UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has confirmed that a huge concrete dome built during the Cold War to contain waste from US Nuclear testing has degraded and began leaking nuclear waste into the Pacific Ocean.
On Thursday Guterres described the structure, which was build in the 1970’s at Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands, as a “kind of coffin” that was a stern reminder of the aftermath of American atomic weapons testing.
RT reports: The soil irradiated by the tests and ash from the fallout were dumped into a crater which was then capped with 18 inches of concrete, measures that have proved ineffective at containing the waste in the long run. The bottom of the crater was reportedly never lined at all.
Guterres confirmed the disturbing information while speaking to students in Fiji as a part of a tour of the South Pacific focusing on climate change and environmental issues. The leakage, according to Guterres, has already begun to have its effect.
