Robert Alvarez, a former U.S. Department of Energy adviser and longtime anti-nuclear advocate, died this month after decades exposing U.S. nuclear waste mismanagement and fighting for the rights of radiation-exposed communities.
Clay Risen reports for The New York Times.
In short:
- Alvarez began his activism after meeting Navajo uranium miners suffering from radiation-related illnesses and spent much of his career pushing for federal recognition and compensation for nuclear workers and their communities.
- He played a key role in revealing safety failures at nuclear sites like South Carolina’s Savannah River Plant, often collaborating with journalists to expose industry negligence and federal secrecy.
- As a Department of Energy official in the 1990s, he advanced policy reforms and led international nuclear inspections while maintaining ties with grassroots movements and public-interest groups.
Key quote:
“Basically you had a system that was deliberately set up under conditions of secrecy, isolation and privilege where they weren’t accountable to anyone but themselves.”
— Robert Alvarez, senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies
Why this matters:
The United States still faces unresolved challenges in managing the legacy of its nuclear weapons program. Tens of millions of gallons of radioactive waste remain stored in aging facilities across the country, some of which are leaking into groundwater and surrounding ecosystems. Communities near these sites — often low-income, rural, or Indigenous — continue to bear the health and environmental consequences of government secrecy and regulatory gaps. Robert Alvarez spent his life calling attention to the real-life costs of contamination and advocating for those affected. His work reminds us that radioactive waste is not just a technical problem but a human one, entangled with history, power, and long-neglected environmental justice concerns.
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