Radioactive waste leaking from tanks at Washington state nuclear site (The Guardian, February 23 2013)

[Giuseppe]

[Source: The Guardian, full text: (LINK).]

Radioactive waste leaking from tanks at Washington state nuclear site

‎23 February ‎2013


Governor says news is 'disturbing for Washingtonians' but officials deny any immediate danger of contaminating Columbia river - Six underground storage tanks at a nuclear facility in Washington state are leaking radioactive waste, but there is no immediate risk to human health, officials say. The newly discovered leaks, at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, come one week after the US energy department revealed that radioactive waste was found to be escaping from one tank at Hanford.

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[Emily]

Re: Radioactive waste leaking from tanks at Washington state nuclear site (The Guardian, February 23 2013)

The river in danger is the Columbia that flows into the Pacific Ocean.

This was written prior to the latest discovery.

http://columbiariverkeeper.org/

HANFORD & the River
Dear Readers,
Hanford is the most contaminated place in the Western Hemisphere, where the United States dumped billions of gallons of radioactive waste on the banks of the Columbia and into the river itself. Today, waste in unlined cribs and trenches has spread into large pollution plumes and dozens of storage tanks have leaked high‐level nuclear waste. Vast areas of groundwater are poisoned and, in some places, flowing into the Columbia River. After decades of nuclear weapons production, the U.S. Department of Energy?s mission at Hanford is now focused on cleanup. Removing and containing the nuclear contamination at Hanford and preventing additional waste from reaching the Columbia are imperative for the economy and ecology of downstream communities. Citizens can play a key oversight role to ensure the job is done right. This report highlights Hanford?s ongoing and projected impacts on the Columbia River. Despite the widespread contamination and the tremendous challenges that lie ahead, there is great hope in cleaning up the Hanford Reach and restoring the Columbia River. More and more people are demanding a clean Columbia and our work at Hanford is vital to river health. The Columbia River is the lifeblood of the Pacific Northwest, providing salmon runs for Native American, commercial, and sport fishermen alike, irrigation for thousands of farmers, and even drinking water to some river communities. Salmon continue to return to the Hanford Reach and the pollution continues to flow downstream. The stakes are too high to fail.

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: Radioactive waste leaking from tanks at Washington state nuclear site (The Guardian, February 23 2013)

Washington state weighing options for leaking Hanford tanks
By The Associated Press
on February 28, 2013 at 12:18 PM

snip

The tanks sit several feet above the groundwater table, and it would take decades for the waste to reach it, she said. In addition, four of the six tanks in question sit eight miles from the Columbia River, while the remaining two tanks sit five miles from the river.

"There is no risk to our agriculture community, to irrigated farmland, no risk to the river, the people in the Tri-Cities who get their drinking water from the river," she said.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber have called for additional tanks to be installed to transfer waste out of leaking tanks.

http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2013/02/washington_state_weighing_opti.html