[CPEO-MEF] RADIATION: Cleanup at formerly used nuclear weapon sites

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

A Nuclear Cleanup Effort Leaves Questions Lingering at Scores of Old  
Sites

John R. Emshwiller and Jeremy Singer-Vine
Wall Street Journal
October 30, 2013

It was a discovery that helped launch the nuclear age. On the eve of  
America's entry into World War II, scientists isolated plutonium in a  
small room in UC Berkeley's Gilman Hall. To make sure the moment  
wasn't forgotten, Room 307 was designated a National Historic Landmark.

As it turned out, there would be plenty of other reminders. The work  
left radioactive residue that forced the university to rip out an  
entire adjacent room in 1957, according to its own documents. ...

The contamination at Berkeley is part of the legacy of one of the  
most important scientific and industrial undertakings in U.S.  
history. During the buildup to the Cold War, the federal government  
turned to the private sector to help develop and produce nuclear  
weapons and other forms of atomic energy. Hundreds of companies and  
thousands of workers were pressed into service. But while it helped  
defend a country, this enormous endeavor has left an equally  
enormous--but rarely publicized--cleanup job of contamination that  
spans the country.

...

For the entire article, see
http://stream.wsj.com/story/latest-headlines/SS-2-63399/SS-2-367982/

--

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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