WIPP Did NOT Protect Workers or Inform Public About Plutonium Dangers Immediately After Radiation Disaster

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WIPP Did NOT Protect Workers or Inform Public About Plutonium Dangers Immediately After Radiation Disaster

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WHAT HAPPENED AT WIPP ON FEB. 14, 2014?


Located near Carlsbad, New Mexico this Department of Energy (DOE) experimental nuclear waste dump is attempting to store leftover radioactive plutonium and americium from the US weapons program.

On February 14, 2014 there was a radioactive waste leak at the WIPP site and the Department of Energy is not being honest about it. In this video, Fairewinds Energy Education's Arnie Gundersen pieces together what happened. Arnie points out 4 major concerns about the facility, the accident, and the lack of transparency at the DOE.

Source; Arnie Gundersen/Fairewinds Energy Education
http://www.fairewinds.com/  and  http://fairewinds.org/

According to the Bulletin; "The end of the Cold War and the downsizing of the US nuclear weapons complex expanded WIPP’s mission to include excess plutonium. Instead of just contaminated rags, clothing and equipment, in 1998 the Energy Department decided to dispose of plutonium, originally part of the US strategic stockpile, from the now-closed Rocky Flats site. Some 3.5 tons, or more than 70 percent of the plutonium stored in WIPP, was originally meant to be used in nuclear weapons.

WIPP NOW HOLDS 177,000 LOW AND HIGH LEVEL NUCLEAR WASTE CONTAINERS, 3 FOOTBALL FIELDS IN SIZE


WIPP now holds more than 171,000 waste containers containing approximately 4.9 metric tons of plutonium. With a total cost that the Energy Department estimates at $7.2 billion, WIPP employs some 800 workers. The site involves an ongoing mining operation in which salt is loaded on trucks and conveyed to the surface, to other trucks that dump it in a disposal area. The floor space of the mine is designed to be substantially larger than the Pentagon’s. Waste packages are disposed in a 100-acre area that includes seven “rooms—each with a footprint as large as three football fields carved out of the salt formation in the deep mine."
http://thebulletin.org/wipp-problem-and-what-it-means-defense-nuclear-waste-disposal7002

WIPP CONTAINS NUCLEAR WASTE THAT EMITS 10 SIEVERTS PER HOUR, ENOUGH TO KILL ANYONE NEAR IT; THEY CALL THAT LOW LEVEL WASTE


Since 1998, the WIPP facility also started accepted waste that emits 1000 Rem per hour, called CH waste, which is now conveniently classified as 'low level' waste, despite the fact that no can near it and live to tell about it, because it is so radioactive.

According to Wikipedia, One sievert equals 100 rem. This means each CH container can emit up to 10 SIEVERTS per hour. A dose greater than 1 Sievert received over a short time period is likely to cause radiation poisoning, possibly leading to death within weeks. What happens if one of these containers is crushed, leaks or explodes? 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sievert

WIPP Illegal High Level Waste Documentation And Evidence; via @AGreenRoad
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2014/03/wipp-and-illegal-high-level-waste.html

WIPP EMPLOYEES NOT PROTECTED, TESTED, OR NOTIFIED, LEAK WENT ON FOR 20 DAYS


Proof that workers inhaled plutonium, and God knows what else.

Wall St. Journal: Report reveals WIPP containment system leaked radiation — ‘Unfiltered’ plutonium released into environment for 20 days after accident — Something like this “wasn’t supposed to happen for 10,000 years” (VIDEO)

"No workers were underground when the leak was detected near the plant's waste-disposal platform, and none of the 139 employees working above ground were exposed, the DOE told Reuters Sunday."

The above news release only worked for a little while, because 13 of the workers requested and were given a radiation scan (or urine test from Arnie's video above), which tested positive for radiation contamination. The WIPP workers union then got involved, as shown with the next news story, and link. 

The Carlsbad chapter of the United Steelworkers raised concerns that only a handful of workers were given a full-body scan after the leak. (But that testing only took place down the road, many days later, not immediately.) 
http://kunm.org/post/big-picture-wipp-leak

Via rogerthat August 14, 2014… "In a court document, NWP attorneys refuted Utter's claims, saying the "defendants do not believe that the complaint states a legally sufficient cause of action." …NWP employees are not permitted to speak to the news media. Utter has worked for NWP for eight years and is a member of the Carlsbad chapter of the United Steelworkers union. He declined to be interviewed by the Journal but shared through his attorney a recorded interview with a doctor in which he details the health issues he has faced since escaping the mine fire. Rodriguez said the video was prepared in conjunction with the lawsuit. Choking back a constant, persistent cough, Utter's voice is hoarse as he answers questions asked by a person off-camera. "I get tired," he said. "I start coughing real hard. I start vomiting. … It's just like this all the time." Hearings have not yet been scheduled in the case.



WIPP DISASTER COVERED UP FOR SIX DAYS


Dana in the video above makes the point that plutonium inhalation experts were not brought in to WIPP so that employees could find out what they needed to know. Experts on the dangers of plutonium inhalation also were not interviewed around WIPP. Why not? What are they so afraid of?

The ideal and standard response when a nuclear facility has a major nuclear catastrophe with releases of radioactive elements is to measure all those affected for external and internal radiation contamination IMMEDIATELY. The workers who are showing radiation contamination are then either decontaminated, or sent to the hospital, or they isolate them, or do whatever is needed. At WIPP, nothing was done, to AGRP's knowledge.

What is worse, the people responsible covered it up.....

WIPP Radioactive Plutonium/Americium Plume Release Covered Up For Six Days, Researchers Denied Access; via @AGreenRoad

After the managers knew that there was a radiation release, WIPP union workers came to work anyway, just like a 'normal' work day. Those workers got contaminated with radiation above ground, breathed whatever was floating around the air, and no one was told or warned about anything. No safety equipment was handed out. There were no dosimeters and no one got a radiation meter handed to them. No one was tested for anything. 

Then those exposed radiation contaminated workers went home, went shopping and went to the movies. Everywhere they went could be radiation contaminated. NO ONE has tested the homes of employees, the movie theatres, their cars or anything else. This sequence of events, and the WIPP official news release above confirms a radiation contamination cover up of both the workers and the public, because any prudent and cautious nuclear business would do testing of the workers initially, before they left the site, and then announce the results in a public and transparent manner. But that is nothing new in the nuclear industry......

Art And Science Of Deception; Global Corporations And The 1%
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/p/corporations-art-and-science-of.html

LESSON FROM HANFORD - NO WORKERS WARNED OR TESTED, PUBLIC NOT WARNED OR TESTED

Hanford is where a lot of the high level nuclear waste that is at WIPP comes from. When workers were exposed and ended up with nose bleeds, chest pains and coughing up blood recently, this may serve as a warning for WIPP employees.

WIPP employees were not warned or tested, and this seems to be the same thing that happens at other facilities owned and managed by URS.. At Hanford, where all of this nuclear waste comes from, the employees there are also suffering, and the company keeps promising things, but not delivering. Hanford workers are quoted as saying;

"It’s BS. We’ve expressed our opinion about it. We’ve said you haven’t taken the time to put in monitors and they say ‘It’s in the works’. Yet they keep sending us out to work. They’re not putting safety first.”

“They have some serious problems out there that they need to figure out.”

TV: 11 workers at U.S. nuclear site transported to medical facilities — Suffering nose bleeds, chest pains, coughing up blood — Multiple locations evacuated — Persistent symptoms “extremely unusual” — Workers: “The place is falling apart… serious problems out there” (VIDEO)

NO LIVE RADIATION MONITORS AT EXHAUST, NO COMMUNITY ACCESS TO RADIATION READINGS VIA INTERNET; WHY NOT?


The same things happened at WIPP. LIVE radiation monitors were needed above ground, but were never installed. (They are just now getting around to installing ONE monitor. Will it be installed upwind or downwind of prevailing winds?) Dosimeters for all workers should have been standard every day practice, but they have not been used. Regular mine inspections should have been performed, but they weren't. Barrels should all have had vents on them, but according to this next story, this requirement was 'relaxed'. 

Concern gases caused underground explosion at WIPP; Extent of contamination “could topple long-held assumptions” — AP: Plan to enter mine postponed — ‘Very excited’ about new monitors for detecting further release

WIPP RESPONSE WAS A FAILURE


"WIPP’s initial response to a Feb. 14 radiation leak was “unsatisfactory,” the DNFSB said in its letter. March 25 2014

“Shelter in place instructions were not given until 10 hours after the first indication of a problem, and over four hours after a release had been confirmed by local readings,” the DNFSB said. “As a result, the internal contamination level of workers, although minor, was nevertheless greater than necessary.”

The only way to get 'internal contamination' is that there was radiation floating around in the air at the WIPP site. This radiation also settled on these workers EXTERNALLY, and was on the bottoms of their work boots, their hands, etc. Dust kicked up would stick to their clothing, cars, etc. It is impossible to get internal radiation dosage that shows up on a test and not pick up radiation  contamination externally.


PLUTONIUM FOUND IN EVERY SINGLE WORKER WHO WAS ON SITE WHEN EXPLOSION AND FIRE HAPPENED


WIPP Expert: Nuclear waste is getting out above ground — Plutonium / Americium found in “every single worker” on site when leak began — New Mexico officials ‘totally unsatisfied’ with lack of info from Feds — “We don’t know how far away it’s gone” — Continuing threat for long time to come 
Hancock (at 3:00 in): Apparently every single worker on the site when the alarm was triggered late night on Valentine’s Day Feb. 14 received internal dose […] at least 13 [have] confirmed internal radiation. So that bodes the possibility of some serious health consequences. Hancock (at 11:00 in): The government has not been accurate in what it has said [….] The information flow has been bad. I know of nobody that thinks the information flow has been good. I was just on the phone in the last half hour with the New Mexico secretary of the environment department, the state official who is most responsible for the State’s activities at the WIPP site, and he was saying he is still totally unsatisfied with the lack of information the DoE is giving him and his regulatory agency — not to mention the further lack of information that the public is getting.
Why should the WIPP authorities have warned the public and immediately taken the workers to get tested and decontaminated? Here is why..... They know how deadly plutonium is, and they may just not want anyone to be tested and then find out they got a lethal dose of plutonium. All it takes is one microgram, and that is enough to cause lung cancer. 

Plutonium Is The Most Toxic, Radioactive, Man Made Element, With No Natural Biological Role In The Human Body; via @AGreenRoad
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2014/01/plutonium-is-toxic-radioactive-man-made.html

HOT SPOTS FOUND IN CARLSBAD AND AT NORTH GATE OF WIPP BY CITIZEN SCIENTIST


Via ISPC November 14, 2014 "Yes. I did go there. I spent a month in the area taking radiologic surveys. I was looking for hot spots. I found them. I found areas with over 100 cpm in Eunice, at the North Gate of WIPP, and in Downtown Carlsbad. I do not like to talk or think about it, but I know I was exposed to high levels of Plutonium and Americium. 

Today I think my fate has been sealed, so I have decided I will go back to Carlsbad to help those people as much as I can. Maybe I will build inexpensive Geiger Counters and give them away. It is clear that the DOE has decided the fate of the residents in Carlsbad, as evidenced by the "Fan Test" the week of the 20th last month. That fan was fed by a half of a mile of contaminated air shaft, plus the air behind it was pulled from the contaminated storage area. The contamination was detected hundreds of miles away during that week, and background levels remain high. The low level wind direction on the 20th was directly toward Carlsbad from the WIPP. WIPP must be shut down, or more of this behavior will be seen from the DOE. It is muderous behavior; plain and simple. Peace"



WHY IS DOE PUTTING A NOOSE AROUND SCIENTIFIC PERSONNEL? WHY ARE THEY REFUSING TO PROVIDE CRUCIAL INFORMATION? 


Top Official: “Really concerned” over radiation release at US nuclear site; Feds “have put a noose around scientific personnel”… they refuse to reveal crucial information about WIPP disaster — Investigators becoming suspicious — Nuclear Expert: “It sure seems like there’s a cover-up” (AUDIO)

WIPP ACTING ILLEGALLY? 


Although the above video is about Yucca Mountain, wouldn't it also apply to WIPP? If indeed DOE was acting illegally at Yucca Mountain, isn't the same thing then true at WIPP?


RADIATION EXPOSURE TESTING QUESTIONS

Via ISeePinkClouds October 6, 2014 "I was just in Carlsbad. Those poor people. Radiation was very high. I am recovering from Rad poisoning after being there for only one month in area, and two nights in Carlsbad proper. If you have friends or family there they should get out. BTW-I was raised in Farmington. My playmates were Navaho. Many nearby are suffering from the Uranium mining. More later."

Why is the public not hearing from the medical experts who know about the extreme dangers of plutonium? Why aren't the medical doctors being interviewed about what is being found in a general way in those employees who tested positive for plutonium inhalation?

How did the medical experts do the testing for radiation exposure? (whole body internal gamma radiation scan cannot detect plutonium and is not the best test to determine how much was inhaled.)

Did anyone get a nose swab test?

If they didn't do this test, they missed a good way to get an accurate measure of what ALL these workers got radiation dosed with and how much plutonium or whatever else they inhaled. That type of test was NOT DONE, to AGRP's knowledge, as discussed in the video above. 

What critical threshold for minimum detection of a radioactive element did they use? In Japan, they use 300 Bq/kg as the 'minimum detection level, so anything less than that is registered as a 'non detectable' and below their minimum action level. If the levels are below their made up arbitrary levels, they can and do claim that there was no harmful 'exposure'. 

What were they testing for?  gamma, beta or alpha radiation, with what kind of equipment or medical tests, and how accurate is it? 

Who did the calibration of the testing equipment?  When was the last time it was done? Who signed off on it? It is not uncommon to calibrate equipment at nuclear facilities and elsewhere downwards by orders of magnitude to give false low readings.

Bottom line, there is a devil in the details around radiation exposure testing. It is very common around nuclear accidents, incidents and spills where employees are exposed to avoid testing, to minimize the radiation readings in one of many ways, to use the wrong test equipment which then registers zero exposure, or to 'lose' the radiation exposure records, thus eliminating any potential legal or financial liability.

Workers should do their best to protect themselves from the various techniques that are commonly used to cover up radiation disasters. We already know that testing was not even required for all employees after the WIPP radiation release. This means that the first technique of not testing anyone and not having dosimeters on each and every worker is very evident around this radiation disaster, and that is called a coverup, plain and simple.

It would not be a great surprise to find that other cover up and denial or minimization techniques are also being used to minimize what is being 'found' so that the 'experts' can say that no one was harmed and no one will die.

There are many ways to detect radiation contamination, but being exposed to and inhaling plutonium or ingesting plutonium, or BOTH, makes it much harder, because it is primarily an alpha radiation emitting element. Because it is so hard to detect, it takes special equipment to measure and detect it inside the body. For example, urine tests for plutonium will only pick up and measure what was taken into the body via water and food, in the intestines. 

What is the test for plutonium content in muscles and organs, after it was absorbed via the intestines?

What is the test for plutonium absorbed into the bones? 

What is the test for plutonium contaminated air going into the lungs?
  
These things all require special testing methods and equipment that is more than likely not available in Carlsbad New Mexico. 

Have they done the SPECIAL lab tests for bone, lungs, soft tissue? 

Have they done any testing for radiation contamination carried into the homes via the workers? 

Have they tested family members for plutonium exposure in this same way? 

If not, why not? 

Unless this testing is done, no one knows how widespread this radiation contamination went. 

No one knows how many family members, residences or community shops were exposed. 

Because unless you test, it does not EXIST, due to radiation being invisible.

WHAT IS THE DANGER THAT PLUTONIUM POSES?

Plutonium is orders of magnitude more toxic and dangerous than uranium for example. Plutonium of several varieties came out of WIPP, but who knows what ELSE came out of there? The barrels of waste usually don't contain just ONE thing, but many things all mixed together. 

Plutonium Mimics Iron In Body - 2 Million Times More Dangerous Than Uranium, MOX Planned For Use In All Future Nuclear Power Plants; via @AGreenRoad
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2013/09/plutonium-mimics-iron-in-body-2-million.html

NORMALCY BIAS IS WHAT NUCLEAR INDUSTRY COUNTS ON TO COVER UP NUCLEAR ACCIDENT SEVERITY


The nuclear industry counts on the fact that most people will believe any TV broadcast saying that plutonium is all safe to eat and breathe, and will not harm anyone. But is that the truth? Why are people so easy to fool?

Catch 22 - Nuclear High Technology Plus Safety Assurance Offers Only A False Promise And An Empty Guarantee; via @AGreenRoad
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2014/03/nuclear-high-technology-plus-safety.html

All humans want to keep on believing that everything is normal, and that is easy to do, especially if the TV says everything is normal and safe, and there is no visible evidence of anything going wrong. Even when a ship is sinking, many people keep on believing that everything is normal, and that no disaster is happening. The nuclear industry takes advantage of this normalcy bias that everyone is prone to...

Titantic and Costa Concordia - Example of Normalcy Bias In Fukushima Mega Disaster; via @AGreenRoad
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2012/04/fukushima-todays-titantic-and-costa.html


It would be nice to report that the BEST medical team in the world is being sent to Carlsbad, with the best technology and the state of the art testing equipment to measure and analyze who got exposed to what and how many kinds of plutonium and other radioactive elements, including animals, plants, soil, workers, the families of the workers, the public downwind, etc. Instead, this is more what seems to be happening.. video below. But if you are aware of something happening that is in this positive public health protection direction, leave a comment below, and AGRP will be glad to report on it, and the results.

MASS MEDIA COVERING UP PLUTONIUM LEAK AND NEGATIVE HEALTH EFFECTS


Instead of doing investigative reporting and asking tough questions, almost all of the media outlets are just issuing press release statements (PR spin) direct from the companies and organizations involved in owning or managing the site.





The video above discusses how just about all of the mass media covering this WIPP nuclear disaster report that plutonium is harmless, just like eating bananas, dental x rays, or airline flights.. But knowledgeable medical doctors and scientists disagree with the mass media pro nuclear spin, being parroted mindlessly by the mass media.

Combine the PR spin being shown on the mass media about the harmlessness of radiation along with basic deception, and what do you get?

"No workers were underground when the leak was detected near the plant's waste-disposal platform, and none of the 139 employees working above ground were exposed, the DOE told Reuters Sunday."

Why aren't you hearing the truth on the mass media news outlets, including the 'local' stations?

These stations are owned and controlled by huge corporations, which get ad revenue from places like WIPP, so they cannot bite the hand that feeds them. On top of that, Carlsbad is a company town, so you better not say anything bad about the WIPP facility or people will take that very personally who live and work at WIPP. As a result, 99.999% of the news is just PR fluff pieces, talking about bananas, and WIPP being a safe place to work, and so on.

Bernie Sanders on Why Big Corporate Owned Media Shouldn’t Get Bigger; via @AGreenRoad
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2012/12/bernie-sanders-on-why-big-media.html

Fake Mass Media News; The Many Ways The Viewing Public Is 'Programmed' And TV Programming Is Censored; via @AGreenRoad
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2012/04/fake-news-one-of-many-ways-programming.html

For the few that are willing to walk down a road less traveled and not believe all of the mass media pro nuclear spin machine PR press releases, we need to dive deeper.

How dangerous is plutonium? What do medical doctors have to say about it?

What scientific studies have been done on plutonium exposed workers?

But as you can clearly see, we know that the public and workers were not warned or notified about this radiation release disaster.

PUBLIC NOT BEING NOTIFIED OR PROTECTED


Radiation Expert: 5 types of plutonium were released from WIPP; Officials not informing public — Caldicott: “I predict that facility will never be able to be used again”; Inhaling a millionth of a gram of plutonium will induce lung cancer



Nuclear expert Arnie Gunderson discusses hot particles and details what the hazard is in the video above. He details how scientific data confirms that radioactive hot particles from Fukushima went around the world, and included plutonium, uranium, cesium, iodine, and hundreds of other radioactive elements and isotopes around Fukushima. Substitute WIPP for Fukushima when you listen.

Learn and listen, because those same radioactive hot particles came out of WIPP and they went downwind, despite assurances by PR WIPP press releases that plutonium is too 'heavy' to go very far, or that it did not even exist, and only Americium came out. 

via VanneV March 25, 2014 
Radiation Pneumonitis: A Radiation Oncologist’s Perspective
http://cancergrace.org/radiation/2008/08/11/pneumonitis/

Bone cancer in Mayak Workers [from plutonium]
http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/3580545?uid=3739568&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21103735941647

National Institute Of Health PubMed Abstract
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10956428

Lung, liver and bone cancer mortality in Mayak workers. [from plutonium]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18528867

A good analysis of what it means to say WIPP is good for 10,000 years.
http://www.miningwatch.ca/sites/www.miningwatch.ca/files/Kuyek-theory%20and%20Practice%20final%20(July%202011)-1.pdf




The Tamplin and Cochran study above refers to plutonium-239. WIPP emitted plutonium-238 as well as -239. Plutonium-238 is 270 times as radioactive as -239. So the dose enhancement of Pu-238 should be 31,050,000... not 115,000.

Also, notice the note at the bottom of the chart above, showing that plutonium DANGER figures are multiples of  115,000 times the normal hazard from some average man made radioactive element such as cesium or strontium. Plutonium is THAT DANGEROUS. 

A note to employees and the public that lives downwind of WIPP; you are on your own. No one is going to protect you, notify you or keep you from harm. No one is going to tell you how dangerous plutonium is or if it is even headed your way, whether on purpose or by accident. Period. The lesson is; protect yourself, because no one has your back. 

You may want to pursue seeking out some legal advice and testing by people other than those associated with your employer, just to get a 'second opinion'. Click on the link for more information...

Lawsuits, Aging Nuclear Reactors, Recertification, Music, Lyrics, Poetry
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/p/nuclear-reactor-recertification.html

Bottom line, WIPP did not protect workers or the public immediately after this high level radiation accident. There is an active cover up going on at WIPP both in terms of the negative health effects and disclosure of the hazards of plutonium, plus the denial of anything bad happening as a result of radiation released, no matter what the amount, number of radioactive elements released, and/or for how long.

End

WIPP Did NOT Protect Workers or Inform Public About Plutonium Dangers Immediately After Radiation Disaster; via @AGreenRoad
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2014/04/wipp-did-not-protect-workers-or-inform.html

For more articles;

HEPA Filter System Failed At WIPP Facility; What Is The REAL Story About Radiation Release? via @AGreenRoad
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2014/03/hepa-filter-system-failed-at-wipp.html

WIPP Youtube video playlist
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA73XWRXkXIQ4X1VeWaIikOg2OXHyHu2-

2014 - Radioactive Plutonium Plume Coming Out of New Mexico's WIPP – Geological Nuclear Radioactive Waste Isolation Pilot Plant; via @AGreenRoad
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2014/02/radioactive-plutonium-plume-coming-out.html

Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Permits And Regulatory Compliance Approvals; via @AGreenRoad
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2014/03/waste-isolation-pilot-plant-wipp.html

WIPP Is Not A Place For 250,000 Years Of Anything, Much Less Honor; via @AGreenRoad
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2014/03/wipp-is-not-place-for-250000-years-of.html

Long Term Storage Of Nuclear Fuel, Nuclear Waste Problems/Issues
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/p/recycling-or-long-term-storage-of.html


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