nuclear-news

Radioactive liquid leaking from Hanford nuclear waste tank

Hanford Nuclear Tank in Wash. Is Leaking Liquids
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/tank-hanford-nuclear-site-wash-leaking-18515755
By SHANNON DININNY and MIKE BAKER Associated Press
OLYMPIA, Wash. February 16, 2013 A waste tank is leaking
radioactive liquids at the nation’s most contaminated nuclear site,
raising new concerns about delays and budget overruns in a plan to
treat material at the federal Hanford site.

The U.S. Department of Energy said Friday that liquid levels are
decreasing in one of 177 underground tanks at the nuclear reservation.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said the tank is leaking liquids in the
range of 150 to 300 gallons annually.

“I am alarmed about this on many levels,” Inslee said at a Friday
afternoon news conference. “This raises concerns, not only about the
existing leak … but also concerning the integrity of the other
single shell tanks of this age.”

The tanks hold millions of gallons of a highly radioactive stew left
from decades of plutonium production for nuclear weapons. The agency
said monitoring wells near the tank have not detected higher radiation
levels.

Inslee said the state was told such problems had been dealt with years
ago and were under control.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu said the federal government must not
waiver in its commitment to clean up the highly contaminated site,
Inslee told reporters.

A plant under construction to treat the waste is billions of dollars
over budget and years behind schedule.

February 16, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes