At Hanford, Radioactive Waste Just Keeps On Spreadin’
Listen
Radioactive waste keeps spreading at a demolition site at Hanford. This week officials have found more contamination on a worker’s boot, on a work trailer and a personal vehicle. Now, a rental car that’s possibly contaminated has ended up in Spokane.
That rental car? It’s on a trailer headed back to the Tri-Cities for testing.
Also this week, there’s been a reshuffling of managers at the Plutonium Finishing Plant.
U.S. Department of Energy officials said they hope the change will better protect employees and the public from contamination.
Stephanie Schleif watches over the plant’s demolition for Washington State Department of Ecology. She’s concerned that DOE can’t keep contamination from popping up in unexpected places.
“We’re hoping sooner rather than later (the Department of Energy managers) have some answers for us” Schleif said.
The DOE convened an expert panel to suss out what’s gone wrong. They’ll also study how the demo project can start up safely again. Cleanup work on the old factory, and about 200 workers, have been idled since December.
Copyright 2018 Northwest News Network
Related Stories:
Washington State Regulators Fine Feds More Than $1 Million Over Hanford Cleanup Data
Washington Department of Ecology leaders say without access to this data, they can’t effectively protect the land, air and water for residents in eastern Washington and surrounding communities. They say they’ve attempted to negotiate this issue with federal Energy managers for years. Continue Reading Washington State Regulators Fine Feds More Than $1 Million Over Hanford Cleanup Data
Hanford’s Plutonium Finishing Plant Demolition Job Reaches Even More Delicate Phase
At Hanford, in southeastern Washington, contractors have just completed much of the demo work at the site’s Plutonium Finishing Plant. But now crews have to finish the job. And that’s the tough part. Continue Reading Hanford’s Plutonium Finishing Plant Demolition Job Reaches Even More Delicate Phase
Oratorio Performed Inside Hanford’s B Reactor Explores Nuclear Workers’ Dreams And Nightmares
The creators of a new musical work called “Nuclear Dreams” highlight the dreams and nightmares of people who work and live near Hanford in Washington’s Tri-Cities.
Continue Reading Oratorio Performed Inside Hanford’s B Reactor Explores Nuclear Workers’ Dreams And Nightmares
