#wipp — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #wipp, aggregated by home.social.
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New Mexico Rebukes Federal Agency Over Nuclear Waste at Los AlamosState environmental regulators will also fine the Energy Department up to $16 million for exceeding safe groundwater standards near the nuclear lab.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/us/new-mexico-los-alamos-nuclear-waste-fines.html11.2.2026
#aquifer #Atombombe #Atomkraft #Atommüll #groundwater #Grundwasser #Kernenergie #LANL #landfill #LosAlamos #NewMexico #NuclearWaste #pollution #USA #WIPP
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New Mexico Rebukes Federal Agency Over Nuclear Waste at Los AlamosState environmental regulators will also fine the Energy Department up to $16 million for exceeding safe groundwater standards near the nuclear lab.
"
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/us/new-mexico-los-alamos-nuclear-waste-fines.html11.2.2026
#aquifer #Atombombe #Atomkraft #Atommüll #groundwater #Grundwasser #Kernenergie #LANL #landfill #LosAlamos #NewMexico #NuclearWaste #pollution #USA #WIPP
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"
New Mexico Rebukes Federal Agency Over Nuclear Waste at Los AlamosState environmental regulators will also fine the Energy Department up to $16 million for exceeding safe groundwater standards near the nuclear lab.
"
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/us/new-mexico-los-alamos-nuclear-waste-fines.html11.2.2026
#aquifer #Atombombe #Atomkraft #Atommüll #groundwater #Grundwasser #Kernenergie #LANL #landfill #LosAlamos #NewMexico #NuclearWaste #pollution #USA #WIPP
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"
New Mexico Rebukes Federal Agency Over Nuclear Waste at Los AlamosState environmental regulators will also fine the Energy Department up to $16 million for exceeding safe groundwater standards near the nuclear lab.
"
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/us/new-mexico-los-alamos-nuclear-waste-fines.html11.2.2026
#aquifer #Atombombe #Atomkraft #Atommüll #groundwater #Grundwasser #Kernenergie #LANL #landfill #LosAlamos #NewMexico #NuclearWaste #pollution #USA #WIPP
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"
New Mexico Rebukes Federal Agency Over Nuclear Waste at Los AlamosState environmental regulators will also fine the Energy Department up to $16 million for exceeding safe groundwater standards near the nuclear lab.
"
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/us/new-mexico-los-alamos-nuclear-waste-fines.html11.2.2026
#aquifer #Atombombe #Atomkraft #Atommüll #groundwater #Grundwasser #Kernenergie #LANL #landfill #LosAlamos #NewMexico #NuclearWaste #pollution #USA #WIPP
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2025 #UraniumFilmFestival - To Use a Mountain
USA, 2025, Director Casey Carter, Producers: Colleen Cassingham, Jonna McKone, Documentary, 99 min.
"In 1982, the United States began their search for a landfill site for their most dangerous #NuclearWaste. The Department for Energy at the time preselected six sites across the country. Each of these areas were studied and documented in detail, and their residents consulted. The film, which adopts an observational yet sensitive tone, offers us a topography of these sites and their residents. In #Texas, #Utah, #Mississippi, #Nevada, the communities excavate memories of their confrontations with the administration, as well as the distress and outcry that these caused. The film travels across America goes back in time, reminding us that these lands were originally stolen from their first occupants, as we rediscover the intimate links between nuclear, civil and military powers."
FMI - https://beyondnuclear.org/to-use-a-mountain-yucca-nts-doc-film/
#YuccaMountain #NuclearWaste #NoNukes #NoNuclearWeapons #Shoshone #Paiute #WesternShoshone #RethinkNotRestart #NuclearColonialism #WIPP #NuclearWasteRepository #Hanford #Pantex #InternationalUraniumFilmFestival
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2025 #UraniumFilmFestival - To Use a Mountain
USA, 2025, Director Casey Carter, Producers: Colleen Cassingham, Jonna McKone, Documentary, 99 min.
"In 1982, the United States began their search for a landfill site for their most dangerous #NuclearWaste. The Department for Energy at the time preselected six sites across the country. Each of these areas were studied and documented in detail, and their residents consulted. The film, which adopts an observational yet sensitive tone, offers us a topography of these sites and their residents. In #Texas, #Utah, #Mississippi, #Nevada, the communities excavate memories of their confrontations with the administration, as well as the distress and outcry that these caused. The film travels across America goes back in time, reminding us that these lands were originally stolen from their first occupants, as we rediscover the intimate links between nuclear, civil and military powers."
FMI - https://beyondnuclear.org/to-use-a-mountain-yucca-nts-doc-film/
#YuccaMountain #NuclearWaste #NoNukes #NoNuclearWeapons #Shoshone #Paiute #WesternShoshone #RethinkNotRestart #NuclearColonialism #WIPP #NuclearWasteRepository #Hanford #Pantex #InternationalUraniumFilmFestival
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2025 #UraniumFilmFestival - To Use a Mountain
USA, 2025, Director Casey Carter, Producers: Colleen Cassingham, Jonna McKone, Documentary, 99 min.
"In 1982, the United States began their search for a landfill site for their most dangerous #NuclearWaste. The Department for Energy at the time preselected six sites across the country. Each of these areas were studied and documented in detail, and their residents consulted. The film, which adopts an observational yet sensitive tone, offers us a topography of these sites and their residents. In #Texas, #Utah, #Mississippi, #Nevada, the communities excavate memories of their confrontations with the administration, as well as the distress and outcry that these caused. The film travels across America goes back in time, reminding us that these lands were originally stolen from their first occupants, as we rediscover the intimate links between nuclear, civil and military powers."
FMI - https://beyondnuclear.org/to-use-a-mountain-yucca-nts-doc-film/
#YuccaMountain #NuclearWaste #NoNukes #NoNuclearWeapons #Shoshone #Paiute #WesternShoshone #RethinkNotRestart #NuclearColonialism #WIPP #NuclearWasteRepository #Hanford #Pantex #InternationalUraniumFilmFestival
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2025 #UraniumFilmFestival - To Use a Mountain
USA, 2025, Director Casey Carter, Producers: Colleen Cassingham, Jonna McKone, Documentary, 99 min.
"In 1982, the United States began their search for a landfill site for their most dangerous #NuclearWaste. The Department for Energy at the time preselected six sites across the country. Each of these areas were studied and documented in detail, and their residents consulted. The film, which adopts an observational yet sensitive tone, offers us a topography of these sites and their residents. In #Texas, #Utah, #Mississippi, #Nevada, the communities excavate memories of their confrontations with the administration, as well as the distress and outcry that these caused. The film travels across America goes back in time, reminding us that these lands were originally stolen from their first occupants, as we rediscover the intimate links between nuclear, civil and military powers."
FMI - https://beyondnuclear.org/to-use-a-mountain-yucca-nts-doc-film/
#YuccaMountain #NuclearWaste #NoNukes #NoNuclearWeapons #Shoshone #Paiute #WesternShoshone #RethinkNotRestart #NuclearColonialism #WIPP #NuclearWasteRepository #Hanford #Pantex #InternationalUraniumFilmFestival
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2025 #UraniumFilmFestival - To Use a Mountain
USA, 2025, Director Casey Carter, Producers: Colleen Cassingham, Jonna McKone, Documentary, 99 min.
"In 1982, the United States began their search for a landfill site for their most dangerous #NuclearWaste. The Department for Energy at the time preselected six sites across the country. Each of these areas were studied and documented in detail, and their residents consulted. The film, which adopts an observational yet sensitive tone, offers us a topography of these sites and their residents. In #Texas, #Utah, #Mississippi, #Nevada, the communities excavate memories of their confrontations with the administration, as well as the distress and outcry that these caused. The film travels across America goes back in time, reminding us that these lands were originally stolen from their first occupants, as we rediscover the intimate links between nuclear, civil and military powers."
FMI - https://beyondnuclear.org/to-use-a-mountain-yucca-nts-doc-film/
#YuccaMountain #NuclearWaste #NoNukes #NoNuclearWeapons #Shoshone #Paiute #WesternShoshone #RethinkNotRestart #NuclearColonialism #WIPP #NuclearWasteRepository #Hanford #Pantex #InternationalUraniumFilmFestival
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Aviation weather for Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II airport in Palembang-Sumatra Island area (Indonesia) is “WIPP 010430Z 13006KT 110V190 9999 SCT015 32/23 Q1009 NOSIG” : See what it means on https://www.bigorre.org/aero/meteo/wipp/en #palembangsumatraisland #indonesia #sultanmahmudbadaruddiniiairport #wipp #plm #metar #aviation #aviationweather #avgeek #airport vl
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Aviation weather for Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II airport in Palembang-Sumatra Island area (Indonesia) is “WIPP 010430Z 13006KT 110V190 9999 SCT015 32/23 Q1009 NOSIG” : See what it means on https://www.bigorre.org/aero/meteo/wipp/en #palembangsumatraisland #indonesia #sultanmahmudbadaruddiniiairport #wipp #plm #metar #aviation #aviationweather #avgeek #airport vl
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Aviation weather for Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II airport in Palembang-Sumatra Island area (Indonesia) is “WIPP 010430Z 13006KT 110V190 9999 SCT015 32/23 Q1009 NOSIG” : See what it means on https://www.bigorre.org/aero/meteo/wipp/en #palembangsumatraisland #indonesia #sultanmahmudbadaruddiniiairport #wipp #plm #metar #aviation #aviationweather #avgeek #airport vl
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Aviation weather for Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II airport in Palembang-Sumatra Island area (Indonesia) is “WIPP 010430Z 13006KT 110V190 9999 SCT015 32/23 Q1009 NOSIG” : See what it means on https://www.bigorre.org/aero/meteo/wipp/en #palembangsumatraisland #indonesia #sultanmahmudbadaruddiniiairport #wipp #plm #metar #aviation #aviationweather #avgeek #airport vl
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Aviation weather for Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II airport in Palembang-Sumatra Island area (Indonesia) is “WIPP 010430Z 13006KT 110V190 9999 SCT015 32/23 Q1009 NOSIG” : See what it means on https://www.bigorre.org/aero/meteo/wipp/en #palembangsumatraisland #indonesia #sultanmahmudbadaruddiniiairport #wipp #plm #metar #aviation #aviationweather #avgeek #airport vl
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Aviation weather for Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II airport in Palembang-Sumatra Island area (Indonesia) is “WIPP 010400Z 14008KT 120V200 9999 SCT015 32/23 Q1009 NOSIG” : See what it means on https://www.bigorre.org/aero/meteo/wipp/en #palembangsumatraisland #indonesia #sultanmahmudbadaruddiniiairport #wipp #plm #metar #aviation #aviationweather #avgeek #airport vl
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Aviation weather for Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II airport in Palembang-Sumatra Island area (Indonesia) is “WIPP 010400Z 14008KT 120V200 9999 SCT015 32/23 Q1009 NOSIG” : See what it means on https://www.bigorre.org/aero/meteo/wipp/en #palembangsumatraisland #indonesia #sultanmahmudbadaruddiniiairport #wipp #plm #metar #aviation #aviationweather #avgeek #airport vl
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Aviation weather for Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II airport in Palembang-Sumatra Island area (Indonesia) is “WIPP 010400Z 14008KT 120V200 9999 SCT015 32/23 Q1009 NOSIG” : See what it means on https://www.bigorre.org/aero/meteo/wipp/en #palembangsumatraisland #indonesia #sultanmahmudbadaruddiniiairport #wipp #plm #metar #aviation #aviationweather #avgeek #airport vl
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Aviation weather for Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II airport in Palembang-Sumatra Island area (Indonesia) is “WIPP 010400Z 14008KT 120V200 9999 SCT015 32/23 Q1009 NOSIG” : See what it means on https://www.bigorre.org/aero/meteo/wipp/en #palembangsumatraisland #indonesia #sultanmahmudbadaruddiniiairport #wipp #plm #metar #aviation #aviationweather #avgeek #airport vl
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Aviation weather for Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II airport in Palembang-Sumatra Island area (Indonesia) is “WIPP 010400Z 14008KT 120V200 9999 SCT015 32/23 Q1009 NOSIG” : See what it means on https://www.bigorre.org/aero/meteo/wipp/en #palembangsumatraisland #indonesia #sultanmahmudbadaruddiniiairport #wipp #plm #metar #aviation #aviationweather #avgeek #airport vl
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Aviation weather for Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II airport in Palembang-Sumatra Island area (Indonesia) is “WIPP 010330Z 16004KT 120V210 9999 FEW015 31/22 Q1010 NOSIG” : See what it means on https://www.bigorre.org/aero/meteo/wipp/en #palembangsumatraisland #indonesia #sultanmahmudbadaruddiniiairport #wipp #plm #metar #aviation #aviationweather #avgeek #airport vl
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Aviation weather for Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II airport in Palembang-Sumatra Island area (Indonesia) is “WIPP 010330Z 16004KT 120V210 9999 FEW015 31/22 Q1010 NOSIG” : See what it means on https://www.bigorre.org/aero/meteo/wipp/en #palembangsumatraisland #indonesia #sultanmahmudbadaruddiniiairport #wipp #plm #metar #aviation #aviationweather #avgeek #airport vl
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Aviation weather for Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II airport in Palembang-Sumatra Island area (Indonesia) is “WIPP 010330Z 16004KT 120V210 9999 FEW015 31/22 Q1010 NOSIG” : See what it means on https://www.bigorre.org/aero/meteo/wipp/en #palembangsumatraisland #indonesia #sultanmahmudbadaruddiniiairport #wipp #plm #metar #aviation #aviationweather #avgeek #airport vl
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Aviation weather for Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II airport in Palembang-Sumatra Island area (Indonesia) is “WIPP 010330Z 16004KT 120V210 9999 FEW015 31/22 Q1010 NOSIG” : See what it means on https://www.bigorre.org/aero/meteo/wipp/en #palembangsumatraisland #indonesia #sultanmahmudbadaruddiniiairport #wipp #plm #metar #aviation #aviationweather #avgeek #airport vl
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Aviation weather for Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II airport in Palembang-Sumatra Island area (Indonesia) is “WIPP 010330Z 16004KT 120V210 9999 FEW015 31/22 Q1010 NOSIG” : See what it means on https://www.bigorre.org/aero/meteo/wipp/en #palembangsumatraisland #indonesia #sultanmahmudbadaruddiniiairport #wipp #plm #metar #aviation #aviationweather #avgeek #airport vl
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The wrong type of kitty litter was the culprit at #WIPP!
https://practical.engineering/blog/2025/4/15/when-kitty-litter-caused-a-nuclear-catastrophe
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The wrong type of kitty litter was the culprit at #WIPP!
https://practical.engineering/blog/2025/4/15/when-kitty-litter-caused-a-nuclear-catastrophe
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The wrong type of kitty litter was the culprit at #WIPP!
https://practical.engineering/blog/2025/4/15/when-kitty-litter-caused-a-nuclear-catastrophe
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The wrong type of kitty litter was the culprit at #WIPP!
https://practical.engineering/blog/2025/4/15/when-kitty-litter-caused-a-nuclear-catastrophe
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The wrong type of kitty litter was the culprit at #WIPP!
https://practical.engineering/blog/2025/4/15/when-kitty-litter-caused-a-nuclear-catastrophe
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Aviation weather for Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II airport in Palembang-Sumatra Island area (Indonesia) is “WIPP 010300Z 12010KT 9999 SCT015 30/24 Q1010 NOSIG” : See what it means on https://www.bigorre.org/aero/meteo/wipp/en #palembangsumatraisland #indonesia #sultanmahmudbadaruddiniiairport #wipp #plm #metar #aviation #aviationweather #avgeek #airport vl
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Aviation weather for Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II airport in Palembang-Sumatra Island area (Indonesia) is “WIPP 010300Z 12010KT 9999 SCT015 30/24 Q1010 NOSIG” : See what it means on https://www.bigorre.org/aero/meteo/wipp/en #palembangsumatraisland #indonesia #sultanmahmudbadaruddiniiairport #wipp #plm #metar #aviation #aviationweather #avgeek #airport vl
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Aviation weather for Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II airport in Palembang-Sumatra Island area (Indonesia) is “WIPP 010300Z 12010KT 9999 SCT015 30/24 Q1010 NOSIG” : See what it means on https://www.bigorre.org/aero/meteo/wipp/en #palembangsumatraisland #indonesia #sultanmahmudbadaruddiniiairport #wipp #plm #metar #aviation #aviationweather #avgeek #airport vl
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Aviation weather for Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II airport in Palembang-Sumatra Island area (Indonesia) is “WIPP 010300Z 12010KT 9999 SCT015 30/24 Q1010 NOSIG” : See what it means on https://www.bigorre.org/aero/meteo/wipp/en #palembangsumatraisland #indonesia #sultanmahmudbadaruddiniiairport #wipp #plm #metar #aviation #aviationweather #avgeek #airport vl
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Aviation weather for Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II airport in Palembang-Sumatra Island area (Indonesia) is “WIPP 010300Z 12010KT 9999 SCT015 30/24 Q1010 NOSIG” : See what it means on https://www.bigorre.org/aero/meteo/wipp/en #palembangsumatraisland #indonesia #sultanmahmudbadaruddiniiairport #wipp #plm #metar #aviation #aviationweather #avgeek #airport vl
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Shitty Nuclear Management
“Degraded infrastructure and lax federal oversight of maintenance contractors threatens future operation of the only underground #nuclear storage site in Southern New Mexico, according to a recent report issued by a federal watchdog.”
"In June, the Government Accountability Office issued its findings on #WIPP maintenance and facilities, noting that more than half of the necessary equipment and infrastructure (called ‘mission-critical”) is reported to be in “poor and substandard conditions.’”
https://sourcenm.com/briefs/federal-watchdog-urges-more-oversight-of-wipp-maintenance/
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Shitty Nuclear Management
“Degraded infrastructure and lax federal oversight of maintenance contractors threatens future operation of the only underground #nuclear storage site in Southern New Mexico, according to a recent report issued by a federal watchdog.”
"In June, the Government Accountability Office issued its findings on #WIPP maintenance and facilities, noting that more than half of the necessary equipment and infrastructure (called ‘mission-critical”) is reported to be in “poor and substandard conditions.’”
https://sourcenm.com/briefs/federal-watchdog-urges-more-oversight-of-wipp-maintenance/
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Shitty Nuclear Management
“Degraded infrastructure and lax federal oversight of maintenance contractors threatens future operation of the only underground #nuclear storage site in Southern New Mexico, according to a recent report issued by a federal watchdog.”
"In June, the Government Accountability Office issued its findings on #WIPP maintenance and facilities, noting that more than half of the necessary equipment and infrastructure (called ‘mission-critical”) is reported to be in “poor and substandard conditions.’”
https://sourcenm.com/briefs/federal-watchdog-urges-more-oversight-of-wipp-maintenance/
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Shitty Nuclear Management
“Degraded infrastructure and lax federal oversight of maintenance contractors threatens future operation of the only underground #nuclear storage site in Southern New Mexico, according to a recent report issued by a federal watchdog.”
"In June, the Government Accountability Office issued its findings on #WIPP maintenance and facilities, noting that more than half of the necessary equipment and infrastructure (called ‘mission-critical”) is reported to be in “poor and substandard conditions.’”
https://sourcenm.com/briefs/federal-watchdog-urges-more-oversight-of-wipp-maintenance/
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Shitty Nuclear Management
“Degraded infrastructure and lax federal oversight of maintenance contractors threatens future operation of the only underground #nuclear storage site in Southern New Mexico, according to a recent report issued by a federal watchdog.”
"In June, the Government Accountability Office issued its findings on #WIPP maintenance and facilities, noting that more than half of the necessary equipment and infrastructure (called ‘mission-critical”) is reported to be in “poor and substandard conditions.’”
https://sourcenm.com/briefs/federal-watchdog-urges-more-oversight-of-wipp-maintenance/
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2015: Official Report: Nuclear Waste Accident Caused By Wrong Cat Litter
March 26, 2015
Geoff Brumfiel"Workers at Los Alamos National Laboratory used organic cat litter to clean up #NuclearWaste. The litter triggered chemical reactions that later caused a drum to burst.
"A yearlong investigation by government scientists has concluded that a major accident at a nuclear waste dump was caused by the wrong brand of cat litter.
"The U.S. Department of Energy [#DOE] has released a 277-page report into an explosion that occurred on Feb. 14, 2014, at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant [#WIPP] in #NewMexico.
"According to a summary of the report, the incident occurred when a single drum of nuclear waste, 68660, burst open.
"As NPR reported shortly after the accident, cat litter was the chief suspect. The highly absorbent material is great at soaking up liquid nuclear waste, and it has been used for years in cleanup activities at the nation's nuclear laboratories.
"Unfortunately, workers at Los Alamos National Laboratory, also in New Mexico, apparently switched from inorganic #ClayLitter to organic litter. According to the report, workers put the brand "Swheat Scoop" inside drum 68660.
"'Experiments showed that various combinations of nitrate salt, Swheat Scoop, nitric acid, and oxalate self-heat at temperatures below 100°C. Computer modeling of thermal runaway was consistent with the observed 70-day birth-to-breach of Drum 68660,' the summary of the report concluded.
"In other words, the litter caused the drum to burst after it arrived at the dump, releasing #radioactive #uranium, #plutonium and #americium throughout the underground facility.
"WIPP has come under intense scrutiny since the accident for what critics say was a lax culture of safety and oversight. But the Energy Department wants the dump to get back to work. It hopes to reopen it early next year."
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By using Beta radiation data (and higher energy Gamma data), I was able to track trouble at #WIPP before it was released publicly (and yes, some rads did get loose), and also #NorthKorean nuclear tests (again, before it was released to the public). And then #RadNet beta tracking went away -- allegedly because the air monitors were faulty? Ummm.... Sure they were.
#EPAFail #NRC -
Elon Musk’s DOGE sluit pand kernafval-berging in New Mexico – en toch weer niet
Elom Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) leek een gebouw in Carlsbad (New Mexico) af te willen stoten, waarin het kantoor huist dat toezicht houdt op de enige ondergrondse berging voor kernafval in de VS. Het veldkantoor van het Departement of Energy bevindt zich in het Skeen-Whitlock-gebouw, een complex van 90.000 vierkante meter waar 200 werknemers werken die de Waste Isolation Pilot Plant beheren, beter bekend als WIPP. WIPP is een ondergrondse opslag voor militair kernafval. De beslissing van DOGE leidde onmiddellijk tot ongeloof en afkeuring door Congres-leden van New Mexico. Een dag later werd de beslissing weer teruggedraaid. Ze hebben werkelijk geen idee wat ze doen, behalve dat alles kapot moet.
WIPP was in het nieuws toen tien jaar geleden een vat met kernafval met daarin organische kattenbakvullling – dat absorbeert vocht – ontplofte. -
Earlier this week, it appeared that the Carlsbad Department of Energy office responsible for a key nuclear waste site had been DOGE’d.
After some outcry, that has been walked back. But it does leave some outstanding questions about WIPP, which is projected to run out of space this year.
https://www.abqjournal.com/news/article_ea60bf1c-f957-11ef-8c44-b3e252b0380a.html
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#Nuclear waste is forever, but funding the managment of that waste, and #WIPP has had its problems, can be terminated by Bros rolling on power and, things:
"WIPP in Carlsbad under DOGE cuts"
https://www.kob.com/news/top-news/wipp-in-carlsbad-under-doge-cuts/
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So yeah, I'm pretty sure the #RockyMountains are more geologically stable than #YuccaMountain or #WIPP in #NewMexico. And with #ClimateChange trashing coastlines, it's probably NOT a good idea to keep storing used #NuclearFuel next to the plants (which are usually situated near water sources). However, we should only use #NuclearPower to get us through until #renewables and #BatteryStorage becomes efficient and non-toxic -- and NOT poison the future for garbled recipes or greedy CEOs (any more than we already have)!
#NuclearWaste #NoNukesForAI #NuclearWasteRepository -
Meanwhile at the accident prone WIPP site:
"Feds hold NM meetings to decide expansion of radioactive waste site"
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ICYMI from 2014. Meee-oooow! Misleading headline, however, the wrong type of cat litter caused an explosion at a #NuclearWaste repository in #NewMexico.
Radioactive kitty litter may have ruined our best hope to store nuclear waste
Billions invested in an underground New Mexico repository could be wasted because of one seemingly innocuous decision
By Matt Stroud
May 23, 2014"Some of the most dangerous nuclear waste in the US is currently scattered between 77 locations all over the country, awaiting permanent storage. Until February, many experts suggested that the best place to put it was a facility about 40 miles east of #CarlsbadNewMexico, called the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). For 15 years, #WIPP has operated as the first and only permanent, deep geologic nuclear waste storage facility in the country, holding 'low level' radioactive materials — mostly clothing and tools exposed to radiation from nuclear weapons production — in steel barrels more than 2,150 feet below the Earth’s surface.
"But earlier this year two emergencies brought that suggestion — and WIPP’s future — into question. And now it seems kitty litter may be to blame.
What happened?
"WIPP is in a salt desert, and much of the work there involves burrowing through the salt and using huge elevators to deposit the stuff at surface level. The resulting underground caverns are then filled with radioactive waste and eventually closed shut, sealed forever.
"First, on February 5th, a salt-hauling truck caught fire. That would be an inconvenience on the side of a highway, but in an enclosed #SaltCavern surrounded by nuclear waste, it’s a potential catastrophe. Workers evacuated the site. Fortunately no one was hurt. But the fire was significant enough to shut down underground operations until investigators could figure out what happened and how to stop it from happening again. Surface-level operations continued.
"But not for long. Nine days later, late at night on Valentine’s Day, an alarm sounded, indicating that #radioactivity was present in the air underground. No one was below ground at the time, but employees on the surface activated massive fans designed to ventilate the underground air. The next day, another monitor went off — this one on the surface — indicating #AirborneRadiation. Employees who worked outside on the surface were told to take shelter inside buildings completely separated from storage operations. Valves allowing air to flow underground were sealed with high-density expanding foam. Everything came to a standstill, indefinitely.
Fallout
"There are no indications that anyone has been injured from the radiation leak. (All employees went through examinations for radiation exposure; a DOE press release says most workers were not affected, and those who were 'received less exposure than a person receives from a chest X-ray.' [THIS IS TYPICAL PRO-NUCLEAR PROPAGANDA]) But for months, nothing has changed. The standstill remains. WIPP’s 850 or so employees are mainly sitting around, waiting (or "performing surface facilities maintenance or assisting with procedure reviews and revisions") while investigators from the US Department of Energy (#DOE), the New Mexico Environment Department and elsewhere attempt to figure out what happened.
"Initially, there were two hypotheses. The first was that something had gone wrong with the supports inside the cavern where waste was being stored. If that were the case, it meant a piece of salt rock or a steel support had fallen into one of the sealed barrels, puncturing it and releasing radiation into the air.
"'That was an unlikely possibility,' says Norbert T. Rempe, PhD, a retired geologist who spent decades as a principal engineer at WIPP. The cavern where the radiation monitor went off had been dug only recently, so the chances that supports had eroded or collapsed were probably slim.
Burstlid
"Organic kitty litter likely caused a steel barrel's seal to puncture at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad, NM. The damage and the resulting radiation leak could close the facility, experts say. (Department of Energy)
"More likely, he said, was the second hypothesis: that something had gone awry inside one of the radioactive containers — that the radioactive material had become hot for some reason, expanding and puncturing a steel barrel from the inside.
"Last month, DOE investigators went into the cavern. Pictures showed that the latter hypothesis was true; a waste container’s lid was unsealed, and dust around the lid had turned yellow from the unusual heat emanating from inside. Each barrel is labeled to track where it came from. The punctured barrel originated from #LosAlamos National Labs.
"Jim Conca, PhD, a geologist who worked for years at WIPP who now blogs at Forbes about energy issues, believes he knows what blew the lid off at least one of WIPP’s radioactive barrels. The culprit, he wrote, was kitty litter."
#NuclearWasteStorage #NuclearWaste #NuclearRepository
https://www.theverge.com/2014/5/23/5742800/did-kitty-litter-just-kill-the-most-successful-nuclear-waste-facility -
What’s being done now about #RadioactiveWater that threatens the #ColumbiaRiver in #WashingtonState?
by Annette Cary
Tue, July 9, 2024"A major #radioactive contamination threat to the Columbia River should be removed at the #Hanford #nuclear site before the end of summer.
"Hanford workers have started to pump contaminated water from the final basin of the nuclear reservation’s nine reactors along the Columbia River.
"'This effort will eliminate the risk of a leak of contaminated water to the groundwater about a quarter-mile from the Columbia River,' said Andy Wiborg, the Department of Energy acting deputy assistant manager for river and plateau cleanup."
[...]
"The K West and K East Reactor basins were the last to be used, after storing irradiated fuel from N Reactor that was not processed following the end of the Cold War. Before the fuel was removed in 2004, it #corroded underwater, contributing to a highly #RadioactiveSludge.
"In 2019 the last of the sludge was removed, leaving draining the water the next major task to reduce risk from the basins.
"The nearby K East Reactor basin was emptied first.
"Then in June, the first tanker truck with basin water pulled away from the K West Reactor.
About 60 tanker trucks have been filled with filtered water to remove radioactive contamination from the K West Reactor basin as it is being drained. The work will protect the nearby Columbia River.
About 60 tanker trucks have been filled with filtered water to remove radioactive contamination from the K West Reactor basin as it is being drained. The work will protect the nearby Columbia River."About 400,000 gallons have been pumped out of the basin so far, which is the equivalent of six residential swimming pools, said Heather Dale, DOE Hanford assistant manager for the river and plateau. About 60 tanker trucks have been filled with basin water.
[...]
"They also installed a system to pump out and then filter the contaminated water before it it loaded into tanker trucks.
"The filtering system removes particles and also uses an ion exchange system to remove radioactive #cesium and #strontium from the water. The initial resin used in the ion exchange system DID NOT WORK WELL, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board said in January.
[...]
"Some of the contents of the vertical pipe units in the K West Reactor basin may be required to be sent to the nation’s repository for transuranic radioactive waste in New Mexico for disposal [#WIPP].
Read more:
https://news.yahoo.com/news/being-done-now-radioactive-water-181740119.html#WaterIsLife
#NoNukes
#NoDumping
#FutureGenerations
#NoWar
#NoNuclearWeapons
#RethinkNotRestart
#NuclearWaste
#HanfordNuclearSite -
The WIPP site has had multiple fires and radiation releases in its "short" history:
"New Mexico regulators worry about US plans to ship radioactive waste back from Texas"