Dr. Michio Kaku discusses extreme weather and radioactive risks

Dr. Michio Kaku (pictured left), a professor of theoretical physics at City University of New York, a radio host, and popular t.v. personality who has been interviewed extensively by national news media regarding the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe, has written "United States Hit With a Triple Nuclear Threat - How Dangerous is it?" and "Preparing for the 100 Year Storm and Wondering if the Three Simultaneous Nuclear Crises are an Accident?". Kaku questions whether global climate change could account for the severe weather extremes currently threatening nuclear facilities simultaneously -- historic floods on the Missouri River putting the Fort Calhoun and Cooper atomic reactors in Nebraska at risk; historic wildfires in New Mexico that nearly overtook the Los Alamos nuclear weapons lab. He warns that "we might have more 'unprecedented' nuclear crises due to historically bizarre weather patterns."

Light rain helps, but wildfire near Los Alamos Lab still only 3% contained

Nuclear Watch New Mexico reports:

"It was a very smokey day here in Santa Fe and across north-central New Mexico as the 25-mile wide Las Conchas Fire continues to burn north across Santa Clara Pueblo lands and south across the Bandelier National Monument into Canada de Cochiti, reports say the perimeter is only 3% contained. Last night’s light rains may have helped lift spirits but the fire remains active even in some spots near the Lab."

At its Watchblog, Nuke Watch NM also reports on:

Love and Loss in the Jemez

Chasing the Blaze at LANL

Firewatch Update

Where is the Fire in Relation to the LANL Facilities?

The Risk to Waste Stored at Area G

Wildfire Threatens Los Alamos Lab for the Second Time, Nevertheless Nuclear Weapons Production is to be Expanded

Los Alamos fire chief confident nuclear lab protected for now

As reported by KRQE/KASA t.v. of Albuquerque, the Los Alamos County fire chief has spoken confidently about progress made yesterday in defending Los Alamos National Lab against the encroaching wildfires to its south and west. The Albuerquerque Journal reported similarly, and included a YouTube video from Los Alamos National Lab showing controlled "back burns" on the very edge of its property, intended to starve the wildfires of fuel. The Los Alamos Lab director described feeling the heat of the fire on his face, as he stood atop the roof of the Lab's emergency operations center. Not mentioned was the fact that a "controlled burn" at the nearby Bandelier National Monument in May 2000 got out of control, and whipped up the biggest wildfire in recent history at Los Alamos -- until the current one. Also, Lab officials repeatedly speak of no risk from radioactivity or hazardous chemicals at the Lab. This obscures the fact that parts of Lab property are contaminated -- in both soil and flora -- with radioactive and toxic chemical contamination, which could indeed go up in flames and travel downwind on the smoke clouds. Also, the Lab's storage depot of tens of thousands of 55 gallon drums of plutonium contaminated wastes are catastrophically vulnerable to fire, according to a former Lab security chief, Dr. Walp.

CBS News makes false assurances of safety re: Los Alamos wildfires

A CBS News headline, "Los Alamos fire moves away from nuclear waste," does not even match the story that accompanies it, which makes no such report. The story does contain a number of bland assurances from Los Alamos National Lab officials about the lack of anything to worry about, really, such as "CBS News correspondent Cynthia Bowers reports that officials there say there was nothing to worry about anyways." The story misleadingly reports:

" 'The bulk of the drums there truly are things like notes that are contaminated, contaminated gloves,' Wallace says.

Those drums are in outdoor domes made of reinforced steel covered with a plasticized fire retardant. But lab officials insist this site and two others containing additional radioactive materials are safe. More radioactive waste is stored in concrete tubes buried deep in the ground; plutonium and uranium are stored in vaults inside hardened concrete buildings."

No mention is made of the fact that those drums could still burst from the heat, and those so-called "low-level" radioactive wastes, those contaminated notes, gloves, tools, etc., are contaminated with ultra-hazardous plutonium, a microscopic dust particle of which inhaled is almost guaranteed to cause lung cancer. Burning such an ultra-hazardous substance, of course, is about the worst possible thing that could be done with it. If it is so harmless, why are the tens of thousands of drum of plutonioum-contaminated military wastes bound for a deep geologic disposal site at Carlsbad, New Mexico?!

Another CBS News headline and story, "Los Alamos fire stokes fear of radioactive smoke," contradict its story above, conveying more about the radioactive wastes and contamination still very much at risk of being overrun by wildfires, as other postings in this section make clear.

Los Alamos wildfire closes in on "major tritium facility"

Jay Coghlan, executive director of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, like Beyond Nuclear an Alliance for Nuclear Accountability member, posted the following alert on the Los Alamos fire at 6:21 p.m. Eastern, Wed., June 29th:

"Please find an attached screen grab [above] of the most recent Las Conchas Fire map. The relevant point is that it looks like fire has been detected in LANL's Technical Area 16 at the far western corner of the Lab. TA-16 has a major tritium facility and a few locations heavily contaminated with high explosives residues. TA-16 is fairly well forested, but its major facilities have been mostly cleared of nearby combustibles.

One can also see that the NW corner (TA-3) of the Lab and the Los Alamos townsite now appear to be under greater threat. TA-3 is the most employee-populated Technical Area and has many major facilities. However, it is not forested around those facilities.

Data is from satellite infrared surveys completed twice a day, which is overlain on a Google Earth map. The apparent detection time of this screen grab is 9:20 [a.m.] MT June 29. However this wasn't posted by the US Forest Service until ~1:30 [p.m.] MT. Detections are said to be 70% confident (for example, smoke can obscure precise locations).

Nuclear Watch New Mexico has a blog piece for how to get and use the updated fire maps.

http://www.nukewatch.org/watchblog/?p=838

Jay

Jay Coghlan, Executive Director
Nuclear Watch New Mexico
551 W. Cordova Rd., #808
Santa Fe, NM 87505
Phone and fax: 505.989.7342 cell: 505.920.7118
jay@nukewatch.org, www.nukewatch.org."

Additional Nuclear Watch New Mexico Fire Watch Updates are viewable at: http://www.nukewatch.org/watchblog/?tag=las-conchas-fire.