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Wildfires in Nevada nuclear bomb test areas

Lightning sparked blazes at nuclear test areas, BY TREVON MILLIARD, LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL,  Jul. 9, 2011, Wildland firefighters battled more than just the usual Nevada brush blaze this week. They had to contend with the possibility of radiation.

Lightning sparked two fires Tuesday within the Nevada National Security Site, the former nuclear test site 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas. By Friday, the fires had consumed more than 6,000 acres, with the smaller blaze fully contained and the larger only 25 percent contained.

Crews have not only been watching winds and weather, but are monitoring radiation levels in the air, making certain the flames don’t stir up remnants of decades-old detonations. One of the fires is “several miles” from the location of an above-ground test, a safe distance according to Dante Pistone, a spokesman at the test site’s operations center…….

From 1951 until 1992, there were 928 nuclear tests involving 1,021 detonations at the test site. Of these, 100 were above ground and could be affected by disturbances such as wildfires…….http://www.lvrj.com/news/lightning-sparked-blazes-at-nuclear-test-areas-125260084.html?ref=084—

July 9, 2011 - Posted by | environment, USA

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