nuclear-news

More nuclear sludge leaking at Hanford Site

“..One million gallons (4,000 cubic meters) of highly radioactive waste from Hanford is currently traveling through the groundwater toward the Columbia River and will reach the river in 12 to 50 years if the cleanup operation is delayed,..”

Sat Feb 16, 2013 3:9AM GMT

Press TV

Nuclear technicians are working on a storage tank at the Hanford Site. (file photo)

On Friday, Inslee said that between 150 and 300 gallons of waste might be leaking from the 65-year-old tank at the Hanford Site, which is located on the Columbia River in the state of Washington, the Associated Press reported.

“I am alarmed about this on many levels. This raises concerns, not only about the existing leak… but also concerning the integrity of the other single shell tanks of this age,” he added.

The US Energy Department said the leaking tank holds roughly 447,000 gallons of sludge.

For the disposal of its nuclear waste, the United States has constructed 177 underground storage tanks holding nearly 56 million gallons of toxic nuclear sludge.

The US government is currently looking for a site to construct a permanent nuclear waste repository.

Energy Department spokesman Lori Gamache, said the cause of the leakage is still unknown.

“So we have equipment that’s in the tank that monitors the levels. And this week we went in and did some visual inspections and confirmed that the equipment was working correctly. And the equipment was showing there was a level decrease in this tank,” she stated.

Built in 1943 or 1944, the tank is one of 149 with a single shell. The single-walled tank holds spent nuclear fuel from nuclear weapons development and production.

Hanford has the highest level of radioactive waste of any site in the United States. It produced plutonium for the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki in 1945.

One million gallons (4,000 cubic meters) of highly radioactive waste from Hanford is currently traveling through the groundwater toward the Columbia River and will reach the river in 12 to 50 years if the cleanup operation is delayed, according to Hanford Quick Facts, which was published by the Washington Department of Ecology.

KA/HGL

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/02/16/289177/more-nuclear-sludge-leaking-at-hanford/

February 16, 2013 - Posted by arclight2011 | Uncategorized