Leaking wastes from nuclear weapons activities: Scientific and regulatory challenges from a community perspective

The Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL) is a former nuclear and rocket engine testing site located in the Simi Hills about 30 miles from Los Angeles that operated from 1947 to 2006. Over the decades it was home to ten nuclear reactors, a plutonium fuel fabrication facility, and a "hot lab" for processing irradiated nuclear fuel. Three reactors suffered accidents, including one in which a third of the fuel melted and radioactive gases were released into the environment. Numerous other accidents, releases, spills, and thousands of rocket-engine tests resulted in widespread radiological and chemical contamination of soil, groundwater, and surface water runoff. Federally-funded studies confirm off site migration of contamination and increased cancers for workers and for the offsite community associated with proximity to the site. New pediatric cancer clusters in the community near the site also give cause for concern. In 2010, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) signed agreements with the Department of Energy, NASA, and Boeing that required full cleanup of their operational areas by 2017. However the cleanup hasn't begun and the responsible parties are pushing to leave most of the contamination on site. In 2018 the devastating Woolsey fire began at and burned most of the site, increasing public exposure to SSFL contamination as confirmed in a recent study published in the Journal of Environmental Radioactivity.