For the first time, ProPublica has cataloged cleanup efforts at the 50-plus sites where uranium was processed to fuel the nation’s nuclear arsenal. Even after regulators say cleanup is complete, polluted water and sickness are often left behind.
by Mark Olalde, Mollie Simon and Alex Mierjeski, ProPublica
In America’s rush to build the nuclear arsenal that won the Cold War, safety was sacrificed for speed.
Uranium mills that helped fuel the weapons also dumped radioactive and toxic waste into rivers like the Cheyenne in South Dakota and the Animas in Colorado. Thousands of sheep turned blue and died after foraging on land tainted by processing sites in North Dakota. And cancer wards across the West swelled with sick uranium workers.
The U.S. government bankrolled the industry, and mining companies rushed to profit, building more than 50 mills and processing sites to refine uranium ore.
But the government didn’t have a plan for the toxic byproducts of this nuclear assembly line. Some of the more than 250 million tons of toxic and radioactive detritus, known as tailings, scattered into nearby communities, some spilled into streams and some leaked into aquifers.
Recent Posts
The Moral And Strategic Idiocy Of The DNC
Take Action Now At its meeting this week, the DNC opposed a ban on U.S. provision of offensive weapons to Israel.By Harold Meyerson, The American…
From Guernica to Gaza, Mass Killers Have Been Above It All
Take Action Now The Detached Cruelty of Air PowerBy Norman Solomon, Tom Dispatch Killing from the sky has long offered the sort of detachment that…
Sanders Will Rally With Maine Challenger To Susan Collins, Graham Platner
Take Action Now Platner condemned “endless wars” and backed universal health care in his campaign launch video.By Sharon Zhang, TruthOut Sen.…
Yesterday’s DNC Meeting Proves Democrats Still Don’t Get It
Take Action Now Democrats aren’t setting the stage for a movement. They’re letting Trump set the terms of the debate — again.By Corbin Trent,…