Radioactive waste buried beneath Runit Dome on Enewetak Atoll, Marshall Islands

Davisson, M. Lee; Hamilton, T F; Tompson, Andrew F. B.

doi:10.1504/ijep.2012.050897

Cited by 4 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…As a result of various human activities, operational and legacy radioactive wastes can be found at numerous coastal locations and further inland within river catchment areas, which could potentially result in further sources of radionuclides in the marine environment in the future. Such wastes include material from military nuclear activities, phosphogypsum from the processing of phosphate rock, uranium, and other metal mine tailings, and fly ash from coal-fired power plants and other industries 35,[188][189][190][191][192] . In many cases, such wastes have already led to the input of some radioactive material into the marine environment 93,193,194 .…”

Section: Climate Change Impacts Potential Sources Of Radionuclides In...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nuclear weapon tests have led to varying degrees of local contamination of the test site areas. For example, the US conducted 42 near-surface and air https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01241-w burst nuclear tests at Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean between 1948 and 1958 195 . In the 1970s following the decision to return the atoll to the Marshallese, the US government cleaned up radioactive debris and contaminated soil, which were then disposed of in an unlined nuclear test crater on Runit Island 195 .…”

Section: Legacy Military Wastesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, the US conducted 42 near-surface and air https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01241-w burst nuclear tests at Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean between 1948 and 1958 195 . In the 1970s following the decision to return the atoll to the Marshallese, the US government cleaned up radioactive debris and contaminated soil, which were then disposed of in an unlined nuclear test crater on Runit Island 195 . The radioactive material was then covered with a 10 m high, 45 cm thick concrete dome (Runit Dome), with the dome then surrounded by a ~3 m high wall to reduce wave impact 195 .…”

Section: Legacy Military Wastesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the 1970s following the decision to return the atoll to the Marshallese, the US government cleaned up radioactive debris and contaminated soil, which were then disposed of in an unlined nuclear test crater on Runit Island 195 . The radioactive material was then covered with a 10 m high, 45 cm thick concrete dome (Runit Dome), with the dome then surrounded by a ~3 m high wall to reduce wave impact 195 . Runit Dome has been estimated to contain 545 GBq of transuranics (e.g., plutonium isotopes) in the waste material that was disposed, with a further 30 to 1000 GBq of activity that was already present following the nuclear test that formed the crater 195,196 .…”

Section: Legacy Military Wastesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The radioactive material was then covered with a 10 m high, 45 cm thick concrete dome (Runit Dome), with the dome then surrounded by a ~3 m high wall to reduce wave impact 195 . Runit Dome has been estimated to contain 545 GBq of transuranics (e.g., plutonium isotopes) in the waste material that was disposed, with a further 30 to 1000 GBq of activity that was already present following the nuclear test that formed the crater 195,196 . The radioactive waste within and below the floor of Runit Dome is known to be exposed to the migration of groundwater and intruding seawater through fractures formed in the underlying bedrock by the original test explosion 195,197 .…”

Section: Legacy Military Wastesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

The effect of climate change on sources of radionuclides to the marine environment

Gwynn,

Hatje,

Casacuberta

et al. 2024

Commun Earth Environ

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Climate change interacts with the sources and cycling of contaminants, such as radionuclides, in the environment. In this review, we discuss the implications of climate change impacts on existing and potential future sources of radionuclides associated with human activities to the marine environment. The overall effect on operational releases of radionuclides from the nuclear and non-nuclear sectors will likely be increased interference or prevention of normal operations due to weather-related events. For certain radioactive waste dumped at sea and sunken nuclear submarines, the impact of climate change and ocean acidification on the release of radionuclides and their subsequent fate in the marine environment should be considered further. Fluxes from secondary sources of radionuclides in the marine and terrestrial environment and cryosphere will change in response to climate change impacts such as sea level rise, warming and changes in precipitation patterns. In addition, climate change impacts may increase the risk of releases of radionuclides from operational and legacy wastes on land to the marine environment. Overall, our synthesis highlights that there is a need to understand and assess climate change impacts on sources of radionuclides to the marine environment to meet environmental and management challenges under future climate scenarios.

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Section: Climate Change Impacts Potential Sources Of Radionuclides In...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Legacy Military Wastesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Legacy Military Wastesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Legacy Military Wastesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Legacy Military Wastesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

The effect of climate change on sources of radionuclides to the marine environment

Gwynn,

Hatje,

Casacuberta

et al. 2024

Commun Earth Environ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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The impact of warfare on the soil environment

Certini

Scalenghe

Woods

2013

Earth-Science Reviews

105

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Lingering radioactivity at the Bikini and Enewetak Atolls

Buesseler

Charette

Pike

et al. 2018

Science of The Total Environment

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We made an assessment of the levels of radionuclides in the ocean waters, seafloor and groundwater at Bikini and Enewetak Atolls where the US conducted nuclear weapons tests in the 1940's and 50's. This included the first estimates of submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) derived from radium isotopes that can be used here to calculate radionuclide fluxes in to the lagoon waters. While there is significant variability between sites and sample types, levels of plutonium (Pu) remain several orders of magnitude higher in lagoon seawater and sediments than what is found in rest of the world's oceans. In contrast, levels of cesium-137 (Cs) while relatively elevated in brackish groundwater are only slightly higher in the lagoon water relative to North Pacific surface waters. Of special interest was the Runit dome, a nuclear waste repository created in the 1970's within the Enewetak Atoll. Low seawater ratios of Pu/Pu suggest that this area is the source of about half of the Pu in the Enewetak lagoon water column, yet radium isotopes suggest that SGD from below the dome is not a significant Pu source. SGD fluxes of Pu and Cs at Bikini were also relatively low. Thus radioactivity associated with seafloor sediments remains the largest source and long term repository for radioactive contamination. Overall, Bikini and Enewetak Atolls are an ongoing source of Pu and Cs to the North Pacific, but at annual rates that are orders of magnitude smaller than delivered via close-in fallout to the same area.

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Radioactive waste buried beneath Runit Dome on Enewetak Atoll, Marshall Islands

Cited by 4 publications

References 34 publications

The effect of climate change on sources of radionuclides to the marine environment

The effect of climate change on sources of radionuclides to the marine environment

The impact of warfare on the soil environment

Lingering radioactivity at the Bikini and Enewetak Atolls

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