Question Details

Will higher-than-normal radiation levels be recorded at the  Los Alamos National Lab (Santa Fe), during the current wildfires?

Will higher-than-normal radiation levels be recorded at the Los Alamos National Lab (Santa Fe), during the current wildfires?

Asked by: Super Userkruijs in Science » Environment
Settled on 07/02/2011 22:00 Settled by bernardo
Winning option:t before the lab re-opens "Los Alamos Evacuation Order Lifted; 12,000 Return [...] Meanwhile, hundreds of employees of the Los Alamos National Laboratory were returning to prepare operations and thousands of experiments for the scientists and technicians who were forced to evacuate days ago. [...] An aircraft monitoring the area near Los Alamos has picked up no sign of unusual radiation levels, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez announced Sunday. " http://www.npr.org/2011/07/03/137595342/los-alamos-evacuation-order-lifted-12-000-return

Predictions

Background

Concern about what's in the smoke from a wildfire close to the Los Alamos National Laboratory near Santa Fe, N.M., prompted tests for radiation, officials said. Worries about the smoke, which can be seen from space, and what's in it, prompted the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to set up air monitors and bring in a special airplane that checks for radiation levels, ABC News reported Wednesday.

So far officials have found nothing.

"Our facilities and nuclear material are protected and safe," Laboratory Director Charles McMillan told ABC News.

The Los Alamos lab will closed until at least Thursday because of the proximity of the Las Conchas fire to the facility's grounds, CNN said. "Laboratory facilities will be closed for all activities and non-essential employees are directed to remain off-site," the lab said in a statement.

The Las Conchas fire broke out Sunday and by early Wednesday had consumed about 61,000 acres. Officials said it was 3 percent contained.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/06/29/NM-fire-prompts-radiation-concerns/UPI-80221309348234

Comments

Comment on this question:

Sign in to comment

   bernardo

Nice tactics: "Firefighters working against the wildfire that surrounds the nuclear lab in Los Alamos, N.M., have set part of the perimeter of the lab ablaze in hopes of starving the wildfire of fuel in the event it heads back toward the stash of radioactive material stored inside the lab." http://abcnews.go.com/US/los-alamos-fire-perimeter-nuclear-lab-set-ablaze/story?id=13964006

   Super Userkruijs

A wildfire has advanced on the Los Alamos laboratory and thousands of outdoor drums of plutonium-contaminated waste as authorities step up efforts to protect the site and monitor the air for radiation.

"We are throwing absolutely everything at this that we got," New Mexico Democratic senator Tom Udall said.

The fire has forced the evacuation of the entire city of Los Alamos, which has a population of 11,000, and has cast giant plumes of smoke over the region and raised fears among nuclear watchdogs that it will reach as many as 30,000 drums of plutonium-contaminated waste.

"The concern is that these drums will get so hot that they'll burst. That would put this toxic material into the plume. It's a concern for everybody," said Joni Arends, executive director of the Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, an anti-nuclear group.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/29/los-alamos-nuclear-laboratory-wildfire

   kenneth1

Nice question Stijn!!
Well, i hope they find nothing...

What's This!?

  • This is a user submitted question. Players make predictions on what they expect to be the actual outcome.

    more...

  • Register for free and get 1,000 KtN$
    in virtual cash to start predicting!

  • Limited offer: Sign up today and recieve double cash!

Advertisement