Los Alamos Worker Blows the Whistle on Radiation Poisoning of Workers

HALF-LIFE

Chad Walde believed in his work at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Then he got a rare brain cancer linked to radiation, and the government denied it had any responsibility.

by Rebecca Moss, The Santa Fe New Mexican

” . . . Chad and his co-workers said safety problems continued. They witnessed accidents and heard the sudden, unexpected blare of radiation alarms. They watched crews come in to decontaminate buildings and run radiation detectors over their hands and feet. They had their limbs scrubbed and clothing replaced. Sometimes days would pass before anyone realized contamination had spread. Many workers say their memories of poor work conditions and high personal radiation readings don’t match the government’s scant records.

In addition to Chad, at least four others on his maintenance crew had been diagnosed with cancer in the past five years.”

” . . . Out of a fear of liability, the famed nuclear scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who served as the lab’s first director, mandated that health records be labeled top secret . . . “

https://features.propublica.org/los-alamos/chad-walde-nuclear-facility-radiation-cancer/

H/T to Mining Awareness