Poisonous substances dumped on land have penetrated deep into underground currents of water, threatening nearby streams or drinking water wells. The half-life of a radioactive element is the time it takes for half of it to change into a less harmful substance via natural radioactive decay. For this reason, scientists say 10 half-lives is the duration of the hazard for any radioactive element. Radioactive iodine is a particular hazard to humans because iodine is an essential element that we all need in our diet to avoid thyroid-deficiency disease. Therefore, the human body selectively extracts iodine from food, water and air, storing it mainly in the thyroid gland.
Radioactive iodine causes fatal thyroid cancer.
Until now, nuclear engineers and scientists have said that the main engineering challenge they face is to figure out some place to stash these wastes for millions of years in a way that guarantees that future generations will not be harmed by our blunders. More than five years after the complex began to open itself to outside scrutiny, such skeletons continue to come to light. Most of the wastes are temporarily stored in tanks near where they are made. It is not clear why government authorities have not tried to force General Electric to pay for the cleanup, rather than taxpayers. Cynics speculate that one reason may be General Electric's ownership of NBC television.