A Hood River group named the Columbia River Keepers is concerned about high level nuclear waste from Energy Northwest’s new small modular reactor program.

There are about 6.7 trillion tons of radioactive potassium and 4.5 billion tons of radioactive uranium dissolved in our planet’s oceans. This results in about .18 milligram of radioactive potassium in a typical filet of salmon. The beta radioactivity released from radioactive potassium has almost three times the energy of beta radioactivity released from strontium 90, a key component of high level nuclear waste. Even worse, the half life of radioactive potassium is over a billion years while the half life of strontium 90 is less than 30. Included with this dissolved radioactive uranium is enough fissionable uranium 235 to build over 6.5 billion nuclear weapons. There are trace amounts of radioactive uranium in all salmon swimming up the Columbia River.

Given the radioactive soup that nourishes adult salmon, it shouldn’t be shocking to learn that there is probably more dangerous radioactivity moving up the Columbia River with the salmon than ever has or ever could possibly be moving down the Columbia from Hanford. River Keepers fearful of radioactivity and nuclear fission should be looking west to the Pacific Ocean rather than east to Hanford to address the source of their fears.

Those who keep the river really need to learn how to keep the river.

Robert Crocker

Chehalis, Washington