ProPublicaDec 3, 2022

In America’s rush to build the #nuclear arsenal that won the Cold War, safety was sacrificed for speed.

#Uranium mills that helped fuel the weapons also dumped #radioactive and toxic waste into rivers. Thousands of sheep turned blue & died after foraging on tainted land. #Cancer wards across the West swelled with sick uranium workers.

The government bankrolled the industry but didn’t have a plan for the toxic byproducts of this nuclear assembly line.

https://www.propublica.org/article/uranium-mills-pollution-cleanup-us?utm_medium=social&utm_source=mastodon&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

The Cold War Legacy Lurking in U.S. Groundwater

For the first time, ProPublica has cataloged cleanup efforts at the 50-plus sites where uranium was processed to fuel the nation’s nuclear arsenal. Even after regulators say cleanup is complete, polluted water and sickness are often left behind.

ProPublica
Show threadMx. Dudula the DudDec 3, 2022
@ProPublica And showing they've learned nothing they're pushing electric cars with no ideas how to deal with the waste batteries after they've ended their useful lifespan..
Show threadtoxtethogradyDec 4, 2022
@BackFromTheDud @ProPublica I am willing to bet that materials can be harvested from those batteries for reuse by someone clever. If I were a chemical engineer, maybe I could figure it out...
Show threadMx. Dudula the Dud
@toxtethogrady I'm guessing the tech to do so already exists, but "Profitability" makes it "Financially Unviable". @ProPublica
Dec 4, 2022 at 12:26amWeb
Show threadtoxtethogradyDec 4, 2022
@BackFromTheDud @ProPublica For now. I had heard desalinization was expensive to do at scale, but the Egyptians claim to have built 82 desalinization plants so they can expand metro Cairo. That would be news to me if true....
Show threadMx. Dudula the DudDec 4, 2022
@toxtethogrady @ProPublica People have been using distillation to make safe water for centuries, surely? After all, Humans have been distilling alcohol and acids since medieval times, so getting fresh water from seawater should be a doddle! Also, the byproduct is something that goes well with chips.
Show threadtoxtethogradyDec 4, 2022
@BackFromTheDud @ProPublica It should have been, but scientists were always amazed at how efficient the seagull was at removing salt from seawater. For whatever reason, desalinization at scale is still not as common as it could be...