[CPEO-MEF] Energy Department Fails To Clean Up Radioactive Sludge

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

Washington
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE
April 7, 2003
Energy Department Fails To Clean Up Radioactive Sludge

WASHINGTON, DC, April 7, 2003 (ENS) - The U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) is penalizing the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) $76,000
for failing to begin the removal of some 50 cubic meters of radioactive
sludge from the 100 K East Basin within DOE's facility at Hanford,
Washington.

The sludge consists of dirt, water and corroded spent nuclear fuel,
which has been stored in the water-filled basin. The EPA has deemed it
highly radioactive and high risk waste, and noted that its removal is a
top human health and environmental priority.

For more than 50 years plutonium was produced at the Hanford site for
the U.S. military. Environmental cleanup and restoration has been the
focus of activity at the 586 square mile site since the late 1980s.

The K East and K West Basins at Hanford have been the storage locations
for the majority of the site's spent nuclear fuel since the 1970s. The
are two water filled indoor pools that originally held some 2,300 tons
of spent nuclear fuel only 400 yards from the Columbia River.

The water becomes radioactive from the fuel and sludge. On several
occasions, water from the K East Basin has leaked into the Columbia
River.

This article can be viewed at:
http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2003/2003-04-07-09.asp#anchor1

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