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Aaron Kinney writes in the San Jose Mercury News that scientists have captured the first clear images of the USS Independence, a radioactivity-polluted World War II aircraft carrier that rests on the ocean floor 30 miles off the coast of Half Moon Bay. The Independence saw combat at Wake Island and other decisive battles against Japan in 1944 and 1945 and was later blasted with radiation in two South Pacific nuclear tests. Assigned as a target vessel for the Operation Crossroads atomic bomb tests, she was placed within one-half-mile of ground zero and was engulfed in a fireball and heavily damaged during the 1946 nuclear weapons tests at Bikini Atoll. The veteran ship did not sink, however (though her funnels and island were crumpled by the blast), and after taking part in another explosion on 25 July, the highly radioactive hull was later taken to Pearl Harbor and San Francisco for further tests and was finally scuttled off the coast of San Francisco, California, on 29 January 1951. "This ship is an evocative artifact of the dawn of the atomic age, when we began to learn the nature of the genie we'd uncorked from the bottle," says James Delgado. "It speaks to the 'Greatest Generation' -- people's fathers, grandfathers, uncles and brothers who served on these ships, who flew off those decks and what they did to turn the tide in the Pacific war."
Delgado says he doesn't know how many drums of radioactive material are buried within the ship -- perhaps a few hundred. But he is doubtful that they pose any health or environmental risk. The barrels were filled with concrete and sealed in the ship's engine and boiler rooms, which were protected by thick walls of steel. The carrier itself was clearly "hot" when it went down and and it was packed full of fresh fission products and other radiological waste at the time it sank. The Independence was scuttled in what is now the Gulf of the Farallones sanctuary, a haven for wildlife, from white sharks to elephant seals and whales. Despite its history as a dumping ground Richard Charter says the radioactive waste is a relic of a dark age before the environmental movement took hold. "It's just one of those things that humans rather stupidly did in the past that we can't retroactively fix."
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 17 2015, @11:16PM
When I saw this headline in the queue, I thought it was referring to a part of the current Pacific Fleet.
USS Ronald Reagan [googleusercontent.com] (orig) [dissidentvoice.org]
-- gewg_
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 18 2015, @12:27AM
Do you have anything from a more impartial source? When I see a URL containing "dissidentvoice", it makes me think that just maybe it is a biased source.
(Score: 3, Touché) by Jeremiah Cornelius on Saturday April 18 2015, @12:39AM
Yes, unlike the unbiased, impartial and agenda-free Washington Post or New York Times.
You're betting on the pantomime horse...
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 18 2015, @12:48AM
I never said that they're perfect. But at least they don't go using the term "dissident" in their name. "Dissident" is a term often used by angry left-wing radicals.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Jeremiah Cornelius on Saturday April 18 2015, @01:03AM
Bullshit. It is applied to people as varied as those opposing officialdom in Iran, Russia, Syria, Columbia, India, Greece - or dare I say - the United States.
You're betting on the pantomime horse...
(Score: 2) by M. Baranczak on Saturday April 18 2015, @02:29AM
So fucking what? North Korea uses the term "democratic" in its name.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 18 2015, @12:52AM
Yes, but when you put them on opposite sides of a scale, the Post and Times come out WAY ahead as sources.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Jeremiah Cornelius on Saturday April 18 2015, @01:01AM
If by "source" you mean "stenographic reproduction of government officialdom and corporate public relations."
You're betting on the pantomime horse...
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 18 2015, @02:47AM
My, my, my. So much delusion.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 18 2015, @03:53AM
Hmmm. Let's see what Fairness and Accuracy has to say about that.
Google search results for
Dissident Voice [google.com] 8 results (All are references; none are critical)
Washington Post [google.com] About 4,100 results (All I'm seeing are critical remarks)
New York Times' [google.com] About 5,210 results (All I'm seeing are critical remarks)
-- gewg_
(Score: 2) by Nuke on Sunday April 19 2015, @09:35AM
Wait for it ..........
I think the very name of "Dissident Voice" shows bias.
Just wait till the Googlebot picks that up.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Jeremiah Cornelius on Saturday April 18 2015, @10:29PM
"The New York Times “basically rewrites whatever the Kiev authorities say"
Stephen F. Cohen on the U.S./Russia/Ukraine history the media won’t tell you [salon.com]
It’s one hand clapping in our major newspapers and in our broadcast networks. So that’s where we are.
You're betting on the pantomime horse...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 25 2015, @02:05AM
The Washington Post Should Tell You When Its Columnists Are Paid to Disinform You [commondreams.org]
(Once again from Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting.)
Hmmm. I screwed up the threading on the previous comment.
-- gewg_
(Score: 4, Informative) by SlimmPickens on Saturday April 18 2015, @01:15AM
Do you have anything from a more impartial source?
Did you read it? The half of it that I read looks pretty impartial to me.