Why Was Colorado Springs Radiated?
By James Donahue
Weekly U. S. radiation reports by Bob Nichols on the Veterans Today website repeatedly showed Colorado Springs, Colorado as one of the most contaminated places in the nation.
Without attempting to explain its source, Nichols said in his May 17,1972 report that local radiation testing showed “Colorado Springs leaped 402 (counts per minute radiation) points ahead of other contenders. It is now at 1,709 counts per minute gamma and beta high for the week.”
He said the local count exceeded 1,000 counts for 151 hours that week, which amounted to almost 90 percent of the week. For the rest of the week, the “Rad Unit” in Colorado Springs was “out of service” without any reason given.
In case you are wondering, Nichols said normal radiation levels are usually at five to 20 counts per minute. A count is one radioactive decay registered by the instrument used in recording the radiation in the air.
It was since revealed that plutonium fires at the Rocky Flats Plant, a former military nuclear weapons production facility near Denver caused the deadly contamination. The contamination was created by plutonium from fires and other sources at the plant that were not publicly reported until about the time Nichols and other researchers blew the whistle.
According to a 1972 study coauthored by Edward Martell, "In the more densely populated areas of Denver, the Pu contamination level in surface soils is several times fallout", and the plutonium contamination "just east of the Rocky Flats plant ranges up to hundreds of times that from nuclear tests."[2] As noted by Carl Johnson in Ambio, "Exposures of a large population in the Denver area to plutonium and other radionuclides in the exhaust plumes from the plant date back to 1953."[3]
The radiation monitors report on the presence of Cesium 137 and Cesium 134. Nichols said that only Beta and Gamma radiation levels are reported by the EPA and consequently on his website. There are 1,944 more known Rad elements involved in radiation poisoning. “The only thing they have in common is that they all kill you,” he wrote.
The Cheyenne Mountain complex was buried deep inside Cheyenne Mountain, located at the edge of the city, during the Cold War in the early 1960’s. There are various conflicting reports about whether the complex has been shut down or remains in operation. Some say most of the equipment at the complex was moved to Peterson Air Base. But the complex appears to still be operating.
Information about Cheyenne Mountain remains difficult to acquire. It is known that the site was carefully designed to guard against nuclear destruction from the outside, but the possibility of an operating nuclear reactor within the complex is unclear.
By James Donahue
Weekly U. S. radiation reports by Bob Nichols on the Veterans Today website repeatedly showed Colorado Springs, Colorado as one of the most contaminated places in the nation.
Without attempting to explain its source, Nichols said in his May 17,1972 report that local radiation testing showed “Colorado Springs leaped 402 (counts per minute radiation) points ahead of other contenders. It is now at 1,709 counts per minute gamma and beta high for the week.”
He said the local count exceeded 1,000 counts for 151 hours that week, which amounted to almost 90 percent of the week. For the rest of the week, the “Rad Unit” in Colorado Springs was “out of service” without any reason given.
In case you are wondering, Nichols said normal radiation levels are usually at five to 20 counts per minute. A count is one radioactive decay registered by the instrument used in recording the radiation in the air.
It was since revealed that plutonium fires at the Rocky Flats Plant, a former military nuclear weapons production facility near Denver caused the deadly contamination. The contamination was created by plutonium from fires and other sources at the plant that were not publicly reported until about the time Nichols and other researchers blew the whistle.
According to a 1972 study coauthored by Edward Martell, "In the more densely populated areas of Denver, the Pu contamination level in surface soils is several times fallout", and the plutonium contamination "just east of the Rocky Flats plant ranges up to hundreds of times that from nuclear tests."[2] As noted by Carl Johnson in Ambio, "Exposures of a large population in the Denver area to plutonium and other radionuclides in the exhaust plumes from the plant date back to 1953."[3]
The radiation monitors report on the presence of Cesium 137 and Cesium 134. Nichols said that only Beta and Gamma radiation levels are reported by the EPA and consequently on his website. There are 1,944 more known Rad elements involved in radiation poisoning. “The only thing they have in common is that they all kill you,” he wrote.
The Cheyenne Mountain complex was buried deep inside Cheyenne Mountain, located at the edge of the city, during the Cold War in the early 1960’s. There are various conflicting reports about whether the complex has been shut down or remains in operation. Some say most of the equipment at the complex was moved to Peterson Air Base. But the complex appears to still be operating.
Information about Cheyenne Mountain remains difficult to acquire. It is known that the site was carefully designed to guard against nuclear destruction from the outside, but the possibility of an operating nuclear reactor within the complex is unclear.