- US Dept of Atomic Energy confirmed that it cannot meet the deadline given to remove drums of nuclear waste from the wildfire-prone area of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico due to issues about the chemical stability of the mixture in the containers.
- The falling standards of the nuclear waste storage worsened after wildfires near the area following which the Mexican govt had ordered the transfer of the materials to other locations.
- One drum from the locality consisting of transuranic waste – tools, rag and other debris contaminated with nuclear waste – must have been responsible for the radiological leak at a repository Carlsbad, New Mexico this year.
- This has prompted halt of the transfer of these materials to a Texas facility until safety can be reassured.
- The DoE may require 2 more years to permanently shutter facility corridors where problematic waste barrels were stored at the underground complex.
- Read at: tp://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-international/nuclear-waste-in-new-mexico-facility-facing-wildfire-risk/article6087351.ece
Exams Perspective:
- Nuclear Energy
- Nuclear Waste
- Measures to dispose nuclear waste
- Radioactivity
- Transuranic waste