According to by German public broadcaster WDR, the oil and gas industry has kept secret the dangerous amounts of radioactive waste produced. But experts like Harald Thielen of the Society for System and Reactor Safety acknowledge that the problem exists. "There is radioactive waste in the pipes from the oil and gas industry," he told WDR. "This waste is partly solid and partly sludge." The WDR report says that in Germany alone, up to 2,000 metric tons of naturally-occurring radioactive waste is sucked out of the earth every year and dumped in the surrounding countryside. By extrapolating these figures to oil production in the United States, which produces much more oil and has lower industry safety standards, up to 260,000 metric tons of radioactive waste could be produced there.
"There is radioactive waste in the pipes from the oil and gas industry," he told WDR. "This waste is partly solid and partly sludge."
The WDR report says that in Germany alone, up to 2,000 metric tons of naturally-occurring radioactive waste is sucked out of the earth every year and dumped in the surrounding countryside. By extrapolating these figures to oil production in the United States, which produces much more oil and has lower industry safety standards, up to 260,000 metric tons of radioactive waste could be produced there.
