Dome Covering Nuclear Waste in Marshall Islands Is Beginning to Crack
May 23rd, 2019Via: Independent:
Beginning in 1977, 4,000 US servicemen began collecting an estimated 73,000 cubic meters of tainted surface soil across the islands, according to the Marshall Islands’ government.
The material was then transported to Runit Island, where a 328-foot crater remained from a May 1958 test explosion. For three years, the American military dumped the material into the crater.
Six men reportedly died during the work. Locals took to calling it “The Tomb,” The Guardian reported.
In 1980, a massive concrete dome – 18 inches thick and shaped like a flying saucer – was placed over the fallout debris, sealing off the material on Runit.
But the $218 million (£172 million) project was only supposed to be temporary until a more permanent site was developed, according to The Guardian. However, no further plans were ever hatched.
In 1983, the Marshall Islands signed a compact agreement of free association with the US, granting the island nation the right to govern itself.
But the deal also settled “all claims, past, present and future” tied to the nuclear testing, and left the dome in the care of the island government.
According to a 2017 report by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, among the fallout material was plutonium-239, an isotope that is one of the world’s most toxic substances, and one with a radioactive half-life of 24,100 years.
The staying power of that material is the problem. It’s still there, only 18 inches of concrete away from waters that are rising.
