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Nuclear Flashback Part Workers in the Cannikin shaft, Amchitka Island, 1971. (U.S. Department ofEnergy photograph) A quarter-century of Greenpeace nuclear criticism culminates in this report. Greenpeace now spins this work off in two directions: Norm Buske Nuclear-Weapons-Free America 785 20th Street, #3 Boulder, CO 80302 303.415.1504 phonelfax [email protected] Pamela K. Miller Alaska Community Action onToxics 135 Christensen Drive Anchorage, AK 99501 907.222.n14 phone 907.222.n15fax PART TWO : acat @akcf.org TheThreat of the U.S. Nuclear Complex Nuclear-Weapons-Free America aims A report confirming radioactive leakage into the Bering Sea to end U.S. deployment of weapons of from the world's largest underground nuclear explosion mass destruction with their attendant risks of catastrophic planetary losses. Authors: Alaska Community Action of Toxics Norm Buske, Nuclear-Weapons-Free America seeks to protect environmental and Pamela K. Miller, Alaska Community Action on human health by eliminating sources of Toxics toxic and radioactive pollution. February 1998 Table of Contents Summary: Chronicle of a Department of Energy Cover-Up at Amchitka .............................................03 Background: Amchitka Nuclear Blasts and the Public Storm of Protest .............................................04 . Conclusions from the 1997 Sampling Program ........................... ;................. 05 The Truth is Leaking Out: Independent Monitoring of Radiation Leakage at U.S. and French Nuclear Sites .............................................. 07 The Cannikin nuclearbomb is lowered Nuclear Flashback II: Follow-Up DOE into the Earth. Amchitka Island, 1971. Study with Public Oversight .............................................09 Return to Ground Zero: The 1997 ATAG FieldWork ..............................................12 The 1997 ATAG Study Results . The authors wish to thank: . ............................................. 19 Jay Stange, editing and graphics Karen Button, cover design DOE Lab Failures and Delays: Devil in Bev Aleck the Details? Dr. Lorraine Eckstein .............................................24 Carl Hild Bill Keller The Threat of of the Nuclear . , Jerry Leitch Complex Rare Lekanof .............................................34 .. and Recommendations ...... .-......................................37 Alaska Technical Advisory Group members U.S. Department of Energy Endnotes Environmental Protection Agency .............................................37 Summary: Chronicle of a Department of Energy Cover-Up at Amchitka 1bis report confinns radioactive leakage into the Bering Seafrom the world's largest underground nuclearexplosion. Governmentdata show americiwn-241 leaking from all three nuclear blast sites under Amchitka Island, Alaska. Americium-241 is a radionuclide with a 433-yearhalf-life. It is produced by the decay ofplutonium that fueled the bombs. The full extent ofthe leakage from the Amchitka nuclear blast sites is yet unknown. The U.S. Department ofEnergy (DOE) undertook its own study in 1997, under public oversight, to check Greenpeace's 1996 discovery ofradioactive leakage. Since then, DOEcontinues to corrupt the scientific data and has no currentcompletion schedule. Greenpeace scientists provided oversight ofthe 1997 DOE sampling program and subsequent analytical work. 1bis reportblows the whistle on DOE's cover-up ofradioactive leakage from all three underground nuclear explosions detonated on Amchitka Island. 1997 DOEdata confirm radioactive springs near the Cannikin and Long Shotblast sites, on the Bering Sea side ofAmchitka Island. ClevengerCreek, flowing pastthe Milrow blast site into the Pacific Ocean, is also contaminated with americium-241. Government data reveal cobalt-60 traces in the radioactive "fingerprint." The Atomic Energy Commission (DOE's predecessor) claimed that nuclear waste from the three Arnchitka detonations would be contained for hundreds, ifnot thousands, ofyears. Both the 1996 and 1997 investigations clearly reveal radioactive leakage. NuclearFlashbackPart 2 chronicles problems encountered by independent scientists when results do not confonn with the government's vested interests. Norm Buske analyzed more than 1,600 pages of DOE's own data to trace the government's corruption ofsample gathering, data management, violations of laboratory operating procedures, analyses, and subsequent reporting delays. Greenpeace's unique public oversight role in this study provides a first -hand look at methods by which the DepartmentofEnergy dis­ avows evidence ofradioactive leakage at Amchitka. TIlls is the "Amchitka example" ofa system-wide problem at DOE. The radioactive leakage from Amchitka is a harbinger ofa deep and pervasive problem with the safety ofthe U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal. DOE's technical failures callinto question the agency's ability to adequately manage the vast U.S. nuclearcomplex. Failures ofgovernment managementofnuclear technol­ ogy pose a clear and present danger to the American public. Background: Amchitka Nuclear Blasts and the Public Storm of Protest TheV .S; Department ofDefense and Atomic Energy Commission detonated three underground nuclear blasts on the Aleutian island ofAmchitka, Alaska between 1965 and 1971. Government officials used Arnchitka as a nuclear test site for underground nuclearblasts deemed too large for the Nevada Test Site nearLas Vegas. The 80,000 ton Long Shot explosion was detonated on October 29, 1965 at 2,300 feet below the island's surface. Milrowwas the code name for the second nuclear test on Amcbitka, a one million-ton "calibration test" ofthe ABC, detonated at 4,000 feet on October 2, 1969. Milrow was designed to detemiine whether the island could contain a much larger testofthe Spartan anti-ballistic warhead. The 5 million-ton Cannikin test (at5,875 feet) wasthe world's largest underground nuclear explosion-equivalent in destructive yield to 5,000,000 tons ofTNT. All three nuclear explosions atAmchitka were detonated below the island's water table and below .,ca level in apparent violation ofthe 1963 Limited TestBan Treaty. AEC asserted that the radioactivity would be contained despite the fact that the tests were detonated Within a saturated environment and in a volcanic substrate fraught with cracks and fissures. Long Shotvented radioactive krypton and tritium inthe months and years following the blastin 1965. Within two days after the Cannikin testin 1971, the Cannikin shaft collapsed with a mechanical breach, forming a subsidence crateroverone mile wide and 60 feetdeep. During May of1972, samples from the Cannikin shaftrevealed venting ofabout 14,000cubic feet of radioactive krypton-85 gas with concentrations of200,000 femtocuries per milliliter. This was the first radiological evidence ofa containment breach at Cannikin, yet AEC did notreveal the incident publicly. Cannikin alone produced about 13% ofthe total radioactive waste from the entireV.S. under­ ground nuclear testing program because the 5 megaton blast constitutes 13% ofthe total yield ofall V.S. underground nuclear explosions. The Cannikin nuclear explosion detonated at 385 times the explosive power ofthe nuclear bomb that devastated Hiroshima. , Vigorous and sustained protests and legal action from Aleut communities, scientists, physicians, environmental and social justice organizations failed to stop the.Cannikin blast. Themomentumfrom the Cannikin grassroots campaign catalyzed an internationalmovement for ecological integrity and peace. Greenpeace was born through the grassroots campaign against the Omnikin test. Motivated by the Quaker tradition ofbearing witness, twelve people set sail from Vancouver to stop the nuclear explosion at Amchitka. Although stonny weather and initial postponement ofthe testprevented the crew from the FIV Phyllis Cormack from reaching Amchitka, this first Greenpeace action became a dramatic focal pointfor an international movement by citizen activists and scientists. 1\venty-five years later, in 1996, Greenpeace was compelled toorganize a small, scientific expedi­ tion tothe island ofAmchitka, located 1340miles southwest ofAnchorage, Alaska along the Aleutian archipelago. In October 1996, Greenpeace released "NuclearFlashback-the Return to Amchitka: Report ofa Greenpeace Scientific Expedition to Amchitka Island, Alaska-Site ofthe Largest NuclearTest inV.S. History." Greenpeace's 1996 ''Nuclear Flashback" report first announced the discovery ofradioactive ~_ N!t!1@jiimj1·m331:m;IIDjif1li,Ji*\GIJjtJl!-1I~t!Gl$jili.]"j. _ leakage from Amchitka after 25 years ofAEC and DOE denial. Since the release ofthe 1996 Nuclear Flashback report, many worKers and their families have expressed concern over potential radiation exposures and the prevalence of related cancers and illnesses among the population of Amchitka workers. The unions representing the workers are seeking information concerning sources ofradioactive exposure and independent health studies. The Aleutian and Pribilof Islands Association (APIA), representing the subsistence-based Aleut communities along the Aleutian chain, is working to protect the health ofAleut people and insure conduct ofindependent, comprehensive studies ofthe environment and subsistence resources in the vicinity ofAmchitka. Greenpeace has continued to work in cooperation with the unions, APIA, and others in oversight of the Department ofEnergy and in the pursuit ofthe truth concerning the impacts ofAmchitka blasts on the environment and human health. Alaska Community Action on Toxics (co-author Pamela Miller, ACAT Project
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