A burst of tragedies. On the Fourth of July, the nation pauses to celebrate the bravery and foresight of the founders and recommit itself to liberty and democracy. Yet, we wonder about the price the country pays for explosive fun during the midsummer holiday.

At Liberty Lake and Priest River, three pyrotechnicians working for Olympia-based Entertainment Fireworks were hospitalized by accidents, including one who was in serious condition with third-degree burns after he was shredded by two blasts.

At the Ravalli County Fairgrounds in Ravalli, Mont., a 22-year-old pyrotechnician was killed and a helper seriously injured when a fireworks shell exploded after a show. At Dillon, Mont., a man suffered two broken vertebrae when a homemade “sparkler bomb” detonated in his direction. And a Walla Walla man was in critical condition this week after being struck by shrapnel from another homemade fireworks device.

Be thankful if your Fourth of July ended without incident.

Doomed to repeat it? The federal government has a history of bungling the containment, storage and removal of nuclear waste. This incompetence has cost the country an enormous sum with no end in sight. To this day, there is no certainty about what will happen to waste at sites such as the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory.

So, it comes as quite a shock that the U.S. Department of Energy wants to consolidate the production of plutonium at INEEL without having a plan for handling the waste. The feds say the 35-year project is related to unspecified national security missions and deep space vehicles.

Energy Department officials say they are confident a solution can be worked out when disposal becomes necessary. But we’ve seen this movie before, and it didn’t get glowing reviews. Let’s take a hint from history and get disposal plans worked out in advance this time.