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:
After years of negotiations, new government Hanford plan stirs up plans to treat radioactive waste
A 2021 aerial photo of Hanford’s 200 Area, which houses the tanks and under-construction Waste Treatment Plant, in southeast Washington. (Credit: U.S. Department of Energy) Listen (Runtime 1:01) Read There
Hanford’s Waste Treatment Plant churns out first container of clean test glass
The poured glass appears emerald green, just before it’s lidded and transported to an export bay at Hanford in southeast Washington. Hanford officials are celebrating this first container of glass
Hanford managers and watchdogs hold first in-person cleanup dialogue meeting since before pandemic
The last in-person public meeting about Hanford cleanup was in Richland in 2019. (Courtesy of Washington State Department of Ecology) Listen (Runtime :56) Read The public can ask questions and