Nuclear Hotseat

Uranium Miner Larry J. King (center) explains the site of the 1979 Church Rock uranium tailings pond breach that dumped more than 94 million gallons of uranium contaminated waste water into the adjacent Puerco River - a nuclear disaster that, 40 years later,  has yet to be cleaned up. 

Listen Here:

[powerpress]

This Week's SPECIAL Featured Interviews:

Uranium mining marks the start of the nuclear fuel chain and the deadly journey that element takes to become atomic weapons, nuclear reactors, and tons of highly radioactive waste that we do not know how to store safely for tens of thousands of years. 

On July 13 and 14, Nuclear Hotseat attended commemorative events for the 1979 Church Rock uranium tailings pond breach and spill, which dumped more than 94 million gallons of highly acidic radioactive water into the adjacent Puerco River.  The contamination reached Sanders, Arizona, and was recorded at least 80 miles away.  The spill has never been cleaned up, and even now, while it has been declared a Superfund site, it will take at least two years before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission finishes its review of  the EPA's clean-up plan - and clean-up can't even begin until and unless the plan is approved..  And even that plan has come in for criticism by activists and community members.

This very special Nuclear Hotseat is an audio montage of interviews with community leaders from Navajo Nation - most specifically the Red Water Pond Road Community, located adjacent to the spill site; commemoration event attendees; government officials; and activists from as far away as Japan.  We spoke with:

• Former uranium miner Larry J. King, who was on-site at the United Nuclear Corporation mine the day of the tailings pond spill

Former UNC Church Rock uranium miner Larry J. King on his land facing the site of the 1974 uranium tailings pond breach and spill.  He holds a commemorative kerchief.  

• Redwater Pond Road Community members Jackie Bell, Edith Hood, Terracita Keyanna, Anna Benally, who live next to the spill site.

Terracita Keyanna next to sign warning "no uranium mining" in Navajo

Red Water Pond Road Community member Edith Hood,
on the land where she has lived her entire life.

• Navajo Nation president Jonathan Nez
• New Mexico state senator George Muñoz
• Southwest Research and Information Center Research Director Paul Robinson and Director of the Uranium Impact Assessment Program, Chris Shuey
• Environmental Protection Agency District 9 (San Francisco) rep Sean Hogan
• Journalist and Nuclear Nation Film Festival producer Mervyn Tilden

Journalist and Nuclear Nation Film Festival producer Mervyn Tilden, on the job covering the 40th anniversary commemoration of the Church Rock uranium tailings pond spill

NOTE:  Links to films available online will be posted when available.  Stay tuned. 

Chernobyl liquidators in ineffective hazmat suits prepare to do battle with the nuclear monster unleashed. 

NOTE:  Technical difficulties have prevented the uploading of the second of two specials on the 40th anniversary of the Church Rock uranium tailings pond disaster on Navajo Nation.  The program was lost near the end of the editing process; it will be reconstructed and made available for next week's Nuclear Hotseat episode.  Apologies for any inconvenience or disappointment this may have created. 

• Chernobyl is again in the news as a result of the HBO series - but Nuclear Hotseat was there getting the truth about its impact on health years before that program even went into production.  This is a classic Nuclear Hotseat episode, one of our most requested and downloaded:
  
  Alison Katz is a psychologist and sociologist who heads Independent WHO.  The international watchdog group draws attention to the World Health Organization’s failure in its duty to protect those populations who are victims of radioactive contamination from Chernobyl and, later, Fukushima.   The group has held a vigil in front of WHO headquarters in Geneva,  Switzerland, five days a week, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., since April 26, 2007 –  the 21st anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. 
  
  Given the HBO Chernobyl series visibility and popularity around the world, it seemed the right time to reintroduce this classic Nuclear Hotseat episode to an audience that either has not yet heard it, or wishes to have their understanding of Chernobyl's devastating impacts refreshed.  Originally  recorded for Nuclear Hotseat #118, September 17, 2013.

Scenes from Independent WHO's ongoing Chernobyl vigil in front of
the World Health Organization's headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland

Chernobyl - Other Excellent Information Sources:

• Manual for Survival: A Chernobyl Guide to the Future by Kate Brown.  Superb accounting of the health devastation of Chernobyl, constructed from over three years of investigation into medical archives in eastern Europe. 
• Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higgenbotham.  NOTE: the author does a superb job reconstructing the horrors of Chernobyl, then goes full-on pro-nuke during the final chapter, citing statistics from only the pro-nuclear WHO, IAEA, and UNSCEAR.  I recommend that you skip that chapter and read the rest of the book for its narrative of nuclear lies, miscalculations, cover-ups, and destruction of people and the environment.  In particular, the description of the physical devastation of high level radiation exposure is comparable to the visuals provided in the HBO series.) 

Uranium mining disaster site: SRIC's Chris Shuey on site at Church Rock, explaining the devastation of the 1979 uranium tailings pond spill of
94-million gallons of highly acidic radioactive waste into Puerco River on Navajo Nation land.  

This Week's Featured Interview:

• Chris Shuey is Director of the Uranium Impact Assessment Program for Southwest Research and Information Service.  He has worked with Navajo Nation communities on uranium mining issues for 38 years.  Chris has helped document the persistent impact of the 1979 uranium tailings pond disaster, which dumped 94 million gallons of highly acidic radioactive waste into the Puerco River and traveled beyond Sanders, Arizona.  In this special extended interview, he goes over the resulting degradation of the water, land, and health on Navajo Nation, as well as cultural issues that make the people unwilling to leave their ancestral lands, no matter how contaminated.  We spoke on Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - just before I left for Church Rock, NM to cover the 40th anniversary commemoration events. 
• Navajo Birth Cohort Study - a link to a PDF explanation and some of its findings. 

NEXT WEEK:  Church Rock SPECIAL Pt. 2
Voices of the People,
Commemoration March

Forming the commemoration march from the site of the 1979 uranium tailings pond rupture and spill next to Red Water Pond Road Community on Navajo Nation.

Information Links:

• Santa Susana Field Lab 60th anniversary.  The meltdown of an uncontained experimental nuclear reactor in Simi Valley in 1959 - only 30 miles from downtown Los Angeles and hidden for 20 years. Learn more with this article: 60 Years Since the Largest U.S. Nuclear Accident and Captured Federal Agencies
• Karl Grossman debunks the hoax that nuclear power is "green" on his program, Enviro Close-Up.  Program features actor Alec Baldwin, who has long challenged nuclear power; former U.S. nuclear Regulatory Commission chair Gregory Jaczko, who declares that nuclear power "is not the right way forward" and is not "a solution to climate change;" Dr. Mark Z. Jacobson, energy analyst at Stanford University, who emphasizes how "nuclear is not zero carbon at all;" and others:

https://youtu.be/1OGpTiPVrvM

"The Hoax that Nuclear Power is Green" - Enviro Close-Up with Karl Grossman