The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "radioactive" ...
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Radioactive Waste Leaking into Ground Water
The Asbury Park Press found that millions of gallons of radioactive water have leaked from nuclear power plants in the U.S. since the 1970s, threatening water supplies in New Jersey and other states. But the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has never fined a violator. The Press also found that major leaks have increased in recent years, nearly all nuclear power plants have leaked radioactive titrium, most plants hvae had more than one titrium leak, and esseentially all plants have leaked or spilled radioactive material.
Tags: radioactive waste; power plant; U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
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A Matter of Risk: Radiation, Drinking Water and Deception
You probably use it every day. And you probably think it's relatively safe. But imagine if your home's tap water was actually: making the plumbing so radioactive it could set off a Geiger counter, releasing a dangerous gas whenever you took a shower or ran a dishwasher, exposing you to a 1 in 400 chance of cancer just by regularly drinking it. And imagine if the people who were supposed to protect you from this situation not only knew about it and failed to do much of anything, but instead spent decades covering it up. That's exactly what the KHOU I-team discovered to be the case for half a million and more Texas consumers during its 12-month investigation into the quality of the state's drinking water.
Tags: tap water; radioactive; cancer; drinking water
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60 Minutes: Catastrophe
A story discovering that the preparations for a major earthquake in the Fukushima area were at odds with the consequences of a tsunami and that the nuclear facilities were underprepared.
Tags: fukushima; tsunami; earthquake; japan; nuclear reactor; meltdown; radioactive
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Yellow Dirt
The radioactive "yellow dirt" -- a world class deposit of uranium under the Navajo reservation in the American Southwest -- lay beneath an earthen shield until the U.S. government cam calling, desperate to make atomic bombs. The book reveals ow the government looked away as miners, and then the neighbors were exposed to uranium's dangers.
Tags: Native Americans; yellow dirt; atomic bomb; uranium; environment
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"Fallout: The Legacy of Brookhaven Lab in the Pacific"
Reporter Thomas Maier reveals how radiation has affected the people of the Marshall Islands. In the 1950s, "Bravo," the "largest hydrogen bomb" detonated by the U.S., covered the islands in "radioactive ash." Only a few years later, Brookhaven National Lab scientists allowed residents to return to their homeland for "scientific and military concerns" despite the potential threat to their health.
Tags: Marshall Islands; Rongelap; Bravo; hydrogen bomb; radioactive ash; BNL; Brookhaven National Lab
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Recycled Radiation
Radioactive materials are being found in common consumer items because radioactive devices used in manufacturing and medicine are often mixing with scrap metal for use in large varieties of other products. "Recycled Radiation" outlines the findings from the Nuclear Material Events Database.
Tags: radioactive; material; products; consumers; scrap; metal; recycled; exposure; manufacturing; medicine; Mexico; transport; oversight; disposal; waste;
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Radioactive Dumping
"Tennessee, for nearly 20 years, had been allowing low level radioactive waste to be disposed of in 5 ordinary trash landfills, strategically located throughout the state without public knowledge, with out a public hearing and in violation of NRC regulations."
Tags: radioactive waste; trash dumps; landfills;
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Dirty Bombs
"Radioactive devices are stolen from cars, disappear from construction sites, fall off trucks and generally go astray at a startling pace. A computer database compiled by The Canadian Press showed how dozens of these tools - from a darkroom truck in northern British Columbia to a device used for molecular separation in Montreal - have gone missing in the last five years. The items vanished despite federal disaster planning reports that warn terrorists could wreak multimillion-dollar havoc if a nuclear gauge was used to build a crude 'dirty bomb.'"
Tags: radioactive; dirty bomb; bioterrorism; terrorism
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Depleted Uranium Radioactive Dust
The investigation showed that while the U.S. military has downplayed the hazards of depleted uranium munitions. Also the "Pentagon has issued repeated denials that depleted uranium dust was a danger to the troops but...the military's own training videos told a different story." However these training videos made after the first Gulf War which warn about the dangers and show how to mitigate it, were not shown to troops before the second Gulf War. Causing soldiers to be "unknowingly exposed to this radio active dust and some claim they are sick today because of it."
Tags: military; radio active dust; residue; armor piercing munitions; Gulf War; uranium; Pentagon' depleted uranium munitions
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What the atomic age left behind
This series described a 10.5-million-ton pile of nuclear waste polluting the Colorado River. The waste was left over from decades of milling uranium ore, first for atomic weapons and later for nuclear fuel. For decades, the pile of toxic and radioactive waste leaked into the river, which provides the drinking water for more than 20 million people in three western states. It was the largest of the dozens of piles of tailings and the only one that hadn't been moved away from major rivers in the United States. And for a while, it appeared it would stay put, contaminating the river for centuries.
Tags: water pollution; Colorado River; nuclear waste; atomic weapon; nuclear fuel; radioactive waste; drinking water; water contamination