© AFP/ Barbara Sax
The cause of the radiation leaks at the United States' first nuclear waste repository are still under investigation, but in the meantime government officials have decided
to move a stalled shipment of waste to a private dump in Texas.
According to Reuters, the shipment of approximately 1,000 barrels of radioactive leftovers to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Carlsbad, New Mexico, was put on hold when the facility began leaking radioactive material in February. On Thursday, the Department of Energy announced it would temporarily relocate those barrels to a rural site in western Texas.
Beginning in April, shipments from Los Alamos National Laboratory will commence as officials hope to remove the barrels - currently stored outside and potentially at risk of a wildfire - by the original June deadline. The waste includes items contaminated with low level radiation such as clothing, tools, soil, rags, and other items. These barrels will be held in Andrews County until the WIPP reopens.
"Removing waste from the mesa in Los Alamos before fire season is critical to ensure safety in the greater Los Alamos community," Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) said in a statement, according to the Associated Press.
"I'm pleased we have a temporary solution that will ensure there will not be any significant disruption in cleanup efforts."
However, the move has not been greeted positively by Greg Mello of the watchdog Los Alamos Study Group, who dismissed the risk of wildfire to the AP and said shipping the barrels twice poses more of a danger.
Comment: Officials always say that the radiation does not pose a threat to public health. This is standard policy. The same has been said over and over in Japan, whereas facts on the ground have proven this not to be true.