Is There A Radioactive Waste Land In Your Back Yard?

While nearly three years after the Fukushima disaster the world is finally focused, rightfully so, on the epic ecological and radioactive clusterfuck unfolding in Japan, where in a desperate effort to distract the population from what is going on in its back yard, the Premier has launched the most ridiculous monetary experiment doomed to failure, the reality is that the US itself harbors a veritable waste land of radioactive fallout, much of it hidden in plain sight.

As the following interactive map from the WSJ shows, of the 517 active sites in the continental US, found on the Department of Energy’s listing of facilities “considered” for radioactive cleanup through its Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program, some 43 have a “potential for significant radioactive contamination” through the time of the study.

From the WSJ:

During the build-up to the Cold War, the U.S. government called upon hundreds of factories and research centers to help develop nuclear weapons and other forms of atomic energy. At many sites, this work left behind residual radioactive contamination requiring government cleanups, some of which are still going on.

The Department of Energy says it has protected the public health, and studies about radiation harm aren’t definitive. But with the government’s own records about many of the sites unclear, the Journal has compiled a database that draws on thousands of public records and other sources to trace this historic atomic development effort and its consequences.

Find out if your state, city, or town is located next to a potential dormant and largely secret Fukushima, using the following handy interactive map.

While we invite readers to drill down their particular state, the top ten states with the most cites are listed in descending order below, starting with…

New York