Feb. 21, 2014

February 21, 2014 -- (TRN) -- *** BREAKING NEWS *** -- Carlsbad, NM --  New Information from lab tests and US Department of Energy (DOE) Reports indicate the actual release of radiation from the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Carlsbad, NM was 14,400 times more than previously thought, with eleven thousand Bequerels per cubic meter of Plutonium -239 and Americium-241 released into the air. In addition, a photo from the WIPP shows smoke coming from an exhaust vent indicating there may be an underground fire which the DOE is not yet in control of.

 

A source who has been proven to have credible inside information about the WIPP has confirmed seeing a photo showing SMOKE coming from a shaft at the WIPP site which is NOT supposed to have smoke. TRN takes this to mean there is a fire burning underground at the WIPP and that DOE does not have Air Flow Control over the underground fire. DOE reportedly has attempted to shut off air flow into the mine. Since this effort does not appear to have been 100% successful, we see a risk of a "backdraft" induced explosion occurring at the site.  DOE air filtration safety systems are NOT designed to survive an explosion.

 

Persons in, near and NORTH of the WIPP Plant in Carlsbad should be wearing NIOSH-Certified P-100 filter masks if they go outside and may want to THINK ABOUT preparing to evacuate.  It is not unreasonable to get some things together and prepare to "bug-out."  Officials at the WIPP said today "This is a very serious thing."

 

Officials at the WIPP have said they believe a large section of an underground roof collapsed in the underground facility storing radioactive waste from nuclear warheads, smashing barrels full of nuclear waste and allowing large amounts of radioactive material to spill.  Officials confirm that radiation levels in the underground facility are too high for anyone to go in to see exactly what happened, but they are now speculating that a "seismic event" may have had a hand in this accident.  They have not discussed the appearance of smoke from an exhaust vent, but have repeatedly told the public there is no danger.  This assertion does not match the facts on the ground.

 

New information obtained from lab test results indicate people on site in New Mexico were inhaling AT LEAST 1 TRILLION Plutonium atoms every 3.6 hours, based on a measurement taken 1/2 Mile away. Further, an analysis of government records indicates the source was likely an underground radioactive explosion caused by Radiation induced off-gassing of Hydrogen, Methane, and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC's) produced by highly radioactive wastes mixed in with hazardous wastes.

Based upon the admission by DOE that lab tests found 0.092 Bq/M³ of Plutonium and 0.64 Bq/M³ of Americium on an air filter which recorded for FIVE WHOLE DAYS, in order for the filter to have had that much radioactive material on it, the WIPP likely released a combined Plutonium and Americium Radioactive Cloud measuring approximately 10,541 Becquerels per Cubic Meter of Air during the supposedly "brief moments" that unfiltered air was being released from the WIPP facility. We took "brief moments" to mean 30 seconds.

 

 

Obviously this value is significantly higher than what has been reported to the public. The massive low ball 'error' in reported values stems from the fact that air filter sampling measurements are averaged over the entire time period since the air filter was last checked. The filter in question had been sampling from 2/11/14 - 2/16/14, a total of 5 days over which the calculated released values would have been smoothed across.

 

 

However, according to public officials DOE's filtering system kicked in very quickly after the alarms went off. Assuming that to be truthful, the radioactive release of Plutonium and Americium would have occurred over a relatively short 30 second period (OR LESS).

 

 

Ratioing-out the actual 30 second  interval release of radioactive contamination vs the 5 days over which it was mathematically "smoothed out," the result is that the contamination was nearly 14,400 times greater than was reported to the public. How such an engineering blunder of time-unit-mismatch occurred, we'll leave to the reader to ponder; but don't discount that values and units may have been erroneously assumed on either their part or our part.

 

Nonetheless, for risk mitigation purpose the 10,541 Becquerel measurement is what we go by. TRN does not consider the current situation either safe or stable. The source of the radiation alarm was reported to be Panel Room 7.  WIPP's permitting documents indicate that Room 7 is where explosive gases are expected to be at their highest concentrations. All indications are that this was a radiation induced explosion of  Hydrogen, Methane, and/or VOC produced from radioactive wastes which are too radioactive to handle, which also happen to be coated with hazardous waste.

 

 

It is within DOE's power to release the raw data and let the facts fall where they may, but don't expect that to happen.

 

We don't think it is coincidence that DOE originally reported there was 'no release' yet prevented people from going on site to recover air measurement filters. If there was "no release" why keep everyone out?   Again, DOE's words do not match their actions; they say there's no danger, but they won't let anyone in the place.   The recovery delay serves to reduce the total reported amount of contamination as those values are averaged over the entire time period the test filters are sampling.

 

 

The locations of greatest airborne danger is a swath of the United States directly North and West of the WIPP plant. Airflow patterns during the event concentrated and directed the radioactive dispersal toward Colorado, normal weather patterns would have then dumped the Fallout over the Midwest Farm Belt.

 

WIPP officials admitted today that High levels of both alpha and beta radiation have been detected.  Officials said bluntly "this is a very serious thing."

 

State leaders are not happy that it took several days for the US Department of Energy (DOE) to share news of the contamination that escaped to the outside air. “I expect that information will be shared with the state in real time. And I will demand that the federal officials share information with the public in real time,” said Ryan Flynn, secretary of the New Mexico Environment Department (pictured at left).

 

A radiation leak inside the underground mine itself was detected by sensors late last Friday. The next morning, contamination was detected in the air outside the mine. It took several days for the news to reach state officials.  “That should have never happened. They should have been notified immediately and DOE, the Carlsbad office manager, has that responsibility and we’ll make sure that does not happen again,” said Joe Franco, manager of the DOE Carlsbad office. (Pictured at right below)

 

No one has gone below the surface since the event, so officials can only hypothesize about what happened.

 

Drums of radioactive waste are piled up in stacks underground and one of the working theories right now is that a big slab of the roof broke free, hit the stack, knocked some drums off and smashed and opened one or more of them.

 

The DOE says it will be at least two or three weeks before crews try to re-enter the WIPP and that will only be when they can do so safely.

 

In the meantime, information released by the DOE at a press briefing shows that radiation levels in the air around the WIPP plant reached 37 Becquerels per cubic meter (37Be M³) over a one-week average.  This means that the actual release of radiation when the accident began was FOURTEEN-THOUSAND FOUR-HUNDRED TIMES MORE than presently being reported!

 

That said, it now appears the US Government is about as forthcoming about this situation as the Japanese Government is about the Fukushima situation.  Lies, delays, and more lies.  Residents in the area should PRESS for answers.

http://turnerradionetwork.com/news/311-pat