Nuclear Waste and Its Effects on Minorities

Nuclear waste is the material that the nuclear fuel emits after it has been in a reactor. What makes this kind of waste so harmful is that it looks exactly as fuel that is safe to use. It is highly radioactive and the natural decay process could take up to thousands of years to decompose. In fact it is so dangerous that contact even for few seconds could lead to death with radiation sickness.

The disposal process of the nuclear waste initially starts by storing the fuel underwater until the radiation has decayed. Then it is shielded in the concrete storage tanks. It is the final step that is quite controversial. Usually the last stage is the decay of the waste when it is kept in underground or shielded on the surface. The major problem with this is that nuclear waste could take thousands of years to be normal again and could cause serious contamination in the region where they are stored. The growing concern today is not the how the nuclear waste is disposed, but rather where. Sadly around the world, it is the poor and under developed regions that fall prey for this. Minorities, especially in the United States are a victim of the impact of the hazardous waste. A nuclear sacrifice zone is a region where nuclear wastes is being dumped. One of the most affected regions in the country is the skull valley region in Utah, which is primarily a Native American preserve. There is about 40,000 tons of highly reactive nuclear waste dumped in that region. The native American Communities are clearly being targeted in the nuclear fuel storage and waste disposal.

The disposal of toxic waste in this region is also political. Due to weak governing bodies and weak legal authorization over the land use policies, big companies such as Private Fuel Storage (PFS) are taking advantages. What makes the relocation of these native American a big issue is that fact that this land has historical value. It was where their ancestors grew up and abandoning it would not be possible. There have been several situations where the natives have been refused to relocate even when proper land and money was given. This land is like their mother. Knowing that it is wrong, government does little to fight it against the big companies. Even though there is mass opposition, and the waste dumping is facing trouble, a lot more effort would be needed to bring about a substantial change.

Citation — Literary Resource

"Environmental Racism, Tribal Sovereignty, and Nuclear Waste." 2012 Apr 21. Environment and Resource Service. http://www.nirs.org/factsheets/pfsejfactsheet.htm.