On Dec 1-2, the University of Chicago commemorates the 75th anniversary of the first sustained nuclear chain reaction, Chicago Pile 1, led by Enrico Fermi, an event that ushered in the nuclear era. Amidst the planned commemoration activities, including the pyrotechnics of a multicolored mushroom cloud, the tolling of bells, and faculty organized events and… Read More »
Fighting Back
Tunnel Collapses at Hanford Nuclear Site
A twenty-foot-long portion of a tunnel containing highly radioactive train cars and other equipment has collapsed at the Hanford Nuclear Site. A state of emergency was declared by Department of Energy Hanford officials on May 9, 2017. The collapsed tunnel, referred to as “Tunnel #1,” was built in 1956 and contains train cars filled with… Read More »
Rocky Flats Downwinder Health Issues
Guest Blog by Tiffany Hansen Two years ago, in the dark basement in our Denver home, suffering from myriad aliments, some more visible than others, I had the “AH HA” Google-search moment of my life. After plugging in every symptom I’ve suffered along with the magic word ‘causes’ I discovered that I grew up downwind… Read More »
Manhattan Project Park: Petition for Downwinders!
Please sign my Change.org petition! Recently, the US gov approved funding for a “Manhattan Project National Historical Park.” We urge them to include prominent exhibits about the Downwinders. “Downwinders” are innocent people who lived near bomb-building plants, test-sites or dumping grounds, and were thereby poisoned by radiation. Many have died, but many are still alive and suffering from… Read More »
Fukushima Radiation Victims Speak
I urge everyone to purchase the newly translated collection of 50 stories and statements from Fukushima residents, called Fukushima Radiation: Will You Still Say No Crime Was Committed? Here’s the blurb I contributed to the book: Will You Still Say No Crime Was Committed? resounds with the anguished voices of deeply aggrieved mothers and fathers confronting… Read More »
Al Jazeera America and Drinking in Richland
Al Jazeera America recently ran my article about the forgotten victims of the Manhattan Project. The experience was extraordinary…and I’m losing track of all the ironies. Congress voted in December 2014 to create a National Historical Park in my home town of Richland, Washington. Richland is the site of the plutonium-producing Hanford B-Reactor, one of the… Read More »
Atomic Bomb Detonated in New Mexico!
Can you imagine the outrage and fear if this headline were to appear today? The headline never ran—but the bombing was very real. The Bombing Happened. We Did It. Most people do not know that the first nuclear bomb exploded right here in the United States. That bomb, a US test, blasted huge about 35… Read More »
Fukushima Evacuees Need Another Option!
The Japanese government has lifted the evacuation order for a portion of Tamura, about 12 miles from the Fukushima nuclear plant. This allows about several hundred residents to return home. Fukushima Contamination Zones Repopulated Too Soon Government officials plan
In Praise of Coldwater Creek Downwinders
A short time ago, I became aware of a rather remarkable group of former and current residents of North St. Louis Country who began to notice high incidence of cancer and other disease in a relatively young population. Their only commonality was place of residence, near Coldwater Creek. A Radioactive River This determined group learned that… Read More »
The Fukushima – Hanford Link
As the story of Fukushima unfolds, we hear the heartbreaking testimonials of anguished parents who were not told of the invisible clouds of airborne radiation that blanketed their communities in the aftermath of reactor meltdown initiated by damage done by the devastating earthquake of March 11, 2011. This is very much a repeat of the… Read More »