Article

2022-10-17 Science & Technology

High levels of RADIOACTIVE WASTE are found at St Louis Elementary school - downstream from site of factory where uranium for America's first nuclear weapons was processed

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Posted by Skidmark 2022-10-17 06:08|| || Front Page|| [5 views ] Top

#1 The real waste is none of the kids turned out to be X-Men.

Posted by Dron66046 2022-10-17 06:31|| 2022-10-17 06:31|| Front Page Top

#2 And just a few miles West at Weldon Springs.

Posted by Besoeker 2022-10-17 07:08|| 2022-10-17 07:08|| Front Page Top

#3 Here's a hint - Don't build there.

Posted by Procopius2k 2022-10-17 07:13|| 2022-10-17 07:13|| Front Page Top

#4 But the water's fine.

Posted by DooDahMan 2022-10-17 07:30|| 2022-10-17 07:30|| Front Page Top

#5 Toxic waste, Ok. Just so long as there’s no toxic masculinity in the water.

Posted by Billy B 2022-10-17 08:43|| 2022-10-17 08:43|| Front Page Top

#6 Guess we know why the school bought the land. It was cheap.

Posted by DarthVader 2022-10-17 09:32|| 2022-10-17 09:32|| Front Page Top

#7 Sort of reminds me of the Traumaville "classic" Surf Nazis Must Die.

Posted by Super Hose 2022-10-17 12:46|| 2022-10-17 12:46|| Front Page Top

#8 One wonders if the lead 210 and polonium 210 actually are associated with the plant:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polonium#Tobacco

Posted by KBK 2022-10-17 17:37|| 2022-10-17 17:37|| Front Page Top

#9 Reverse ferret!

I've spent nearly two hours reading this account of the activities at the Mallinckrodt plant.

https://www.atomicheritage.org/sites/default/files/resources/The%20Mallinckrodt%20Chemical%20Works%20Story.pdf [pdf]

From 1942 to 1958, the plant served as the pilot plant for the Weldon Spring operation that Besoeker mentioned.

The chemical operations they preformed are pretty hair-raising. Radiation was apparently the least of their concerns. They were doing large-scale purification of uranium compounds using wartime controls (or lack thereof). I would imagine that the whole area around the plant was contaminated with uranium and daughter species. They probably just tore down the most offending buildings and built new ones on the site.

Mallinckrodt had been storing radioactive slag (left over after the uranium had been extracted) at the airport (due to contractual requirements with Belgium), but later a contractor haphazardly moved much of it to Cold Water Creek, as shown in the photo of barrels in the Daily Mail.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Water_Creek

The whole area was heavily contaminated and is now a high priority Superfund site.

Great job, building a school near that.

Posted by KBK 2022-10-17 19:43|| 2022-10-17 19:43|| Front Page Top

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