Building...

This is one of the many buildings erected at the Naval Air Station (NAS) Seattle between the 1920s and the 1970s. I think the spherical object in the front is an old buoy. There are several very large hangars on the property which now have a mix of uses and overall, the property is now called Warren G. Magnuson city park and is home to the large off-leash dog park which Salem and I frequent.

However, it wasn't until 2015 that work to remove radioactive material was finished at a couple of the buildings on the site, supposedly including this one. According to an article I found on the web:

"The primary type of radiological contamination identified is radium-226 (Ra-226) with some small amounts of cesium-137 (Cs-137) and strontium-90 (Sr-90) also identified. Radium-226 was commonly used by military and commercial entities from the early 1930s through the 1970s in radioluminescent (glow-in-the dark) items. These items were used in dials, gauges and markers on ships, aircraft, tanks, and motor vehicles. To keep these items glowing, the Navy established “radium paint shops” or “instrument repair shops” where personnel removed the original radioluminescent paint, then repainted the radioluminescent item."


My neighbor told me that the "personnel" most involved in doing this type of work were women. I haven't found any info yet on whether there were long-term health consequences. Fortunately, radioactivity was never found at the location of the dog-park.