According to a US Department of Energy report, the Runit Dome, a repository for nuclear waste produced
After last year, Congress expressedConcerned about the leaking dome, he ordered the Department of Energy to prepare a report on the structural integrity of the dome in the face of climate change and rising sea levels.
The report notes that although the level increaseof the sea can be intensified by storm surges, swelling, and “lead to excessive washing of the lower parts of the dome caused by waves,” insufficiently accurate data to determine “how these events can affect the environment.”
One of the leaders of the MarshallsIslands said it was disappointed that the US Department of Energy again downplayed the risks and refused to take responsibility for Runit Dome and the leak of its contents.
We do not expect our community to feel any safer based on this report as it does not contain any new information. There is nothing new in the report.
Rhea Christian-Moss, chairperson of the Marshall Islands National Nuclear Commission, government commission on nuclear waste and radiation oversight
It was previously envisaged that the US Department of Energy would present a plan detailing the disposal of radioactive substances and waste in a safer and more stable place. But that did not happen.
Terry Hamilton, Lead Contractor, Department ofThe project, said that under the “hard facts of radiation science” existing data and information demonstrate that the risks posed by Runit Dome are unlikely to affect the health status of people living near the dome.
Last November, the Los Angeles Timespublished an investigation into the continuing radiation legacy in the Marshall Islands and the refusal of US authorities to accept responsibility for the dangers posed by Runit Dome.
In December, Congress signed the Law onnational defense for 2020, in accordance with which the Ministry of Energy undertook to submit a plan to repair the dome, assess the environmental impact of the dome over the next 20 years, and assess its structure and potential risk to people who live next to it. The department also had to evaluate how sea level rise could affect the dome.
Christian-Moss noted gaps in the data, includingthe level of radiation in the groundwater flowing from the dome into the lagoon. In 2019, at a presentation given in the Marshall Islands by local and U.S. officials, U.S. Department of Energy contractor Hamilton mentioned elevated levels of radioactivity in giant clams living near the dome. The new report does not mention shellfish, but says there is not enough information to understand how the dome leak is affecting marine life.
Lack of data showing any riskdoesn't mean there's no risk, Christian-Moss said. The main conclusion that can be reached after studying the report is that many risks are still “unknown”.
Between 1946 and 1958, the United States blew 67 nuclear weapons on and above the Marshall Islands. 44 of these bombs were detonated on Enivetak Atoll, where Runit Dome is located.
At the waste site, also known asThe tomb, has more than 3.1 million cubic feet - or 35 Olympic swimming pools - of American radioactive soil and debris, including deadly amounts of plutonium.
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