[CPEO-MEF] RADIATION: Plutonium dust downwind from Rocky Flats (CO)

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Guest commentary: Responsibility downwind of Rocky Flats

By LeRoy Moore
Boulder Daily Camera (CO)
November 16, 2010

The Department of Energy almost certainly is responsible for the ongoing 
exposure of people to highly toxic radioactive plutonium in homes, 
schools, libraries, shops and workplaces downwind of the defunct Rocky 
Flats nuclear bomb factory. Some people very likely have had their 
health damaged. But to date the DOE has done nothing about the problem.

The issue surfaced recently when a citizen sampling project sponsored by 
the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center of Boulder found plutonium 
in dust collected from crawl space beneath a house about one mile 
downwind of the Rocky Flats plant site. Wind had carried the plutonium 
from the plant to this location during production years. It had 
collected in the crawl space since 1960 when the house was built.

The principal product of the Rocky Flats plant was the explosive 
plutonium "pit" at the core of every warhead in the U.S. nuclear 
arsenal. Some 70,000 pits were produced at the plant between 1952 when 
production began and 1989 when it ended. Throughout this period tiny 
plutonium particles were released to the environment by fires, accidents 
and routine operations. Particles were distributed near and far by the 
wind common at the site.

...

For the entire column, see
http://www.dailycamera.com/guestopinion/ci_16620755#ixzz15TJblw9i

--


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org



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