Your tax dollars, to study poop, courtesy of the Democrats.

WTF?

My very thought - WTF!!!

Yes, it sounds pretty weird but in the past researchers discovered radioactive wasp nests which came to be because the wasps were in contact with weapons-grade plutonium that was discarded in a near by dump.

Now it seems liquid wastes from plutonium production (included salts of caesium and strontium) are being dumped in underground tanks. The rabbits dig down, discover the tanks, like the salty taste of the liquids, and drink or lick them. The next thing you know, radioactive rabbit poop.

Needless to say, finding radioactive animal excrement leads authorities to illegally dumped radioactive materials.

Thanks artdawgs!

Strontium 90 is particularly dangerous because it is chemically very similar to calcium - so much so that a body will absorb it ito the bones in place of calcium, leaving the victim with radioactivity that cannot be gotten rid of. If there's going to be radioactive strontium in the environment, I'd rather they find it in the rabbits before it gets to me - and analyzing the droppings is easier and more humane than ripping the rabbits open.

Just another example of an ignorance of the purpose of applied science and a typical knee-jerk reaction from the illiterati.

typo: "ito" = "into"

Those darn Democrats. Can't they just let the radiation continue to radiate?

The big question here is 'what the hell does this have to do with stimulating the economy?' You can argue all you want about the importance or futility of this study, but the big problem is stimulus money being spent in ways that have nothing to do with stimulating the economy.

From my reading of the source, the money was spent by a private contractor not acting under any federal mandate as to how the money was to be used:

"Nevada-based National Security Technologies received $300,000 in federal stimulus money sent to Hanford to do the helicopter survey."

Presumably they did have to hire people to do the flying, collecting and analyzing.