MSNBC and AP report that last ditch efforts are underway to halt a wildfire now within 2 miles of a large radioactive waste storage depot housing tens of thousands of 55 gallon drums containing plutonium at Los Alamos nuclear lab in New Mexico. Joni Arends of Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety (CCNS) is quoted:
" 'The concern is that these drums will get so hot that they'll burst. That would put this toxic material into the plume. It's a concern for everybody,' said Joni Arends, executive director of the Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, an anti-nuclear group.
About 12,500 residents in and around Los Alamos have been evacuated, an orderly exit that didn't even cause a traffic accident.
Arends' organization also worried that the fire could stir up nuclear-contaminated soil on lab property where experiments were conducted years ago. Burrowing animals have brought that contamination to the surface, she said."
Los Alamos officials assure that if need be, flame retardant foam can be sprayed on the barrels. The National Nuclear Security Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, and New Mexico Environment Department are setting up scores of air monitors to check for radioactively contaminated smoke, due to the widespread contamination of soil and flora at the Los Alamos National Lab.
CCNS sent out an update on the wildfires at 12:36 a.m., Wed., June 29th.