Atomic Waste Mishandled

Records discovered during a lawsuit show that Florida Power and Lightmishandled atomic waste, shipping it to ordinary landfills, municipalsewage treatment plants and other unknown locations in the 1970’s and80’s. The New York Timesreports that the company did conduct a survey and cleanup in onelocation, but tested and found only one known isotope. Experts thinkthat there must have been other isotopes present as well. Otherdocuments show that what the energy plant in St. Lucie was shipping toregular landfills was 10 times as radioactive as what was being shippedto a low-level waste dump. A spokeswoman for Florida Power and Lightsaid that the company mistakenly made two such shipments in the 1980’s,but had disclosed and removed the waste afterward. However, otherdocuments show that even after the cleanup, waste levels were stillfound to be thousands of times higher than what the EnvironmentalProtection Agency would allow, as the surrounding area is used forcattle and citrus. Read more.