A recently published US government report says that it has observed a dramatic increase in the number of radioactive tumbleweeds that have been blowing around the Hanford nuclear complex.
The US Department of Energy said that it found 20 contaminated tumbleweeds in the first six months of 1998, compared with 11 during the whole of 1995. This may be the result of increased efforts to search the area, and simply a consequence of better reporting.
Tumbleweed has roots that can stretch for up to 15 feet into the soil looking for water. As a result, the weeds can absorb any contaminated groundwater in range, and as a result of this, radioactivity is spread when the top of the plant is blown away by the wind.
