These maps are offered as a tool to understand the nature of the proliferation of nuclear sites in the United States of America. There is an uneven distrobution of environmental burden that is not obvious in these maps. (1) Uranium mining happens on land that belongs largely to poor people of color, indigenous internally colonized people in the US, and third world nations still under the yoke of neo-colonization around the globe. (2) The few benefits of nuclearism, that being energy supply and political power from weapons stockpiles, is wholly concentrated in the hands of American elite consumers and politicians. The Nuclear Complex maps a subtle relationship of capital accumulation by the already wealthy at the expense of the already poor. The reality on the ground, however, is far from subtle.
Nuclear Industry Sites in United States
LEGEND:
green: nuclear power
yellow: uranium enrichment, down blending, fuel fabrication
blue: national nuclear laboratories
red cross: uranium mine
red hazard sign: uranium mills
red flames: depleated uranium processing, ammunitions factory, waste disposal
1. COMPREHENSIVE DATABASES, UNITED STATES
Deadly Radiation Hazards USA Database: an extensive list of nuclear facilities, followed by the map, copyrighted to Louise Franklin-Ramirez
http://prop1.org/prop1/radiated/intro.htm
http://www.prop1.org/prop1/radiated/drh.htm
Interactive map of the Nuclear Weapons Industrial Complex (1998), by the Los Alamos Study Group
http://www.lasg.org/sites/complex.htm
2. US NUCLEAR WEAPON STORAGE
Map of the locations of Nuclear Weapons in US and EU (2006), from the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists
http://thebulletin.metapress.com/content/h2125x87046603r5/fulltext.pdf
3. NUCLEAR REACTORS
Interactive World map of Nuclear Power Reactors, by the International Nuclear Safety Center (Argonne National Lab and Department of Energy)
http://www.insc.anl.gov/pwrmaps/map/world_map.php
United States map, INSC
http://www.insc.anl.gov/pwrmaps/map/united_states.php
4. RADIOACTIVE WASTE STORAGE, UNITED STATES
Links to maps of Radioactive Waste Containment Sites, by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission
http://www.nrc.gov/waste/ql-waste.html
5. URANIUM MINES, UNITED STATES
Includes mine information, such as ownership (2009), WISE-uranium
http://www.wise-uranium.org/uousa.html
6. PROPOSED SITES
Map of Proposed Nuclear Sites, USNRC
http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/col/new-reactor-map.html
7. NUCLEAR WEAPONS TEST SITES
“1945-1998″ by Isao Hashimoto (Japan, © 2003):
An amazing time lapse map of all of the nuclear detonations in the world.
8. PIKETON, OHIO CONTAMINATION SITE
Beautiful and interactive flash-map of Ohio’s most contaminated site.
Piketon Gaseous Diffusion Plant Map
9. SAVANNAH RIVER SITE TRITIUM FACILITIES’ ROLE
“The Savannah River Site (SRS) Tritium Facilities, part of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s operations, are designed and operated to supply & process tritium, an isotope of hydrogen gas that is a vital component of nuclear weapons. Tritium in the weapons stockpile must be replenished continually because it decays at the rate of 5.5 percent each year. The Tritium Facilities assist in accomplishing this task by recycling tritium from existing warheads and by extracting tritium from target rods irradiated in nuclear reactors operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority. In the Tritium Facilities, recycled and extracted gases are purified to produce tritium suitable for use. This purified gas is then loaded into stainless steel containers called reservoirs. Tritium reservoirs are then shipped to the Department of Defense (DOD), where they are installed in the nuclear weapons.” From the SRS website.
10. Stages of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle
Note: Neither a reprocessing facility nor a Federal waste repository is currently approved (licensed) in the United States, and spent fuel is in interim storage. More information.
11. Great Lakes Nuclear Hot Spots
Nuclear Awareness Project, created by Irene Koch. Click for larger view.
