Hey guys,
Last time I talked about uranium in your tap water. Today I am going to talk about the possibilities of contamination of the ground water through the mining of uranium.
Apparently, back in the forties when uranium was in a really high demand, the Navajo Nation held the lands with high uranium. The U.S. government leased these lands and mined them for the said element. Many of the Navajo were employed at these mines and they received higher doses of radiation from inhalation and ingestion of the uranium.
This has lead to kidney failure, higher lung cancer, and bone cancer rates. This has lead to the Navajo being recompensed for the contaminated sites. There has been collaborating between federal agencies and the Navajo nation to clean up these sites. There has been some progress to clean up these sites. In 2007 a bunch of fed departments put in a five year plan to clean them up. In 2013, they implemented another 5 year plan to continue efforts.
Hope that was somewhat interesting. The nuclear industry has much more knowledge about its foot print now than it did back then. Its interesting to see how far we have come and how safe practices are being put into effect to keep events like the one above from happening.
If you would like to read about the safety of the mining plants, look at the following link: http://world-nuclear.org/information-library/safety-and-security/radiation-and-health/occupational-safety-in-uranium-mining.aspx.
http://www3.epa.gov/region9/superfund/navajo-nation/
Have a good one!
The Nuke Cow
I wonder if the Navajo knew that the uranium was a risk and just did it anyway, or if they were told that it was nothing to worry about. It's pretty sad that something like that happened, but it makes me wonder whether we are doing anything now that will set us up for problems down the road. I'd like to think that we are smarter now than before...but I bet thats what they thought in the forties.
ReplyDeleteExactly. Thats what happens when you pioneer a new field. There are always risks that no one knows about, or if they do, they can claim they didnt. Thats getting into morals though lol. Its bound to happen again, but those are the risks we take to enhance the standards of living and knowledge.
DeleteI also wonder if these workers knew about the risks their jobs entailed. If they didn't then thats pretty unfortunate for those who were impacted by it. I agree with you with your comment about the nuclear industry, it has come a long way and is pretty safe, especially with all the rules and regulations it has to follow.
ReplyDeleteI doubt that the employers knew the full extent of the consequences if any. This was back when the industry was just starting. Its kind of like the Curies and how they didnt know about radiation shielding. I am sure they would have used shielding if they had known the consequences.
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