Hanford
Nuclear Reservation Has Leaking Waste Tanks
By Chris Carrington
theintelhub.com
February 26, 2013
The Hanford Nuclear
Reservation, situated on the banks of the Columbia River has found that six of
it’s underground storage tanks are leaking nuclear waste.theintelhub.com
February 26, 2013
Hanford which was set up as part of the Manhattan Project to develop the atomic bomb during World War ll is a 586 square mile site near the farming towns of Hanford and White Bluffs.
The residents of both towns, and Native Americans living in the area at the time of its construction were re-located under the governments ‘eminent domain’ authority.
Last week Energy Department officials said that one tank had been seen to have falling levels of waste inside it, evidence that it is leaking. the rate from that tank was estimated to be between 150 and 300 gallons a year.
There are reports from Governor Jay Inslee that five more tanks are leaking but that has not been officially confirmed by the Energy Department.
Hanford has had issues with leaking tanks in the past and this will add to the soil contamination and could pose an increasing threat to the groundwater below the site.
Inslee said:
“There is no immediate or near-term health risk with these newly discovered leaks, which are more than 5 miles from the Columbia River…but nonetheless this is disturbing news for all Washingtonians…this certainly raises questions about the integrity of all 149 single-shell tanks.”
Suzanne Dahl who is the tank waste treatment manager for
the StateDepartment
of Ecology was more forthright than the governor. She is recorded as
saying:
“it points to the age of
the tanks and how there’s going to be an increased probability of this
happening in the future.”“When waste is in the tanks, it’s manageable. Once it’s out of the tanks and in the soil, it’s much harder to manage it, remove it and down the road you’re adding to contamination in the groundwater that already exists.”
According to the Environmental Protection Agency approximately tens of
thousands of gallons of contaminated water has been discharged into the soil
since the facility was built.
There are plans to clean up the waste in a process known
as vitrificationbut this has to be done in a specialist waste
treatment plant which Suzanne Dahl says is
“still years away”
Chris Carrington
is a writer, researcher and lecturer with a background in science, technology
and environmental studies. Chris is an editor for The Daily
Sheeple. Wake the flock up!
http://theintelhub.com/2013/02/26/hanford-nuclear-reservation-has-leaking-waste-tanks/
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