A Dome Holding Nuclear Waste Is Leaking In The Pacific
Runit Dome in the Marshall Islands contains radioactive material leftover from U.S. nuclear testing in Micronesia.
A concrete dome containing radioactive waste on the Marshall Islands is cracking open, The Washington Post reported Monday.
The U.S. conducted 67 nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands in the 1940s and 1950. The dome was built decades later to cover remaining fallout debris.
The Guardian reported in 2015 that the $218 million dome was supposed to be temporary and never properly lined. The article noted that a 2013 U.S. Department of Energy report found the soil around the dome is more contaminated than its contents.
U.N. Secretary General António Guterres raised concerns last week about the risk of leaking radioactive materials.
The Marshall Islands are about 2,400 miles from Hawaii.
