This summer, several groups of people have been spread throughout a Cold War rocket test site beyond the boundary of Los Angeles. The crews have been collecting dirt as part of a massive attempt to clean up a partial nuclear meltdown that happened half a century ago.

The responsible parties were facing a 2017 deadline to repair the Santa Susana Field Laboratory and prevent the chemical and radioactive wastes from leaching into the soil and groundwater. The US Energy Department and NASA would clean their sections to background levels, the highest stringent standard. However, Boeing opted to abide by the 2007 cleanup rules which would require the location to be scrubbed to a lower standard.

NASA has already spent USD100 million on cleanup since the 1980s. It projected another USD250 million to USD300 million to completely restore its parcel. The Energy Department said it spent around USD90 million during the past decade while Boeing refused to disclose its costs.

According to the website of the Nuclear Energy Institute, every year, an average nuclear power plant earns roughly USD470 million in sales of goods including services in a local community. Another USD40 million could be generated as a total labor income. Also, a new nuclear plant generally represents a venture capital of USD6 billion to USD8 billion together with interest, subject to the size of the plant.