The threat from the US nuclear waste warehouse left the Arctic ice

By the end of the century, ice on Greenland would melt, revealing toxic nuclear waste from the secret US military base during the Cold War.

According to the International Business Times, the US built Camp Century secret military base on Greenland in 1959. This is the place where many experiments during the Cold War were included, including the Iceworm project. tape) to install and store mid-range nuclear missiles below the Arctic ice.

In 1967, the US discovered environmental conditions at Camp Century unstable so they terminated the project and left the base. Researchers at the time believed that all toxic waste would be safe because they were under thick ice and incessant snow.

America built Camp secret military base in 1959. (Photo: US Army).

In the study published in Geophysical Research Letters on August 4, scientists at York University, Canada, evaluated the amount of residual hazardous waste at Camp Century base, and used the model. Climate change to determine their future risk.

Research results show that the ice covering Camp Century in the Arctic may begin to melt at the end of this century. Meanwhile, the infrastructure of the base zone is gradually exposed, toxic wastes (biology, chemistry, radioactive substances .) will penetrate into the ocean, affecting the marine ecosystem.

The waste of Camp Century covers an area of ​​55 ha (0.55 km ² ), including 200,000 liters of diesel, a large amount of coolant containing low concentration radioactive contamination from nuclear and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs ) , contaminants harmful to humans.

"When the thick ice on the Camp Century base begins to melt, chemical leaks and nuclear radiation are only a matter of time, there is no way to reverse," said William Colgan, lead author of study said.