nuclear-news

Is the Missouri Landfill Fire a Chernobyl or Fukushima in the Making? Initially this seems like an odd question, and even hyperbole. However, the tonnage of radiological waste at the Bridgeton-Westlake landfill exceeds that of Fukushima over 20 fold, and Chernobyl by 163 times. Nonetheless, how diluted the Bridgeton nuclear waste is appears unknown. The fire may reach the area where this radiological waste was disposed, in as little as 3 to 6 months, if action is not taken to stop it. Even if it is stopped, it should serve as a warning of the risks of sending nuclear waste, and radioactive rubble from decommissioned reactors to regular landfills, as is becoming the fashion. The burial of nuclear waste, even in special facilities, constitutes a hazard, as well.

Both the steam from the Missouri landfill fire and flaring of the landfill (methane) gas can release the radionuclides into the air…