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Federal judge asked to approve nuclear cleanup plan for Hanford

Court asked to OK new Hanford cleanup schedule  | ajc.comBy NICHOLAS K. GERANIOSThe Associated PressSPOKANE, Wash. — State and federal agencies asked a federal judge Wednesday to approve a new cleanup schedule for the Hanford nuclear reservation, the nation’s most polluted nuclear weapons site.The motion filed by the U.S. Department of Energy and the state Department of Ecology would govern the complicated cleanup of underground storage tanks for the next four decades…..Hanford stores over 53 million gallons of radioactive and chemical waste in 177 underground tanks, many of which have leaked. The material is left over from the production of plutonium for nuclear weapons, and Hanford workers have already spent two decades on cleanup…….The consent degree was first announced in August 2009 after several years of negotiations, then was subject to comments from stakeholders.

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said cleanup depends on consistent budgets from the federal government.

The consent decree arose from the settlement of a lawsuit the state Ecology Department filed against DOE that was later joined by the state of Oregon to force completion of key aspects of the Hanford cleanup,…….

Court asked to OK new Hanford cleanup schedule  | ajc.com

October 7, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Legal, USA | antinuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive