Re: Another LANL fire article

["ruth_weiner" <ruth_weiner@email.msn.com>]

I looked up the article and it is on something called then"World Socialist
Web Site" whose name, I think, says a lot.  The political left wing has (to
my own great distress) picked up anti-nuke  positions.  The article repeats
what the local anti-nukes have said.

Ruth Weiner
ruth_weiner@msn.com


-----Original Message-----
From: Phil V. Egidi <7pe@ornl.gov>
To: Multiple recipients of list <radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu>
Date: Monday, May 22, 2000 12:10 PM
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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