RE: Another LANL fire article

["Grant Wilton" <gwilton@chem.swri.edu>]

The website is World Socialist Website......need I say more?

Grant Wilton
Senior Research Scientist
Southwest Research Institute
gwilton@chem.swri.edu

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu
[mailto:radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu]On Behalf Of Phil V. Egidi
Sent: Monday, May 22, 2000 1:15 PM
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: Another LANL fire article


Radsters,
I found this article last night:

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2000/may2000/fire-m19.shtml


Please note I have no idea who this organization is or what it stands for,
I just found the article.

here is an excerpt:

<Snip>

Of particular concern is the possibility of radioactive contamination fr*m
                     damage to the Los Alamos National Laboratory. While
government
                     officials have assured the public that no radioactive
materials were
                     burned, many questions remain unanswered. The blaze
apparently did
                     not penetrate the reinforced concrete bunkers where
radioactive
                     materials are stored, but these structures are not the
only source of
                     possible radioactive contamination. The security of
other radioactive
                     materials in various dumps and waste sites is unclear.

                     Over the six decades of the lab's operation,
radioactivity has leaked in
                     unknown quantities into the water and vegetation
surrounding the facility.
                     In the vicinity of the lab there are thought to be
millions of cubic feet of
                     waste containing remnants of uranium, plutonium and
tritium. It is quite
                     possible that high winds from the wildfire sweeping
across radioactively
                     contaminated brush and soil could send bursts of
radiation into the air.
                     The smoke cloud rising fr*m the fire blew across New
Mexico and
                     several adjacent states, home to millions of people.

                     The government has been forced to admit that the
ferocity of the fire has
                     hindered them fr*m determining which waste sites were
actually burned
                     in the blaze. An independent monitoring system at the
lab fell silent during
                     two days of the fire, transmitting no data. Finally,
on Monday, May 15,
                     federal and state officials expanded air sampling,
allowing for
                     measurements of radioactivity within two hours. Tests
were also under
                     way to determine the presence of 100 different
chemical substances in
                     the air, with results to be made available within
three days, instead of the
                     usual week.

                     The Los Alamos fire raises serious questions about
governmental
                     regulation and safeguards. At present, there are no
permanent monitoring
                     systems at US nuclear storage sites to measure the
emission of
                     radioactivity, toxic chemicals and hydrocarbons in the
event of an
                     accident.

<SNIP>

Have a nice day,
Phil Egidi
ORNL/GJ
7pe@ornl.gov
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