America’s most important nuclear weapons research facility was on a state of alert as fierce wildfires threatened to encroach on thousands of barrels of radioactive waste.
The blaze spread to within two miles of the Los Alamos laboratory in New Mexico. All 11,000 residents of the city of Los Alamos were evacuated as 1,000 firemen tackled the fires over an area of 95 square miles.
“The concern is that these drums will get so hot that they’ll burst,” said Joni Arends, executive director of the Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, an anti-nuclear group.
“That would put this toxic material into the plume. It’s a concern for everybody.”
Officials were standing by to coat the drums with fire-resistant foam if the blaze got too close.Other atomic