Uranium Exposure on the Navajo Nation

Introduction Navajo National Geology makes it one of the plentiful deposits of uranium and other nonrenewable resources. Uranium is a trace amount of natural element contained in the Earth's crust, and it is used for various purposes. In the last century, uranium ore was widely used by the federal government for nuclear defense. Uranium mine workers disbanded about 4 million tons of ore from 1944 to 1986, resulting in 520 abandoned uranium mines in Navajo (Maldonado, 2005).

In addition to coal, Navajo Nation also has abundant uranium deposits. In the Navajo national country, there is a tragic history of uranium mining. More than 4 million tons of uranium was mined in the Navajo country from 1944 to 1986. As a result, people living near Navajo mine workers and mines have cancer and other diseases. Doug Brugge says: In 1979, just a few months after the launch of Sanli Sandao, the dam blocking the tailing lagoon maintained by United Nuclear Corporation failed and sent 94 million gallons of radioactivity and acidity. The Puerco River contains waste water and 1,100 tons of toxic and radioactive waste. This version is much larger than the TMI version and flows into low income, primarily the Native American community. It is almost ignored in news and scientific literature

Uranium miners have a high incidence of cancer. For example, excessive risk of lung cancer in Navajo uranium mine workers is documented and related to their occupation. The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act is a 1990 law requiring uranium miners diagnosed with cancer or other respiratory illnesses a "sympathetic cost" of $ 100,000. During the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, a large amount of uranium was accumulated and tens of thousands of nuclear weapons were made using helium made from enriched uranium and uranium. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, an estimated 600 tons (540 metric tons) of highly concentrated weapon grade uranium (enough to produce 40,000 nuclear warheads) was stored in a facility that was improperly protected in the Russian Federation It has been. Other former Soviet countries

This reminds me of uranium of Hanley Jack. Aborigines, especially Navajos, are in a relationship of uranium mining and pain. During the 1940's and 1970's, tens of thousands of Navajos were hired to dig up millions of tons of uranium from the Colorado Plateau and contaminated Navajo irrespective of mutual guarantee mutual guarantee. And the culture of their home provides the driving force. In the 20th century, the military exploded hundreds of nuclear weapons made from uranium of West Shoshone, including Nevada. Even today, open uranium remains in the land of Navajo and continues to endanger human beings, water, and landscapes. In the eastern part of the 1950s, Lake View and two uranium mines near the ancestral lands of northern Paiute continued to be unresolved radioactive disasters for 40 years before being declared as superfund in the 1990s .