nuclear-news

By Brett VandenHeuvel

The recent news that nuclear waste is leaking from six of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation’s single-shell tanks and that the U.S. Department of Energy is investigating additional tanks left me asking yet again: Where is the oversight?

The Energy Department’s mismanagement of Hanford continues to result in a loss of the public’s trust. The leaks raise serious questions about the department’s ability to protect the Columbia River from Hanford’s nuclear legacy. The Energy Department has been guarding the henhouse for too long, and it is time for some independent oversight of Hanford’s cleanup.

Over the decades, Hanford’s single-shell tanks leaked more than 1 million gallons of radioactive waste into the ground, contaminating groundwater and threatening the Columbia River. Then, nearly 10 years ago, the Energy Department told us that it had stabilized the slurry of nuclear waste stored in the 149 single-shell tanks. Now we learn that the tanks are actually leaking and have been for who knows how long.

We have, unfortunately, come to expect mishaps and delays in Hanford’s cleanup. For example, the Energy Department extended the completion date for the waste treatment plant from 2011 to 2019. The plant is designed to turn the tank waste into solid glass logs. Recently, Oregon’s Sen. Ron Wyden gave a discouraging update on the plant timeline: “Energy cannot say what changes are needed, when they will be completed, or what they will cost.”

What needs to happen to trigger independent oversight over Hanford cleanup? Leaky tanks of high-level radioactive waste? Check. A treatment plant that is eight years behind schedule and $9 billion over budget? Check. Plans to import even more waste to Hanford? Check. Scandals, whistle-blowers and a lack of confidence by top scientists? Check, check and check.

The oversight at Hanford should include congressional leaders who demand accountability and answers. The Washington State Department of Ecology and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency must play a more aggressive role in monitoring the Energy Department. On top of that, it is time for serious structural changes in Hanford oversight. It is time for an oversight board with real teeth that will enforce the law, not just complain about the failures. Congress can and should create an independent, ongoing oversight board tasked with rooting out corruption and complacency, demanding progress and refusing to accept excuses. I applaud our Washington and Oregon senators, as well as Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, for asking the right questions. But today we need action.

As the Energy Department lurches from one damaging mishap to another, we must continue to focus on the larger picture. Plutonium production at Hanford left our generation with the most contaminated nuclear waste site in the Western Hemisphere.

Our drive to produce plutonium created a toxic stew that outpaced our capacity to contain it. Now, Congress must step in: Independent, long-term oversight is needed to stop waste from entering the environment, to contain all of the most dangerous waste and to stop nuclear waste from threatening public health and the Columbia River. Our communities depend on it.

Brett VandenHeuvel is the executive director of Columbia Riverkeeper, based in Hood River.
http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2013/03/hanford_needs_new_oversight_fo.html