Six Washington state nuclear tanks leaking: governor's office

[Bosonic]

Source: Reuters

Six tanks at Washington state's Hanford Nuclear Reservation are leaking radioactive waste, but the leak has not posed an immediate public health risk, Governor Jay Inslee's office said on Friday.

Inslee spokeswoman Lisa Harper said that outgoing U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu had informed the governor on Friday that the leak involved six tanks. She said the leak had not been stopped.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/22/us-usa-nuclear-leak-idUSBRE91L19G20130222

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. Note the use of the word .."immediate" health risk.

So not leaking enough to kill anyone outright, I take it.

[wordpix]

6. the whole quote is highly suspect, just like BP's "under control" statements

[another_liberal]

2. Nothing to worry about . . .

A little radiation is nothing to worry about. Hell, I once saw a guy on television who said plutonium was so harmless that he would personally eat a vial full of it!

I wonder what ever happened to that guy?

[AnotherMcIntosh]

3. Only in Washington?

In Illinois - 1/24/2012

Chicago, IL – The drinking water for 652,000 people in Illinois could be at risk of radioactive contamination from a leak or accident at a local nuclear power plant, says a new study released today by the Illinois Public Interest Research Group Education Fund (Illinois PIRG).
...
75 percent of U.S. nuclear plants have leaked tritium, a radioactive form of hydrogen that can cause cancer and genetic defects.

In December, 2005, investigators found tritium in a drinking water well at a home near Braidwood Nuclear Generating Station in Illinois. Levels of tritium above the safe drinking water standard were found near the plant, and much higher levels were detected on the plant grounds. The leak was eventually traced to a pipe carrying normally non-radioactive water away for discharge.

http://neis.org/release-nuclear-power-plants-pose-risks-to-drinking-water-for-illinois/

In California - 2/1/2012

"LOS ANGELES — A tiny amount of radiation could have escaped from a Southern California nuclear power plant after a water leak prompted operators to shut down a reactor as a precaution, but plant workers and the public were not endangered, officials said Wednesday.

The leak was detected Tuesday afternoon in Unit 3 at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, about 45 miles north of San Diego. The seaside plant was taken off line while investigators tried to determine what happened.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/01/radiation-leak-san-onofre_n_1247658.html

[patrice]

4. I believe I saw recently where there is another move out of the DOE recently to

de-regulate some LOW-LEVEL radio-active waste. The last time I noticed that kind of regulatory move it was referred to as Below Regulatory Concern, because DOE wanted to change waste classifications so they could have more room at storage facilities. At the DOE regional hearings, back in the mid '90s, waste storage experts were still fighting the facilities at 4 Corners in the Southwest. Some came to the DOE meetings and told us details about the containers' structural problems and the problems shipping and storing the containers for long periods of time, well, I guess I should say for a lot less time than you'd think, because the corrosion and leakage problems with the containers start at way less than even a few decades.

Everyone needs more specific information about what is happening in this situation. We mustn't pretend it isn't there.

[Journeyman]

5. "Many a mickle makes a muckle." ~ Benjamin Franklin ("Poor Richard's Almanac")

[Bette Noir]

7. Uh-- those drain to the Columbia River, right?

Second biggest river in the US? The one I can see from my living room?

Not like.