[CPEO-MEF] Hanford - "Fluor contemplates diving into K Basins"

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Fluor contemplates diving into K Basins 

By Annette Cary 
Tri-City Herald (WA) 
December 8, 2004


A Hanford contractor is considering sending divers into the murky depths
of the heavily contaminated K Basins to speed difficult
radioactive waste cleanup work. 

Commercial nuclear reactors and, more recently, Department of Energy
nuclear sites have used divers who specialize in radioactive
environments to perform underwater jobs such as cleaning and welding. 

But the Hanford K Basins are an unusually contaminated environment. 

In October, Fluor finished removing 2,300 tons of highly radioactive
irradiated fuel from the K East and K West basins. But fuel that had
been left in the huge indoor pools of water had corroded, creating 65
cubic yards of radioactive sludge on the bottom of the pools. 

Disturb the sludge, and it disperses in a muddy, radioactive cloud to
add to radioactive particles suspended in the water.

?

For the entire article, see
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/tch/local/story/5886932p-5799100c.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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