[uint8_t]

"Just prior to welding the plutonium surfaces are cleaned in the inert atmosphere of the welding box to remove oxide and foreign material. If the oxide film is light, it can be removed by wire brushing. If this is not satisfactory, sanding or an abrasive wheel can be used."

In case you are wondering what you'd do with tools, consumables, entire workspaces and ductwork contaminated by that kind of dust, well, these folks buried it in a trench on a mesa overlooking the Rio Grande [1]. The dump is large enough to contain the Empire State Building and, by one account, whole machines like forklifts were just pushed right in [2]. No "highly esteemed deed" was commemorated there, indeed.

1: https://n3b-la.com/area-g-tru/

2: Los Alamos, Hidden Colony, Secret Truths by Chuck Montaño (2015)

[a_vanderbilt]

The creation of contaminated tooling continues at the Pantex plant in the Texas panhandle. The plutonium pits for the US nuclear arsenal are serviced there. When cores get recycled a ton of nuclear-contaminated waste gets created. Oil, lathes, air filters, etc. The existence of the plant makes the recent musings on secession by the Texas legislature a hilarious thought.

[zoklet-enjoyer]

I don't understand the connection there

[iancmceachern]

Also look into the glovebox and exhaust duct fires at Rocky Flatts.

There is a famous news clip where the DOE representative is denying there is a fire on live TV with a big fire visible behind them.

It's also the only time one federal agency (FBI) raided another (DOE).

They also had a bunch of the kind of radioactive waste your talking about sitting in 50 gallon oil drums that just rusted away in the open air.

[justinator]

Reminds me of what they did near me at Rocky Flats - well: before it was raided by the FBI, shut down, cleaned up, an reopened as a nature reserve. e

[ramijames]

Every single time I come across information like this, I hate humanity just a little bit more.

[Spooky23]

Near my hometown, an army train depot closed in the 60s. I imagine some sergeant tasked with making shit go away just dumped barrels of TCE and burned various materials in pits.

Today, a plume is contaminating groundwater at quite a distance.

[konstmonst]

Why hate yourself? Violence is a part that makes us human. Without it we are not human If we will not learn to control it, we will die. But in the end everything does. Also, being prepared is important. Si vis pacem, parabellum.

[comboy]

Plutonium half life is like 90 years. It wouldn't get to the top 10,000 list of bad things we did in the last 100 years.