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 »
Personal Essays
I Love My Hometown—Radiation and All. I Wish it Loved Me.
This month, in my hometown of Richland, Washington, people are celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Manhattan Project–the secret venture that brought us the atomic bomb. The month-long commemoration activities have been planned for years. The event opened with “For Your Eyes Only” — A James Bond-Themed Cold War Party” and includes weekend “Bus Tours… Read More »
Hanford Thyroid-Related Health Effects: More Bad News
I got some bad news yesterday. My parathyroids seem to be failing. Removing My Thyroid I had my damaged thyroid surgically removed in 2009, after precancerous Hurthle cells were found in a biopsy of a thyroid nodule. My father died of aggressive thyroid cancer, and I was exposed to significant levels of radioactive iodine in… Read More »
Akira Ken Nakano
I am greatly saddened to have recently learned of the passing of Akira (Ken) Nakano. I was informed of his passing by a charming Japanese elder statesman while waiting for a flight in the Oakland airport. I couldn’t help notice that this gentleman made use of a beautiful wooden walking stick. When I saw the… Read More »
Duck and Cover
As an adult, I suppose I would have noticed that Hanford was protected by antiaircraft guns, interceptor fighter aircraft, and, starting in 1954, four entire defense batteries of Nike supersonic missiles.[1] Maybe I would also have understood that I lived next to an atomic weapons installation
Richland: The Joys of Childhood Downwind
My parents made me stay behind the glass of the front window, watching forlornly while my friends joyfully rode their trikes and bikes in the massive, magnificent, billowing clouds of DDT sprayed monthly out of the back of the Benton County Mosquito Abatement District truck. DDT was Safer As it turned out, the DDT fogbank… Read More »