A Summary of The Nuclear Weapons Cleanup.
Many people feel that nuclear weapons have served as a security mechanism for our nation. At what point is the security of our nation at more risk by having nuclear weapons and their wastes?.
The Hanford Nuclear Weapons Facility near Richmond in Washington made plutonium for atomic bombs to keep America safe from its enemies. This is the site where Energy Department reports show that sixteen times since 1987, seven times in 1991 alone, employees have been exposed to toxic gases, some resulting in permanent lung damage. This begs the question of, if it can happen to the employees, what keeps us, the public safe from the harmful gases and vapors? Are we really safe outside the gates of the nuclear facility?.
The interest in security of our nation led the leaders of the United States to place great emphasis on the "splitting" of atoms. By 1941 some of the most well known scientists were working on a project that would become to be know as the "Manhattan District" (project), which was born in 1941. This became a race to make the most destructive weapon of all time. The first test was conducted July 16, 1945 at the Trinity Test site in Alamogordo, New Mexico. With this, and several other events, the Cold War had begun. .
The need for nuclear know how also led to a need for standards to handle these materials. At the time, the Occupational Safety and Heath Administration (OSHA), Environmental Protection Administration (EPA), and Freedom of Information Act had no control over these sites. They were hidden by their secrecy. Beginning in the 1970s and early 1980s, Senator John Glenn launched investigations into these facilities, and only in the past few years have these sites been subject to these organizations and their regulations. .
The Hanford facility is also the home of the worst case for any clean up, because " all of the government's nuclear facilities are polluted - some beyond repair" (p 186).
