nuclear-news

3 structures at high risk of collapsing onto former nuclear weapons site  https://triblive.com/news/world/3-structures-at-high-risk-of-collapsing-onto-former-nuclear-weapons-site/  ASSOCIATED PRESS  | Tuesday, February 25, 2020 RICHLAND, Wash. — Three radioactively contaminated structures are at high risk of collapsing on a former nuclear weapons production site, but could be stabilized by filling them with a concrete-like grout within the next year, the federal government said.

Otherwise, the U.S. Department of Energy has concluded the structures on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation could fail and release radioactive contamination, the Tri-City Herald reported Tuesday.

The Hanford site, located near Richland, Washington, for decades made plutonium for nuclear weapons. The sprawling site for the past 30 years has been engaged in cleaning up a massive amount of radioactive waste left over from making plutonium.

DOE could award a contract for grouting as soon as March, according to the letter.

After the partial collapse of a waste storage tunnel at Hanford’s PUREX plant in 2017, DOE and its contractor CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. analyzed other old and contaminated structures to determine if they were at risk of collapsing.

They determined that the three below-ground structures at the Plutonium Finishing Plant presented the highest risk.