[CPEO-MEF] RADIATION: "Problems plague cleanup at Hanford (WA) nuclear waste site"

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Problems plague cleanup at Hanford nuclear waste site

By Peter Eisler
USA TODAY
January 25, 2012

HANFORD SITE, Wash. - Seven decades after scientists came here during  
World War II to create plutonium for the first atomic bomb, a new  
generation is struggling with an even more daunting task: cleaning up  
the radioactive mess.

The U.S. government is building a treatment plant to stabilize and  
contain 56 million gallons of waste left from a half-century of  
nuclear weapons production. The radioactive sludge is so dangerous  
that a few hours of exposure could be fatal. A major leak could  
contaminate water supplies serving millions across the Northwest. The  
cleanup is the most complex and costly environmental restoration ever  
attempted.

And the project is not going well.

A USA TODAY investigation has found that the troubled, 10-year effort  
to build the treatment plant faces enormous problems just as it  
reaches what was supposed to be its final stage.

In exclusive interviews, several senior engineers cited design  
problems that could bring the plant's operations to a halt before  
much of the waste is treated. Their reports have spurred new  
technical reviews and raised official concerns about the risk of a  
hydrogen explosion or uncontrolled nuclear reaction inside the plant.  
Either could damage critical equipment, shut the facility down or,  
worst case, allow radiation to escape.

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/story/2012-01-25/ 
hanford-nuclear-plutonium-cleanup/52622796/1

--

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
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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