Hanford Sludge

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

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Sludge removal begins at Hanford 

Starting work is 'a major accomplishment'


By SHANNON DININNY
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER)
June 19, 2004


YAKIMA -- Workers at the Hanford nuclear reservation have begun removing
radioactive sludge from pools of spent nuclear fuel, a move widely
considered a significant step forward in cleanup efforts at the
contaminated site.

The indoor pools of water, known as the K East and K West basins, once
held 2,300 tons of spent nuclear fuel about 400 yards from the Columbia
River. More than 90 percent of the fuel has been removed.

What remains in the basins is sludge from corroded spent nuclear fuel
stored in the huge water-filled basins, along with dust, dirt and
sloughed material from the basin walls. 

Work on removing sludge began late Thursday, the Energy Department said. 

"That's a major accomplishment for us. It's been difficult getting this
particular evolution under way, but yesterday we were able to pump our
first unit of sludge, and it's gone like clockwork and we're very
proud," said Keith Klein, the Energy Department's Richland operations manager.

The Energy Department missed a legal deadline established under the 1989
Tri-Party Agreement -- the legal pact governing cleanup at Hanford -- to
begin removing the sludge by Dec. 31, 2002.

...

for the entire article, see
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/178658_hanford19.html

-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

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