ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The investigation into a
February radiation release from the federal government’s underground
nuclear waste dump in southeastern New Mexico has turned to a seemingly
unusual suspect: cat litter.
Federal officials have zeroed in on a
barrel of waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory as the source of
the leak, and one theory is that a change in the type of cat litter that
it was packed with caused a leak that contaminated 22 workers with low
levels of radiation on Feb. 14, shuttering the Waste Isolation Pilot
Plant in Carlsbad, New Mexico, indefinitely.
State environment
officials now say more than 500 barrels of waste from decades of nuclear
bomb-making at Los Alamos were packed the same way, and they are
concerned that the barrels scattered between the underground dump, Los
Alamos’ northern New Mexico campus and a commercial disposal site in
West Texas pose a potentially "imminent and substantial" danger to
public health and the environment.
Here are questions and answers about the waste:
WHY WAS CAT LITTER USED IN THE FIRST PLACE?
The
cat litter was used to absorb moisture in sealed barrels of nuclear
waste at Los Alamos, home to the some of the world’s finest scientists.
Officials have said cat litter has long been used to pack waste because
of its absorption and neutralizing qualities. It’s commonly used, for
example, by people to soak up oil spills in driveways. But Los Alamos
switched from nonorganic to organic litter for packing waste in 2013,
and the theory is that some kind of chemical reaction occurred between
waste containing nitrate salts and the new litter. Officials said they
are investigating who made the decision to make the switch and what
process was followed.
HOW CAN CAT LITTER POSE SUCH A DANGER?
Investigators
have said the litter theory is just one possible cause being explored,
but it is being studied seriously enough to prompt New Mexico
Environment Secretary Ryan Flynn this week to order Los Alamos and the
underground nuclear dump to put together plans for immediately isolating
all 500-plus barrels of waste known to contain nitrate salts and
organic cat litter. Based on evidence from crews that have been down in
the mine since the release, a barrel of waste from Los Alamos
experienced some type of "heat event" that burned the exterior and
popped the waste container’s lid.
HOW MANY CONTAINERS WERE PACKED LIKE THIS AND WHERE ARE THEY?
More
than 500, according to state regulators. More than 350 of the
containers are already at the subterranean dump, in storage rooms carved
into ancient salt beds a half mile below the ground. Fifty-seven are
still on the campus of Los Alamos, which had been working under orders
to remove the last of thousands of such containers from outdoor storage
by the end of June. The waste came to the public’s attention three years
ago as a massive wildfire lapped at the edges of lab property. More
than 100 more barrels are at Waste Control Specialists in Andrews,
Texas, where they were sent for temporary storage as Los Alamos worked
to remove the waste following the radiation leak.
COULD THE OTHER BARRELS BE TICKING TIME BOMBS?
That
question has state regulators concerned. Flynn this week ordered Los
Alamos to submit plans for ensuring the 57 containers of questionably
packed waste still on its campus are isolated and secure. The lab said
it has packed them in special containers, placed them under a dome with a
fire extinguishing system and is closely monitoring them. Waste Control
Specialists has taken similar precautions. As for the more than 350
containers already at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, Flynn has ordered
the U.S. Department of Energy to expedite plans for sealing off the
underground rooms where the waste is stored. Complicating that effort is
the laborious investigative process. The cause of the leak has not yet
been determined. Crews have been able to make about two trips a week
into the area where the leak occurred, but it’s a painstaking process
and they are still working to see if other containers have been
breached.
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