Update from WIPP

Radiation from WIPP

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RadCast created a visual aid for you to understand the amount of radiation released at WIPP on Feb 15, 2014 just a few hours after the incident of the drum explosion occurred a 1/2 mile deep into the salt caverns in Carlsbad, New Mexico.

http://www.chartgo.com/savedcharts/3b42df1baa.png

The measurements are in Counts Per Second on this graph. A Bequerel is one disintegration per second. The US regional locations show the averages of counts per second as recorded by RadCast over the past 2 years. (To ascertain these numbers in counts per minute, just multiply by 60.)

Geiger counters are used to detect primarily atmospheric readings which is the data RadCast used for this graph. They also detect much smaller amounts then the monitors used by New Mexico University and WIPP, but the differences in amounts detected need to be understood. There was an enormous release from WIPP of Plutonium-239/240 and Americium-241, a daughter of Plutonium-241. Pu-241 therefore must have been released but was not among the tests shown in the CEMRC.

Even if the ventilation system was working properly today, there is no such thing as a 100% filtration. There's always at least a minute amount of radiation being released. In this case, we know that the amount of radiation in the cavern is so high that WIPP may never open again. This remains to be seen, but what we know is that the radiation is so high in the cavern that only robotics can go in to test for measurements. And we also don't know the data from the robots or if the robots were even able to collect data. If WIPP has the data, they are not letting it out to the public. Data is the most crucial tool we have in analyzing just how bad a nuclear incident is. Without data, we can only speculate and by withholding data, the nuclear industry can tell us that everything will be fine.

www.cemrc.org/2014-wipp-release/station-b-fas-data/

Station A Activity/8 hour sampling