Nuke ‘Em High: Sis Boom Bomb

I find it laughable if not frightening that while the pundits of anthropogenic global warming are busily pushing their agendas, they also have within many of their bags of solutions, nuclear power as an alternative. ‘Pandora’s Promise‘ was a film documentary about how Pandora ’s box like nuclear power released all sorts of evils in the world, however the tagline states that she saw in the bottom of the box hope.

In the meantime, there have been so many nuclear disasters and the radiation is moving silently like a phantom causing birth defects, mutations and several cancers in humans.

There have been many other films from B-horror to serious horror about waste and nuclear sludge and radiation creating anything from zombies to mutant bears.

One of the more frightening books I read when I was a kid was “Prophecy.” It was about environmental break downs due to industrial waste in Washington state. The damage to the ecosystem was so bad that animals mutated and one particular animal was a bear that mutated into a hideous monster. A monster that moves so quickly that when it attacked a deer it literally pulled the hide off the animal and the animal would still be running before it died.

The book was eventually made into a movie in 1979. It did not necessarily match the fear I had while reading the book, but it was most certainly a concern of mine considering my knowledge of nuclear waste and what it does to people and the ecosystem.

Nuclear waste and what it does to humans had my interest because my family on my mother’s side were exposed to the radiation from the nuclear bomb tests in Nevada. Much of these tests created what are called downwinders, a topic that was addressed in the documentary, ‘Atomic Cafe‘.

In 1986, I was first turned on to atomic science fiction when I attended a showing of ‘Class of Nuke ‘Em High’ at the Blue Mouse Theater in Salt Lake City, Utah. The original title of the film was “Atomic High” and was directed by Richard W. Haines and Lloyd Kaufman.

It was a classic send up of nuclear fears and even included radiated marijuana and what it would do to High school kids that were unfortunately living near a nuclear power plant.

It was later that I had an opportunity to be part of the Troma movie madness when I auditioned to be the voice of the Toxic Avenger, a superhero that was the result of toxic nuclear waste. This landed me the role of the title character in ‘Toxic Avenger IV: Citizen Toxie‘.

I have been my whole life trying to expose the dangers of radiation toxicity from nuclear testing, depleted uranium, storage facilities and power plants.

All nuclear accidents and exposures do not recognize borders nor do they remain in the area where authorities claim they are contained. They all pose a health risk in the environment and even though we are not seeing a stark or an abrupt change in our lives, we could be seeing a deterioration of our health and well being. It will however be immediately explained away as the result of living longer and developing cancers that now are considered normal.

I don’t buy that reasoning. We can maintain healthy lives even with the onset of age. Cancer is becoming something that average people are getting at an alarming rate. It is never explained why this is increasing only that it is because we live longer and that we have to deal with such maladies. We know that not every cancer is always fatal.

That life goes on and our bodies all have individual repair mechanisms that can keep us from dying. DNA damage can be irreparable from even very little exposure to radiation. However, it most certainly is not detected on a surface level. People do not see the deterioration of cells and the mutations in the DNA strands causing abnormalities.

This is what is so frustrating. If no one sees the effects of the radiation no one will pay attention. One day a malignancy may show up on an x-ray and it will be explained as a result of smoking or old age. It will most certainly not be tracked to possible ionizing radiation. After nearly three years of monitoring the effects of the Fukushima nuclear disaster and being told that I am on the fringe worried about radiation exposures the mainstream media is now finally acknowledging that radiation is now reaching the pacific coast. This of course is after two years of spikes in radiation and birth defects being reported in California.

According to USA Today, low levels of radiation should reach the coast by next month. However, it should be noted that the government is saying that this poses no harm to the public. USA Today spoke with Ken Buesseler, a chemical oceanographer at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. He said that other scientists are calling for more monitoring because no federal agency currently samples Pacific Coast seawater for radiation.

Back in January of 2012, Forbes published an article entitled ‘Nuke Us: The Town That Wants America’s Worst Atomic Waste‘. The article was featuring the city of Carlsbad, California and how they had absolutely no problem with the idea of burying America’s nuclear waste underground.

The attitude of the people of Carlsbad was “yes dump your waste in our backyard.” The reason for the earnest deal with the nuclear devil was because at the time unemployment there sat at 3.8%, versus 6.5% statewide and 8.5% nationally.

The result of their deal was the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant or WIPP. Again, Forbes reports, “WIPP is the nation’s only permanent, deep geologic repository for nuclear waste.” It has provided more than $300 million in federal highway funds in the past decade, $100 million of which has gone into the roads around Carlsbad.

As of late, it has also provided something that authorities did not plan on, and extremely dangerous radiation leak. According to Reuters news, “the leak may have been caused by falling slabs of salt that created a breach of a drum or drums containing waste.”

As the Albuquerque Journal reported: “The Department of Energy announced Sunday that 17 workers at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad have tested positive for radiation contamination, an increase from 13 workers the department previously reported.

The radiation leak was detected Feb. 14 by a WIPP air monitor, and higher-than-normal levels of plutonium and americium, which are cancerous when consumed, were then found. The leak spread from underground, as plutonium was detected at an air sensor a half-mile away. It’s the first leak in the plant’s 15 years of operation.

Radioactive waste comes to WIPP from federal nuclear weapons research and production sites across the country, including Los Alamos National Laboratory.

The Department of Energy has repeatedly said the leak poses no threat to the environment or human health because contamination levels are relatively low.

The department had previously said it was unknown what health effects the workers who were exposed to radiation could experience, but Sunday’s news release said no adverse health effects are expected for any of the workers because the contamination levels are very low.”

If the levels are so safe then why did the Department of Energy demand that all entrances be sealed off?

When have we heard that exposure to plutonium is a good thing? For those that wonder what happens when there is exposure to americium all you need to know is that it, as ABC News reported, “tends to concentrate in the bone, liver and muscles. It can stay in the body for decades and continue to expose surrounding tissues to radiation, increasing a person’s chance of developing cancer.”

Even the local Carlsbad Current-Argus reports: “Scientists will also eventually begin testing the salt mined in the north mine for radiation contamination. WIPP currently sells the salt to local private industry, including for use as salt feed at local dairies. [DOE Carlsbad Field Office manager Joe] Franco said he thinks the DOE should be able to continue selling the mined salt.”

Nuclear advocates are saying that the entire story is trivial.

Carlsbad Mayor Dale Janway said it best, the WIPP accident could have long-term effects. With radiation leaks it is anyone’s guess what could go wrong long-term. The entire mess will be cleaned up and upgrades to safety are now a priority.

However, there is a lot of uncertainty and the public trust has been violated. WIPP wanted to expand to get more money pouring into Carlsbad. Now that may not happen as the public are now a bit leery about how the whole nuclear marriage is a safe one.

The pro-nuclear activists in New Mexico seem to be defending the situation and are preparing all sorts of reasons why people are demonizing anything nuclear.

However, regardless of where you stand on the issue of nuclear anything, you have to admit that things are getting scary. As cEuler commented: “people are livid because manmade low level ionizing radiation has been shown by repeated study after study after to study to be FAR more dangerous than the ICRP, DOE, EPA, NRC, etc., are willing to ever acknowledge. Internalized radionuclides are carcinogenic and mutagenic in trace quantities. Worse if you breathe in.”

The question I have is does anyone really take the time to evaluate does risks when they are told they have been exposed to harmful radiation? Are we supposed to take the government’s word for it when they say radiation levels are low and there is no danger to the public?

Like it or not, radiation is comparatively a significant pollutant that threatens all species and if you have any question about dose risks all you have to do is underhand that it is all risky and dangerous and effects people in different ways.

Now, what has been downplayed is now that the plant is shutdown, there is no place to ship the nuclear waste.

As the AP reported: “With operations at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant on hold, so are all shipments, including the last of nearly 4,000 barrels of toxic waste that Los Alamos National Laboratory has been ordered to remove from its campus by the end of June. Other waste from labs in Idaho, Illinois and South Carolina is also without a home while operations are halted.”

It was also worth mentioning that much of the 3.1 million gallons of highly radioactive waste from Hanford’s nuclear weapons work – dating back to the World War II – is supposed to be moved to WIPP.

However, that would mean expanding the site as one states problem is moved around in some radioactive shell game.

As the Las Cruces Sun-News wrote: “The people living in and around the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant east of Carlsbad deserve honest answers to their legitimate questions about a recent leak there.”

There also needs to be some definite answers about radiation doses that don’t include blanket statements from pro-nuke cheerleaders saying that the radiation levels are low so that there’s nothing to see.

Of course, there is nothing to see when you’re being stalked by an invisible killer like radiation contamination.