Al Waste isolation Pilot Plant In New Mexico, on February 15, 2014, there was a nuclear accident caused … by a wrong use of the cat bedroom! On that occasion a barrel of nuclear waste exploded, releasing radioactive material inside the deposit. There were no neither victims nor injuries Fortunately, but economic damage is estimated in the order of Half billion dollars. The material of the cat litter in fact, in fact, thanks to its absorbent properties It was already used for some time as absorbent for liquid nuclear waste But the problem lies in the fact that Not all types of litteries are suitable for this purpose. In the case in question, in fact, it was erroneously chosen by the litter organicThat is, containing carbon, which by reacting with nitrates present in the waste subsequently given life to the explosion. To reconstruct exactly what happened, we take the 277 pages reported as the following year the following year from US Energy Department.
The nuclear catastrophe in New Mexico caused by the cat litter: the reconstruction
It all starts in Waste isolation Pilot Plant. This structure is nothing more than a site of deep geological storage, That is, a site inside which barrels containing radioactive material at great depth are placed. The protagonist of our history is the Barile 68660 coming from Los Alamos National Laboratory and containing a mix of radioactive nitrates, neutralizing liquid and, as anticipated, cat bedroom used as absorbent.
Suddenly that barrel exploded on February 15, freeing a large amount of radioactive material inside the deposit. Fortunately, these structures are built with high safety standards and, consequently, there were neither injuries nor victims. However, the damage was of an economic nature, quantified in Half billion dollars and in the Closing of the plant for three years.
The causes of the nuclear accident of 2014
As soon as the accident were realized, they kicked off the investigations To shed light on the incident and, as anticipated, in 2015 a report deepened on the subject. From the investigations the problem was immediately clear: the litter to be used to absorb the radioactive liquids was inorganic, that is, without carbon. The technicians of Los Alamos National Laboratory Instead they mistakenly used a litter organic, that is, containing carbon. Specifically they used that of the brand Swheat Scoop Which, according to the manufacturer, would be 100% made from wheat. This error was not the result of a carelessness but of a error shown within their guidelines And that, incredibly, nobody had ever reported.
In any case, this variation in the type of litterier might seem like a very relevant detail, but in reality this is precisely the core of the matter. The carbon here present in fact it can give life to a reaction of oxidation with i nitrates Present in radioactive waste – therefore it is a chemical, non -nuclear reaction. The problem is that this reaction generated a heat and the development of gas that causes a great increase pressure Inside the barrel and this, in turn, caused the breaking of the barrel itself, with a consequent spreading of radioactive material in the area.
In the misfortune of the accident, it must be considered that this was not the only barrel with the wrong litter: inside the site there were n ‘ 700. After the accident, in fact, each of them came isolated And monitored to prevent such damage from happening again.
