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USA Federal government responsible to clean up Hanford nuclear waste

State right to force federal Hanford cleanup http://union-bulletin.com/news/2012/sep/04/state-right-to-force-federal-hanford-cleanup/#
The federal government created the waste; it must clean it up.
By Editorial Board As of Tuesday, September 4, 2012 Washington state —
led by Gov. Chris Gregoire and Attorney General Rob McKenna — is
wisely threatening legal action against the federal government because
it continues to shirk its responsibilities to clean up the Hanford
Nuclear Reservation.

#Federal officials have been delaying fully funding the cleanup
operation for years. Congress trims current funding while promising to
make up for it some day — a day that never arrives.

#This is a concern for all of Washington state, but we in Southeastern
Washington — an hour or so drive from the nuclear reservation — have a
lot at stake. If the nuclear waste leaches into the Columbia River it
would cause a disaster.

#The Associated Press reports the biggest concern right now is the
construction of a huge waste treatment plant to convert highly
radioactive waste into a glass that can then be buried. The $12.3
billion project has encountered numerous technical problems and delays
in the past decade and costs for the project have skyrocketed.

#U.S. Department of Energy officials said the agency might not be able
to meet the 2022 operating deadline established by court orders. Those
orders were a result of Washington’s lawsuit over missed deadlines.

#In a letter to Energy Secretary Stephen Chu, Gregoire and McKenna
gave the DOE until Sept. 26 to respond to their questions about the
delays or face returning to court.

#The federal government created Hanford in the 1940s as part of the
project to build the atomic bombs that led to the end of World War II.
Hanford is now the nation’s most contaminated nuclear site.

#These legal threats are necessary. Action has to be taken to remind
federal officials cleaning up 53 million gallons of radioactive
nuclear waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation must be a top
priority.

#That waste, which is stored in 177 steel tanks (142 designed with
only a single wall and 67 of which have confirmed leaks) is buried
near the Columbia River. Time is not an ally.

#Two decades ago an agreement was reached by the state and federal
government that called for the waste to be cleaned up. It’s been
updated over the years and the new target date is 2035.

#The plan is for the waste to be converted to inert glass logs that
would then be safely buried. Generally considered the linchpin of
Hanford cleanup, the glass-log — or vitrificatition — plant is at
least eight years behind schedule.

#The U.S. government made a deal with Washington state to clean up the
nuclear waste at Hanford. It has an obligation to do so as quickly as
possible so that an environmental disaster is averted.

September 4, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes