Experts: Divine Strake 'mushroom cloud' could have sickened many

[helderheid]

By KEN RITTER
Associated Press Writer

LAS VEGAS (AP) - A non-nuclear explosive test planned by the government could have spread lethal radioactive particles across the Nevada desert and beyond had it not been canceled, experts testified Wednesday.

"A new generation of 'downwinders' would have been created, with cancers and birth defects," said Robert Hager, a Reno lawyer who summoned witnesses to try to drive a stake through any future plans for the "Divine Strake" test at the Nevada Test Site 85 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

The explosion of a 700-ton fuel oil and fertilizer bomb was proposed to gather data about penetrating underground bunkers that produce and store weapons of mass destruction. But the prospect of a mushroom cloud in the desert prompted a lawsuit and intense opposition in Utah and Nevada, where critics feared it would scatter decades-old radioactive material from previous Cold War-era tests.

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency canceled the test in February.

Justice Department lawyers urged U.S. District Judge Lloyd George not to hold Wednesday's hearing, arguing the cancellation made the issue moot.

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http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2007/jun/27/062710103.html

[helderheid]

1. Kick - it was a DAMNED good thing this was stopped - but we have to stay vigilant it doesn't happen

in the future!