nuclear-news

Old Hanford nuclear reactor closed – no plan for permanent disposal

Hanford workers mothball 6th nuclear reactor, Workers at south-central Washington’s Hanford nuclear reservation have finished the process of closing and “cocooning” the longest-running of nine nuclear reactors built there for the U.S. atomic weapons program. Seattle News, By SHANNON DININNY Associated Press YAKIMA, Wash. 14 June 12,  —
Workers at south-central Washington’s Hanford nuclear reservation have finished the process of closing and “cocooning” the longest-running of nine nuclear reactors built there for the U.S. atomic weapons program.

With the completion of work at N Reactor, six reactors at the nation’s
most contaminated site have been dismantled and cocooned. That
involved removing extra buildings around the reactors, demolishing all
but the shield walls surrounding the reactor cores and sealing them in
concrete.

Much work remains to be done, but the conclusion of the $65 million
project marks a historic moment for a facility that generated
significant attention at the height of the Cold War. The federal
government created Hanford in the 1940s as part of the top-secret
Manhattan Project to build the atomic bomb.

Over the next 40 years, nine nuclear reactors were built to produce
plutonium for the nation’s nuclear weapons arsenal…….. The federal
government shut down the reactor for routine maintenance, refueling
and safety upgrade following the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986,
but it never operated again. It was decommissioned when the Cold War
ended in 1989, and focus turned to cleaning up Hanford……
Work still to be completed along Hanford’s scenic river corridor
includes two reactors, K East and K West, which must be permanently
closed up and cocooned; many waste sites and contaminated soil need to
be dug up; and tainted groundwater must be treated.

The Energy Department planned to complete much of that work by 2015 in
hopes of shrinking the overall footprint of the Hanford site. But
hundreds of new waste sites have been uncovered in recent months and
could delay that effort.

“Completing the cocooning process is the culmination of years of
detailed planning and safe, disciplined operations by workers
dedicated to protecting one another, the environment and the river,”
said Carol Johnson, president of the Hanford contractor handling the
work, Washington Closure Hanford president.

Hanford’s cocooned reactors are scheduled to remain in interim safe
storage for up to 75 years to allow the Energy Department, regulators
and other stakeholders to determine the final disposal method and to
allow the structures’ high radiation levels to decay to safer levels.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2018432172_apwahanfordreactors1stldwritethru.html

June 15, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | decommission reactor, USA