Tunnel 2 Archives - Northwest Public Broadcasting

A First Glimpse Of Hanford’s Tunnel 2 As Work Continues To Prevent Another Hazardous Collapse

By Anna King December 19, 2018

A new sign graces the entrance onto the Hanford site near Richland, Washington. CREDIT: ANNA KING

In the middle of Hanford's desert, there’s a tunnel that stretches a third of a mile underground. Anna King got a first-of-its kind look at how work is progressing to prevent another collapse at one of the tunnels willed with radioactive waste.Read More

Hanford Workers Get ‘All Clear’ After Shelter Indoors Order During Tunnel-Filling Operation

By Courtney Flatt October 26, 2018

This photo from Hanford shows where workers observed steam from one of the PUREX plant tunnels Friday, Oct. 26, 2018. CREDIT: US DEPT. OF ENERGY

Officials at the Hanford Nuclear Site ordered workers to stay indoors Friday morning as a precaution. They discovered steam rising from an unexpected part of a tunnel filled with highly contaminated waste. By mid-day, officials had announced they found no contamination.Read More

Works Starts On Grouting 2nd Waste-Filled Hanford Tunnel, With Aim Of Preventing Another Collapse

By Anna King October 2, 2018

In this file photo taken June 13, 2017, the Plutonium Uranium Extraction Plant, right, stands adjacent to a dirt-covered rail tunnel, left, containing radioactive waste, amidst desert plants on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation near Richland, Wash. The U.S. Department of Energy said Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017, that workers have finished stabilizing the partially-collapsed tunnel containing radioactive wastes left over from the production of plutonium for nuclear weapons. CREDIT: AP PHOTO/NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS

Work began this week to fill a roughly 1.3-mile-long tunnel with grout at the Hanford Nuclear Site. The tunnel is filled with highly hazardous radioactive waste.Read More

Hanford’s Radioactive Waste-Filled Tunnel 2 Set For Grouting After Comment And Study Process

By Anna King September 28, 2018

The Plutonium Finishing Plant at the Hanford Site in southeastern Washington. The site includes 56 million gallons of radioactive waster across 580 square miles.

Another large tunnel of radioactive waste will be grouted closed at Hanford. That was the decision Friday by the Washington Department of Ecology. The long process goes back to when another tunnel, simply called Tunnel 1, partially collapsed in May 2017. Read More