!!!LEAK UPDATE::Feb28 : Radiation LEAK at New Mexico Nuclear Waste Site : 2014-02-21

http://www.prisonplanet.com/possible-radiation-leak-at-new-mexico-military-nuclear-waste-site.html

Possible radiation leak at New Mexico military nuclear waste site

• 
  

Reuters
February 16, 2014
Unusually high levels of radioactive particles were found at an underground nuclear waste site in New Mexico on Saturday in what a spokesman said looked like the first real alarm since the plant opened in 1999.
U.S. officials were testing for radiation in air samples at the site where radioactive waste, such as plutonium used in defense research and nuclear weapon making, is dumped half a mile below ground in an ancient salt formation.
“They (air monitors) have alarmed in the past as a false positive because of malfunctions, or because of fluctuations in levels of radon (a naturally occurring radioactive gas),” Department of Energy spokesman Roger Nelson said.
“But I believe it’s safe to say we’ve never seen a level like we are seeing. We just don’t know if it’s a real event, but it looks like one,” he said.
Full article here

This stuff would have been sealed up tighter than a frog's *** in NV were it not for dick tater. It would have already been moved to Yucca. While I pray nothing comes of this, if something DOES it'll be interesting to see what, if any, truth surfaces regarding the matter. Further, all of this fails to mention that Yucca is/was considerably more 'secure' as well.

Per wiki-

Since 2009, the Obama administration has been attempting to close the Yucca Mountain repository, despite current US law that designates Yucca Mountain as the nation's nuclear waste repository. The administration agency, DOE, began implementation of the President's plan in May 2009. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has also gone along with the administration's closure plan. Various state and Congressional entities have attempted to challenge the administration's closure plans, by statute and in court. Most recently, in August 2013, a US Court of Appeals decision has told the NRC and the Obama administration that they must either "approve or reject the Energy Department's application for [the] never-completed waste storage site at Nevada's Yucca Mountain." They cannot simply make plans for its closure in violation of US law.^[73]

In May 2009, then United States Secretary of Energy Steven Chu stated:

Quote :

"Yucca Mountain as a repository is off the table. What we're going to be doing is saying, let's step back. We realize that we know a lot more today than we did 25 or 30 years ago. The NRC is saying that the dry cask storage at current sites would be safe for many decades, so that gives us time to figure out what we should do for a long-term strategy. We will be assembling a blue-ribbon panel to look at the issue. We're looking at reactors that have a high-energy neutron spectrum that can actually allow you to burn down the long-lived actinide waste. These are fast-neutron reactors. There's others: a resurgence of hybrid solutions of fusion fission where the fusion would impart not only energy, but again creates high-energy neutrons that can burn down the long-lived actinides. ...

"Some of the waste is already vitrified. There is, in my mind, no economical reason why you would ever think of pulling it back into a potential fuel cycle. So one could well imagine—again, it depends on what the blue-ribbon panel says—one could well imagine that for a certain classification for a certain type of waste, you don't want to have access to it anymore, so that means you could use different sites than Yucca Mountain, such as salt domes. Once you put it in there, the salt oozes around it. These are geologically stable for a 50 to 100 million year time scale. The trouble with those type of places for repositories is you don't have access to it anymore. But say for certain types of waste you don't want to have access to it anymore—that's good. It's a very natural containment. ...whereas there would be other waste where you say it has some inherent value, let's keep it around for a hundred years, two hundred years, because there's a high likelihood we'll come back to it and want to recover that.

"So the real thing is, let's get some really wise heads together and figure out how you want to deal with the interim and long-term storage. Yucca was supposed to be everything to everybody, and I think, knowing what we know today, there's going to have to be several regional areas."^[74]

http://www.tampabay.com/news/military/veterans/the-atomic-sailors/2157927

Interesting reading along a similar thread. No new thing under the sun.

http://enenews.com/cnn-alarm-from-radiation-spike-leads-to-first-of-its-kind-response-at-u-s-nuclear-site-no-one-able-to-enter-facility-to-check-where-high-radiation-levels-are-coming-from-reuters-inspect


CNN: Alarm due to radiation spike brings ’1st-of-its-kind’ response at US nuclear site — Inspections cancelled, no one able to enter facility due to ‘high radiation’ levels — Reuters: Plans got called off over ‘safety thing’ — Gov’t: ‘Pretty sure’ we know where leak is — Local TV calls it ‘emergency’ (VIDEO)

Published: February 17th, 2014 at 2:13 pm ET
By ENENews
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CNN, Feb. 17, 2014: Radiation alarm at New Mexico nuclear disposal plant [...] a first-of-its-kind response at a nuclear disposal facility outside of Carlsbad, New Mexico, an Energy Department spokesman told CNN. An air monitor at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant detected the spike in an isolated area half a mile below the ground. The incident prompted an immediate shutoff of filtered air from the facility into the environment [...] “This is the first time we had to close off air filtered by the facility to the outside,” Energy Department spokesman Gregory Sahd told CNN. Investigators from the Department of Energy expect test results this week [...] Officials believe there is no danger to the community [...] the area officials believe was affected has been closed off. “We’re pretty sure we know where it’s at.”

Reuters, Feb. 16, 2014: [The alarm indicated] unsafe concentrations of radiation [...] DOE officials said appeared to be the first such mishap since the facility opened in 1999. [...] the source of the high radiation readings had yet to be determined, and a plan to send inspection teams below ground to investigate was put on hold as a precaution. [...] “They will not go in today. It’s a safety thing more than anything. We’re waiting until we get other assessments done before we authorize re-entry,” DOE spokesman Bill Mackie said. [...] Just a few dozen essential personnel, including security officers, remained at the site over the weekend. [...] “We’re in shutdown mode,” Mackie said.

AFP, Feb. 17, 2014: Investigators have not yet identified the source of the radiation [...] Earlier this month, an underground blaze prompted the evacuation of a different part of the site [...]

The Mirror, Feb. 16, 2014: Worrying: A possible radiation leak has taken place at a underground military nuclear waste site — Officials in the US say unusually high levels of radioactive particles were found at the site in New Mexico [...] It was not yet clear what caused the air-monitoring system to indicate that radioactive particles were present at unsafe levels. [...]

Albuquerque Journal, Feb. 17, 2014: [Energy Department spokesman Roger] Nelson said the cause of the leak was not yet known. [...] No one has been underground, and Nelson said he didn’t know when that would happen. [...] WIPP, the nation’s first and only deep geological nuclear waste repository, takes plutonium-contaminated waste [...]

Watch the KOB’s broadcast on the ‘emergency’ here

Published: February 17th, 2014 at 2:13 pm ET
By ENENews
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February 17th, 2014

The facility is built in a hollowed out, prehistoric salt deposit. Remind anyone of anything? Same type facility that was storing butane et all in the Bayou Corne sinkhole that's now hemorrhaging all over God's creation.

More disturbingly,  this is the same facility where they had an underground bbq a couple of weeks ago. I believe there was a thread on it as well. 

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/02/05/fire-sparks-evacuation-at-new-mexico-nuclear-waste-plant/

http://enenews.com/la-times-expert-says-radiological-process-may-have-forced-material-out-of-its-container-at-u-s-nuclear-site-it-could-be-a-mess-officials-saying-little-about-extent-of-problem-or-how-to

LA Times: Expert says ‘radiological process’ may have ‘forced’ material out of its container at U.S. nuclear site, “It could be a mess”; Officials saying little about extent of problem — Levels remain too high to let in non-essential personnel — Air monitors not allowed to collect filters

Published: February 18th, 2014 at 10:34 am ET By ENENews  Email Article 94 comments

Los Angeles Times, Feb. 18, 2014 at 1:53a ET (emphasis added): The Energy Department suspended normal operations for a fourth day at its New Mexico burial site for defense nuclear waste after a radiation leak inside salt tunnels where the material is buried. [...] Officials [...] said little about the extent of the problem or how it could be cleaned up. [...] How long the repository would be closed and the effects on the defense nuclear cleanup program were unclear. [...] WIPP officials have said little about what could have triggered the radiation leak.
Edwin Lyman, a senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists:

• The cause most likely involved radioactive material on the outside of a container that was not properly decontaminated
  
• A less probable cause [...] was a radiological process inside a container that forced material out
  
• The extent of the cleanup operation necessary to get the repository back in operation depended on the intensity and range of contamination in the underground tunnels
  
• “Could be a mess [...] If there is airborne contamination and it involves plutonium, they are going to need to decontaminate [...] If it is in the ventilation system, it could have spread”
  

Carlsbad Current-Argus, Feb. 18, 2014: Airborne radioactivity [...] levels aren’t yet low enough to allow non-essential personnel back on site, according to a person familiar with the situation. Russell Hardy, director of the Carlsbad Environmental Monitoring and Research Center, was told the information [Monday] by an employee of the nuclear waste repository [...] [CEMRC] has monitored the air quality in and around WIPP since the 1990s and tests for radiation contamination at the facility by collecting a filter from the exhaust shaft each morning [...] The last air filter sample CEMRC has is from Friday, before airborne radiation was detected downwind in the south salt mine of Panel 7, Room 7, at 11:30 p.m. later that night. [...] Data on the quantity and type of radiation that was present in the airborne particulates below surface, and how it compares to regular background radiation levels, is not available according to the DOE.
Deb Gill, DOE spokesperson: “I don’t even have that because it gets into the compare-and-contrast point of view [...] I know that when we do have additional information, then I think that can be part of what is provided, but we don’t have that right now [...] We certainly hope [recent events don't impact the future mission of WIPP]”
Russell Hardy, director of the CEMRC at New Mexico State University: “It’s my understanding that at some point in the near future we will be allowed to collect our filters, and at that point we’ll be able to do our analysis [...] Our mission is to report whatever we find”
From Yesterday: CNN: Alarm due to radiation spike brings '1st-of-its-kind' response at US nuclear site -- Inspections cancelled, no one able to enter facility due to 'high radiation' levels -- Reuters: Plans got called off over 'safety thing' -- Gov't: 'Pretty sure' we know where leak is -- Local TV calls it 'emergency' (VIDEO)

Published: February 18th, 2014 at 10:34 am ET By ENENews

http://www.abqjournal.com/355900/news/nm-news/trace-of-plutonium-is-detected-outside-wipp.html

Not the best of news considering all air that's vented from the site is passed through rad filters/scrubbers that supposedly scrub 99.97% of the nasties. Pluto-nium, aka devils dust is a relatively heavy isotope that doesn't just grow wings and fly.

US NUCLEAR PLANT LEAKING PLUTONIUM.



Published on Feb 21, 2014

The Underground Nuclear Waste Plant East of Carlsbad NM is Leaking Plutonium.]http://www.wipp.energy.gov/pr/2014/2-...[/url]

Here's an 22 year old article that may get your attention.

http://www.nytimes.com/1992/08/30/magazine/wasting-away.html?src=pm&pagewanted=1

edit to fix 3rd grade error

Thanks for follow up peeps, I'm not at full speed today..more systemwork!

http://enenews.com/most-likely-a-worst-case-scenario-at-wipp-npr-huge-chunk-of-salt-believed-to-have-crushed-drums-of-radioactive-waste-after-falling-from-ceiling-abc-investigators-now-admit-that-prob

Most likely a ‘worst-case scenario’ at WIPP — NPR: ‘Huge chunk’ of salt believed to have crushed drums of radioactive waste — ABC: “Investigators now admit problem is serious” — NYT: Plutonium, americium can bombard organs “for rest of person’s lifetime” (VIDEO)

Published: February 28th, 2014 at 6:14 pm ET By ENENews  Email Article 70 comments

ABC, Feb 28, 2014: New concerns now about a story we brought you yesterday [...] Investigators now admit that the problem is serious […] a container of radioactive waste leaked underground at the WIPP [...] they admit it’s too soon to tell how dangerous it could be for those exposed. […]
NPR, Feb. 28, 2014 (emphasis added): CAPTION: A piece of salt is believed to have fallen from a cavern ceiling and crushed drums of waste [...] the most likely scenario is that a huge chunk of salt fell from the ceiling and ruptured a drum or multiple drums of waste.
AP, Feb. 28, 2014: Government officials, politicians, the contractors [...] emphasize that all the safety systems designed to react to worst-case scenarios like a ceiling collapse worked.
NPR’s Geoff Brumfiel, Feb. 28, 2014: [...] Nobody knows exactly what happened. That’s one of the strange things about this [...] the speculation I’ve been hearing is that a chunk of salt, probably, fell off the ceiling and struck a drum or drums and ruptured it. [...] Oh, I think it’s very unlikely there is risk to the public. [...] they are following these workers quite closely to see how this radioactivity clears their system [...] clearly something’s gone wrong. Unfortunately, nobody can go underground to find out what’s happened.
New York Times, Feb. 28, 2014: The workers inhaled plutonium and americium, which if lodged in the body bombards internal organs with subatomic particles for the rest of the person’s lifetime.
Wall St. Journal, Feb. 28, 2014: Plutonium and americium particles can lodge into bones or muscle tissue, affecting cellular structures and DNA, experts say. “When it gets into your body it can do a lot of damage,” said Edwin Lyman, a senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington, D.C. “Even very small amounts are a potential concern.” [...] “Absolutely people are concerned,” said Tony Hernandez, a commissioner in Eddy County [...]
Al Jazeera America, Feb. 28, 2014: Arnie Gundersen [...] said the DOE’s tight lips might be a sign that the leak is bigger than originally thought. “There are signs they’re playing keep-away with data,” he said. “We need to know what they measured for. They’re only giving us half the numbers” Gundersen said officials are likely conducting a slew of tests that they are not disclosing to the public. He said the fact that radiation is being detected 3,000 feet away from the site suggests the leak is large.
CEMRC Ambient Air Sampling Results (pdf), Feb. 27, 2014: 11.8 Miles SE of WIPP Exhaust Shaft — Am241 *Sample Being Reanalyzed
Watch the ABC News broadcast here

Published: February 28th, 2014 at 6:14 pm ET By ENENews

https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=d90ce60b83f6ee74472ac9f02a174096&tab=core&_cview=0

Didn't know if this was floating around or not.

Its not like they don't already have a pretty extensive supply on hand, sooooooo.....

I have to drive to Albuquerque in a couple weeks...safe?  Or might I need to bring a suit just in case? :O

I've corresponded with some forum members on this, but it isnt a truck fire or 'spontaneous combustion'.

I'd google 'pyrophoric plutonium' and do some reading if you're near or downwind of WIPP.

http://enenews.com/container-fire-at-wipp-may-have-caused-leak-after-spontaneous-combustion-expert-couldve-crapped-up-a-whole-lot-of-real-estate-down-there-ntions-radioactive-waste-disposal

http://enenews.com/tv-officials-now-confirm-plutonium-andor-americium-reached-carlsbad-10th-most-populated-city-in-new-mexico-container-of-radioactive-waste-may-have-blew-up-video

TV: Officials now confirm Plutonium and/or Americium reached Carlsbad, New Mexico’s 10th most populated city — Container of radioactive waste may have “blew up” (VIDEO)

Published: March 10th, 2014 at 6:14 pm ET By ENENews  Email Article 200 comments

Carlsbad Current-Argus, Mar. 10, 2014: Four more employees at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant have tested positive for elevated levels of radiation over the weekend. The Department of Energy announced that fecal samples taken from employees at the nuclear waste facility found 17 workers tested positive for low levels of radiation. After initial testing more than a week ago, the DOE reported 13 workers tested positive for trace amounts americium and plutonium. [...]
KRQE, Mar. 10, 2014 (emphasis added): WIPP radiation leak still a mystery [...] contamination drifted across the countryside and 26 miles west, all the way to the city of Carlsbad itself [10th most populated city in New Mexico]. Nuclear experts told residents, worried about children, the WIPP contamination now confirmed to have reached town is not dangerous. ”Below any limit, just above background, and would result in no health potential to a child, or a fetus,” Fran Williams, URS technical advisor said. [...] Panel 7 is where workers most recently put waste. The radiation leak is believed to be [in that panel, which is the length of a football field]. [...] it’s thought most likely part of the roof of the mine here collapsed on and ruptured containers. Another possibility is that a container blew up. [...] Roof sections here have collapsed before, two decades ago during stress tests. Hundreds of tons of salt crashed down. [...] Salt is elastic, so from the moment tunnels are dug they start to close back in. Roof bolts slow down, but do not stop that. [...]
Arnie Gundersen, Fairewinds chief engineer and former nuclear industry executive: “[An] x-ray is broadly distributed externally over a large piece of mass. On the other hand, the radioactivity [from WIPP] in the air is in a particular form [i.e. particulate] that can deposit in your lung. Radioactive material is attracted to your lung tissue. What you breathe in does not come out.
New York Times: Plutonium and americium [...] lodged in the body bombards internal organs with subatomic particles for the rest of the person’s lifetime.
See also: Radiation level at Carlsbad monitor jumps around 40% — Residents concerned for safety, pleading for more info (MAP)
And: Radioactive contamination now reported in city over 20 miles from leaking U.S. nuclear site #WIPP -- 10th largest population in state of New Mexico (MAP)
Watch the KRQE broadcast here

Published: March 10th, 2014 at 6:14 pm ET By ENENews