This American nuclear site has as much plutonium levels as Chernobyl disaster area in Ukraine

Los Alamos, where the American atomic bomb was born under the Manhattan Project led by Robert Oppenheimer, currently has plutonium levels similar to the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, researchers have warned.

“Extreme concentrations” of the radioactive material plutoniumwere found in soil, plants and water in the area, located in New Mexico state, said a study by North Arizona University researchers.

After years of redevelopment to make it safe, the land around Los Alamos had been turned into a dirt trail popular with bikers, hikers and runners, The Guardian newspaper said in a report.

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In the area known as 'Acid Canyon', Northern Arizona University scientist Michael Ketterer found plutonium levels to be "among the highest" he had ever seen in a publicly accessible area in the US, and similar to Chernobyl in Ukraine, the site of the nuclear spillage disaster.

“This is one of the most shocking things I’ve ever stumbled across in my life,” said Ketterer, who led the study,pointing out that the radioactive isotopes are “hiding in plain sight”.

Meanwhile, the US Department of Energy said the plutonium levels were “very low and well within the safe exposure range,” said the report.

Ketterer agreed that immediate danger is low, but said the environmental risk is still worrying.

Plutonium can contaminate water supplies that eventually flow into the Rio Grande River. It can get into plants and eventually thefood chain, or can be dispersed widely in ash in the event of a wildfire, he warned.

Until 1963, the Los Alamos National Laboratory sent radioactive waste into a canyon that became so saturated in toxic waste that it was dubbed 'Acid Canyon,' said the report.

The Guardian reportsaid the study comes at a time when the US Department of Defense plans to increase production of plutonium pits, a core component of nuclear weapons, at Los Alamos.

Meanwhile, Los Alamos was excluded from a defence bill that expanded funds for those exposed to the government’s radioactive waste.

(With inputs from agencies)