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Disastrous state of Hanford’s nuclear waste farm

We Should Be Very Worried About That Leaky Nuclear Waste Facility in Washington, Gizmodo,  Maddie Stone, 21 Apr 16,  Earlier this week, we heard alarming reports of a “significant” nuclear waste leak at Hanford, the largest radioactive waste dumpsite in the country. Should we be worried? Absolutely. But mainly because this is a symptom of a much bigger problem that’s been festering for decades.

Located just a few miles north of Richland in eastern Washington, the Hanford site houses 53 million gallons of some of the most toxic material on Earth—radioactive sludge leftover from the world’s first full-scale plutonium reactor. Most of the time, the facility is out of sight and mind, but every few years, news of a mishap at Hanford sparks public hysteria.

 The latest stir began on Monday, when KING-5 news learned that a years-old leak in the massive radioactive storage tank AY-102 had expanded substantially, raising concerns that the tank now poses an additional risk to site workers and the local groundwater supply. To those familiar with Hanford, this is a rehash of a tired story. And the root of the problem—aging infrastructure that was never meant to hold radioactive sludge for more than half a century—is no closer to being resolved.
Hanford underground tank farm

“We have 177 of these tanks, containing the bulk of America’s high-level nuclear waste,” Tom Carpenter, executive director of the environmental watchdog group Hanford Challenge, told Gizmodo. “These tanks are in terrible shape, and we know others are subject to failure in the same way.”……….http://gizmodo.com/we-should-be-very-worried-about-that-leaky-nuclear-wast-1771933003

April 22, 2016 - Posted by | USA, wastes

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