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USA – nuclear radiation meltdown area to be cleaned up

One of the reactors, which had no containment dome to prevent radiation from leaking into the environment, experienced a partial meltdown in 1959. There were other problems over the years, including two more accidents, burn pits with radioactive contaminants and a rocket fuel explosion that killed two scientists and resulted in a $650 million fine after Rocketdyne illegally disposed of the hazardous waste

Deal to clean up LA-area nuclear accident site, Google hosted news, By NOAKI SCHWARTZ (AP) – 4 Sept 10 LOS ANGELES — State and federal officials announced Friday a potentially historic agreement to remove all radioactive contamination from a partial nuclear meltdown in 1959 at a rocket testing site just outside Los Angeles.

Residents who have fought for years for the cleanup heralded the agreement signed by the Department of Energy, NASA and state officials. The agreement must still go through a public review process.

The decades-old site is known as the Santa Susana Field Laboratory and is now largely owned by Boeing Co……

It’s more than we’d hoped for a long time,” said Marie Mason, the head of a four-member homeowner’s association who are all sick with leukemia, breast cancer or serious thyroid conditions. “We are thrilled.”

During the Cold War, the Atomic Energy Commission used what was then Rocketdyne’s 2,850-acre Santa Susana site in hill country west of the San Fernando Valley to test rockets and experimental nuclear reactors. One of the reactors, which had no containment dome to prevent radiation from leaking into the environment, experienced a partial meltdown in 1959.

There were other problems over the years, including two more accidents, burn pits with radioactive contaminants and a rocket fuel explosion that killed two scientists and resulted in a $650 million fine after Rocketdyne illegally disposed of the hazardous waste

The Associated Press: Deal to clean up LA-area nuclear accident site

September 4, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, reactors