Cancer link to nuclear base

[SERVrider]

It seems that the US Space Force as found that "The disproportionate number of missileers presenting with cancer; specifically lymphoma" is concerning. "There are indications of a possible association between cancer and missile combat crew service at Malmstrom." 9 military officers, Missileers, who worked at the Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana have been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and one has died. The implication being that radiation has been a causative factor. I wonder if the missile warheads are not the source of the radiation but these launch control bases are buried deep underground, often underneath a mountain to provide first-strike survivability and those mountains may well be in, or contain, igneous strata. The source of the radiation may, therefore, be high levels of radon seeping into the control rooms which the personnel breathe in hour after hour on their duty shifts.

[CycleWonder]

My husband believes your explanation is very plausible. Maybe they need better ventilation. Or it could be chemicals used in maintenance.

[Pin57]

Sad story to read … and I’m convinced there is a cancer link working and/or living near nuclear facilities.

Case in point, those of us that worked and/or lived near Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant (RFNWP) near Denver, know the brutal truth that the cancer link is a real deal. So many of us residents near that plant now have or have died from cancer … a link?

A $375M class action civil suit settlement for residents living near RFNWP is (IMO) an indirect admission to that link. Though payoff money can’t buy back good health can it?

[Big_Dee in reply to Pin57]

Hello Pin57

The biggest issue with uranium processing is disposal of nuclear waste. Rocky Flats being a good example where nuclear waste was pumped down wells. Another example is Rifle, CO radioactive processing plant, where mountains of radioactive tailings were allowed to be hauled off by private persons. Some of the tailings were used to make concrete blocks and concrete. The result being a number of homes in Grand Junction, CO were found to be radioactive.

Problem is radon is a natural product of uranium decay and uranium is everywhere in the ground.

I and my family lived in the Utah desert during the above ground atomic bomb testing in 1952-53. A result of the nuclear testing there was a high incidence of cancer in St George, Utah from being "downwind" of nuclear testing. In 2012 the US government provided $50,000.00 to each cancer victim in effected counties of Naveda, Utah and Arizona. Disbursement also included military personnel who participated in nuclear testing. Only people with CLL were excluded from payout. Would not have made much difference to me as $50,000.00 would not even cover 3 months treatment costs.

[Pin57 in reply to Big_Dee]

Wow Big_Dee another sad nuclear waste materials story, sorry to read about your downwind fiasco in Utah. Yep, $50k doesn’t buy good health (n why not to those dx with CLL? That makes no sense at all?). Grrrrrr.

We residents downwind from Rocky Flats got $25k but the lawyers … they got half of the $375M settlement !!! Huh? 🤨

I worked at Rocky Flats checking the contractors cost estimates for cleanup activities to be sure they were “fair n reasonable” n not gouging US taxpayers. Very contentious work that was, big $s at stake.

Like you noted Big -Dee it’s an ongoing delima in US (n the world) where you can store or bury Rad Waste from nuclear sites (power plants, mines, factories, etc.).

I also worked on estimating cleanup costs at hundreds of radioactive mines throughout US… there are many thousands (literally) n no where near the money to clean em all except the very worst ones. Even then, it’s like pulling teeth finding the needed funding.

Little most people know about this cleanup delima and yet the radioactive tailing piles are everywhere.. even at our beloved Grand Canyon! I hiked the once worlds riches uranium mine to its open “glory hole” deep in the canyon to estimate its cleanup cost n the top of canyon mine abandon mining facilities n tailings. Many millions to clean that mess up.

Nuclear waste is not good for your health that’s for sure. We have soooo much to cleanup (US n world wide) n yet so little $ resources to do it. In many historical cases, previous mine owners got very rich n then left the radiation waste/tailings for generations to deal with (n sadly get cancer from IMO).

Well off my soapbox about nuclear waste cleanup need. It’s a big deal n IMO a big need.

[Mining_Guy]

I was involved in financing the discovery of the world’s largest new uranium in Canada. Through the process of learning about uranium mining and radiation, I was surprised to learn from uranium miners the protocols in place to keep people safe. I have spoken to lots of people and have not heard of health concerns of the underground miners. Radiation levels are very high in these high grade underground mines. As a novice, my recollection is the key protocol is ventilation and things like putting concrete on the bottom of drifts where in a normal mine there would not be. I think if there is radon in the earth where these bases are put, without adequate ventilation there could be an issue. Radon detectors are easily found in stores, so testing this theory would not be tough.

[BgChiLL]

We all want to know what caused this condition we developed but our doctors don't waste time on that. I grew up in the country with a creek that ran right by the house but also past many corn and bean fields that were treated with many chemicals. I spent a lot of my childhood in that creek. Is that where I got the roots of CLL? Or was it the 3 years we lived down wind from the Hanford Nuclear Reactor in central Washington state? Or . . . .

[SERVrider]

I have never lived where agricultural run-off is an issue, nor near any sources of radiation. Our part of England is well away from the igneous formations where radon levels are high. The 90Strontium contamination event following the Windscale fire in the early 60s was broadly limited to the West side of England and Wales. My upbringing has been essentially South-East urban with few exposures to X-rays yet I still developed CLL. I suspect it is not a case of our doctors not wasting time on seeking the reasons but simply that it is too damned complicated to identify any causative factors with precision.