Thousands of tons of radioactive waste from atom bomb-making heading to Wayne County

[WestMichRad]

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/wayne/2024/08/19/radioactive-waste-atom-bomb-disposal-van-buren-township-wayne-county/74814545007/

A hazardous waste landfill in Wayne County is preparing to take 6,000 cubic yards of soil and concrete and 4,000 gallons of groundwater contaminated with elevated radiation from a site in New York where the Manhattan Project developed the atomic bomb during and just after World War II.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, working on remediation of the Niagara Falls Storage Site in Lewiston, New York, estimates that 25 semitrucks per week, into January 2025, will transport the elevated radioactive wastes along public roads and highways to the Wayne Disposal facility just off Interstate 94 in Van Buren Township.

The New York waste removal, its trucking to Michigan and disposal in Wayne County comply with all local, state and federal regulations for the handling of such materials, said Avery Schneider, deputy chief of public affairs for the Army Corps' Buffalo District.

(More info in article)

[Old Crank]

1. Information about the radiation buried at the end of the article.

Finally got to the possible level. Less than 50 picocuries per gram. Elevated levels tell you next to nothing. Not mentioned is the type of radiation. Alpha, beta, or gamma. Each behaves differently with different hazards. Safety precautions depend on knowledge of the radiation type. No mention of half life which will tell you how long you have to store the stuff for before it is not harmfull.

[WestMichRad]

2. The wastes are from uranium enrichment

… so presumably the primary radioactive wastes are isotopes of uranium. Meaning a half life of between 150,000 years and 4.5 billion years, depending on the isotope. Uranium isotopes are all alpha emitters, decaying to various isotopes of thorium.

[Old Crank]

4. Presumably

It would have been nice for that to have been mentioned. That is my complaint about the story..

[3Hotdogs]

3. --- and the truck drivers are safe?

[Old Crank]

5. Probably

If alpha radiation, as safe as any truck driver on the road.