICBMs:

[https://youtu.be/PDL_pIPScSI](https://youtu.be/PDL_pIPScSI)

~~~
Nexxius
For current American military & local news for Kwaj, go to
[https://www.smdc.army.mil/](https://www.smdc.army.mil/)

------
ryannevius
Location of "The Tomb":
[https://www.google.com/maps/place/The+Runit+Dome,+The+Tomb/@...](https://www.google.com/maps/place/The+Runit+Dome,+The+Tomb/@11.551311,162.3406612,3095m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x64369f738659b6c9:0x4657b78c3cb4f7fa!8m2!3d11.5525422!4d162.3472399)

------
metaphor
Genuinely curious if any Marshallese prowl HN.

~~~
peterburkimsher
Merry Christmas from Christmas Island, Kiribati! I'm not Marshallese, but the
islands are nearby.

Other countries have done terrible things to the atolls here as well.
Everywhere untouched by WW2 got bombed anyway, especially by France and
Britain.

The UK detonated weapons above Kiritimati in the 1950s without evacuating it.
Most locals have moved here since, and although some know about the testing,
they have no idea about the risks they're exposed to.

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23184816](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23184816)

------
capableweb
> “The United States Government has acknowledged that a major typhoon could
> break it apart and cause all of the radiation in it to disperse.”

If this is true, why isn't the US government taking responsibility and fix
this, RIGHT NOW? If you're just a typhoon away from spreading nuclear waste in
the entire pacific, you better start working on a solid fix yesterday. This is
beyond criminal neglect of your waste.

~~~
jahewson
If you read the article to the end it is explained: the US gov does not
believe that the dome contains any worse radiation than the surrounding area -
which is already massively contaminated.

~~~
JoeAltmaier
I can't seem to find numbers to support 'massively'. This article says its
near what New York's Central Park has (which is a normal amount):

[https://magazine.scienceconnected.org/2016/06/marshall-
islan...](https://magazine.scienceconnected.org/2016/06/marshall-islands-
radiation/)

------
annoyingnoob
What I didn't get from any of the articles is how long the radiation is
expected to be a problem. We are 60 years and its still very radioactive. How
many more years before its not?

~~~
master-litty
Many generations beyond ours. Someone else posted this article which has more
information:

[https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-27/the-dome-runit-
island...](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-27/the-dome-runit-island-
nuclear-test-leaking-due-to-climate-change/9161442)

"Some of the debris buried beneath the dome includes plutonium-239, a fissile
isotope used in nuclear warheads which is one of the most toxic substances on
earth.

It has a radioactive half-life of 24,100 years."

~~~
stickfigure
Generally speaking, the longer the half-life, the less dangerous (in terms of
radioactivity) something is. Also, pl239 primarily emits alpha particles,
which are stopped by clothing and don't penetrate skin. Maybe a real physicist
can chime in, but I don't think there's much risk of standing around
subcritical quantities of the stuff.

The chemical toxicity is a different matter though.

~~~
LeoPanthera
Direct from Wikipedia:

As an alpha emitter, plutonium-239 is not particularly dangerous as an
external radiation source, but if it is ingested or breathed in as dust it is
very dangerous and carcinogenic. It has been estimated that a pound (454
grams) of plutonium inhaled as plutonium oxide dust could give cancer to two
million people. However, ingested plutonium is by far less dangerous as only a
tiny fraction is absorbed in gastrointestinal tract. 800 mg would be unlikely
to cause a major health risk as far as radiation is concerned. As a heavy
metal, plutonium is also toxic.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutonium-239](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutonium-239)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutonium#Precautions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutonium#Precautions)

