Plutonium Processing

Science & Technology, first prize stories

19-04-2001

A worker handles plutonium using protective lead-lined gloves at Rocky Flats Plant. A long-awaited cleanup is underway at 114 of the US's nuclear facilities. The nuclear age has produced 52,000 tons of spent fuel from commercial, military and research nuclear reactors, as well as some 91 million gallons of waste from plutonium processing - both are classified as high-level waste, the most dangerously radioactive kind. Radioactivity can last for millions of years. Depleted uranium, contaminated tools, and plutonium itself are among other products of the nuclear industry requiring safe storage. High-level waste in the USA is accumulating at a rate of more than 2,000 tons a year. In addition to waste storage, nuclear reactors must be decommissioned and contaminated soil and groundwater cleaned up.

Commissioned by: National Geographic

Photo Credit: Peter Essick

Peter Essick is a working photojournalist, author, teacher and speaker. He has dedicated his career to telling visual stories in a documentary style about contemporary issues. He is a specialist in nature and environmental themes, having photographed stories on climate change, freshwater, high-tech trash, nuclear waste, drought and ecosystem restoration. He is also an avid outdoorsman and landscape photographer, having photographed many natural wilderness areas around the world. He was named one of the 40 most influential nature photographers in the world by Outdoor Photographer Magazine.

Essick has a bachelor's degree in business from the University of Southern California and a master's degree in photojournalism from the University of Missouri. He is the author of two books featuring his photography, Our Beautiful Fragile World (Rocky Nook) and The Ansel Adams Wilderness (National Geographic Books). He is represented by Lumiere gallery in Atlanta, Georgia and by Aurora Photos. He lives in Stone Mountain, Georgia with his wife, Jackie, and son, Jalen.